Song of the Day 11/1: Louis Armstrong, “When the Saints Go Marching In”

France has an odd relationship with religion. Those cathedrals and basilicas the tourists visit are owned not by the Catholic church but by the state, which nationalized all church property during the revolution and has never given it back. Yet the country’s holiday schedule still revolves around the main holy days of obligation observed by the Roman Catholics — not just Easter and Christmas but the Ascension, the Assumption and Pentecost as well, along with today, All Saints Day.

“When the Saints Go Marching In” was widely known long before anyone wrote down the music or lyrics. Like most traditional songs, it has no “official” version, so the title verb varies in early recordings — sometimes they come marching in, sometimes they go. I suppose it all depends whether the singers are inside or outside the pearly gates.

Gospel groups started recording it in the mid-’20s, usually as a slow-paced call-and-response number. It became a jazz standard after Louis Armstrong picked up the tempo, and the mood, with this 1938 recording. It’s been de rigueur at jazz funerals ever since.

Bill Haley sped it up still more when he changed the lyrics for rock ‘n’ roll, but Fats Domino stuck to some of the traditional verses for his single, which reached No. 50 in 1959.