The original version was by the Cowboy Church Sunday School[1] and was a hit in the United States, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard charts.
Another widely known US recording was released shortly after by the McGuire Sisters, and the United Kingdom saw a version by Joan Regan and her son Rusty.
The version sung by the Cowboy Church Sunday School was featured twice in the John Waters film A Dirty Shame.
The version sung by the McGuire Sisters was featured in the André Øvredal horror film The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
The melody of the chorus section is identical for its first two measures to the published version of "Aloha Oe" by Princess Lili`uokalani (1878), and "There's Music in the Air" by George F. Root (1854), and all three share the same chord progression IV-I-V-I.