"Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966 that became a number one hit for The 5th Dimension in 1969 and subsequently a popular phrase in American culture. The song is written from the perspective of a woman whose boyfriend has not yet proposed to her, who wonders, "am I ever gonna see my wedding day?" The song carries dual themes of adoring love and frustrated lament.

Nyro wrote "Wedding Bell Blues" at the age of 18 as a "mini-suite", featuring several dramatic rhythmic changes — a trait Nyro explored on future albums. It was to be recorded in 1966 for Verve Folkways label as part of what would become her More Than a New Discovery album. However, producer Herb Bernstein did not allow Nyro to record this version, which led to Nyro more or less disowning the entire album.

What was recorded was fairly similar in content and arrangement to the later, much more familiar, 5th Dimension version, albeit with a somewhat more soulful vocal line. It was released as a single in September 1966 and remained on the Billboard Pop Singles "Bubbling Under" charts segment for several weeks, peaking at #103.

The 5th Dimension had already found hits with Nyro's "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Sweet Blindness" during 1968. When recording tracks for their upcoming album The Age of Aquarius, producer Bones Howe suggested it would be worth recording another Nyro song, this one about a woman trying to get someone named Bill to commit to marriage. Since, as it happened, 5th Dimension singer Marilyn McCoo was then engaged to another member, Billy Davis, Jr., though they had not decided on an actual wedding date at the time, the group recorded it, and in May 1969, the album was released. The first single released ahead of the album, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," was a tremendous hit, while the success of the second single, "Workin' On a Groovy Thing," was much more modest. When a disc jockey in San Diego began playing "Wedding Bell Blues" off the album, Soul City Records saw its potential, and in September 1969 it was put out as a single.

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