Show Me the Way to Go Home

Last updated

"Show Me the Way to Go Home" is a popular song written in 1925 by the English songwriting team Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, using the pseudonym "Irving King". The song is said to have been written on a train journey from London by Campbell and Connelly. They were tired from the traveling and had a few alcoholic drinks during the journey, hence the lyrics. The song is in common use in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and North America.

Contents

Publication

The music and lyrics were written in 1925 by Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly. They self-published the sheet music and it became their first big success, selling 2 million copies and providing the financial basis of their publishing firm, Campbell, Connelly & Co. [1] Campbell and Connelly published the sheet music and recorded the song under the pseudonym "Irving King". [2]

The song was recorded by several artists in the 1920s. The first recordings, in 1925, were by Hal Swain's New Princes' Toronto Band a group of Canadian musicians working in London and by American-born male impersonator Ella Shields, in both cases for the Columbia label in London. [3] Other recordings were made by radio personalities The Happiness Boys, [2] Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra, [2] and the California Ramblers. [4] Throughout the twentieth into the twenty-first century it has been recorded by numerous artists.

Lyrics

Show me the way to go home,
I'm tired and I want to go to bed,
I had a little drink about an hour ago,
And it's gone right to my head,
Wherever I may roam,
On land or sea or foam,
You will always hear me singing this song,
Show me the way to go home.

Parodies

Parodies popular on Midwest American campuses in the 1950s went:

Indicate the way to my abode
I'm fatigued and I want to retire
I imbibed a few about sixty minutes ago
And it percolated right through my cerebellum
Wherever I may perambulate
O'er land or sea or atmospheric vapor
You will always hear me rendering this melody
Indicate the way to my abode [5]

or

Indicate the way to my abode
I'm fatigued and I wish to retire
I had a spot of beverage sixty minutes ago
And its risen right up to my cranium
No matter wherever I may perambulate
On land or sea or atmospheric vapour
You can always hear me chanting the melody
Indicate the way to my abode

Some similar versions substitute "terra firma" for land and/or "aqueous precipitate" for foam.

Literature

Film

Television

Football

Supporters of Wimbledon F.C. / AFC Wimbledon have sung an adapted version reflecting their team spending 25 years away from their Plough Lane home stadium: "Show Me The Way To Plough Lane".

Supporters of Liverpool FC sing a version "Show them the way to go home" to mock the away team and away fans that are visiting Anfield stadium:

Show them the way to home
They're tired and they want to go to bed (for a wank)
Cos they're only half a football team
Compared to the boys in red[ citation needed ]

Theme parks

At Universal Studios Florida, in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley, there is a window of animated shrunken heads. They banter with each other and often break into "Show Me The Way To Go Home". It is also one of the spots where one can use an interactive wand and use the Silencio wand movement to make them stop singing and make muffled sounds as if they suddenly can't move their lips. It is located across from Borgin & Burke's gift shop and next to the Dystal Phaelanges skeleton display. This along with several other design details throughout the Harry Potter themed section are a tribute to the former Jaws attraction, which closed on January 2, 2012 and was replaced by Diagon Alley in 2014.[ citation needed ]

Recordings

Related Research Articles

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game before writing the song. The song's chorus is traditionally sung as part of the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game. Fans are generally encouraged to sing along, and at some ballparks, the words "home team" are replaced with the team name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Land Is Your Land</span> Folk song by Woody Guthrie

"This Land Is Your Land" is a song by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. One of the United States' most famous folk songs, its lyrics were written in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Its melody is based on a Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire". When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Dilly Dally on the Way</span> Song

"Don't Dilly Dally on the Way", subtitled "The Cock Linnet Song" and often credited as "My Old Man ", is a music hall song written in 1919 by Fred W. Leigh and Charles Collins, made popular by Marie Lloyd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's a Long Way to Tipperary</span> Irish music hall song adopted as a marching song

"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oh My Darling, Clementine</span> 1884 American western folk ballad

"Oh, My Darling Clementine" is a traditional American, tragic but sometimes comic, Western folk ballad in trochaic meter usually credited to Percy Montross (1884), although it is sometimes credited to Barker Bradford.

"Frog Went a-Courtin'" is an English-language folk song. Its first known appearance is in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland (1549) under the name "The Frog cam to the Myl dur", though this is in Scots rather than English. There is a reference in the London Company of Stationers' Register of 1580 to "A Moste Strange Weddinge of the Frogge and the Mouse." There are many texts of the ballad; however the oldest known musical version is found in Thomas Ravenscroft's Melismata in 1611.

"The Gang That Sang Heart of My Heart" is a popular song. The music and lyrics were written by Ben Ryan (1892–1968) in 1926. It reminisces about being in a youthful quartet, singing "Heart of My Heart".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aura Lea</span> Song

"Aura Lea" is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (lyrics) and George R. Poulton (music). The melody was used in Elvis Presley's 1956 hit song "Love Me Tender".

"Streets of Laredo", also known as "The Dying Cowboy", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying ranger tells his story to another cowboy. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Are So Beautiful</span> 1974 single by Joe Cocker

"You Are So Beautiful" is a song credited to Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, The Kids & Me. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English singer Joe Cocker released a slower version of the song on his album I Can Stand a Little Rain. Cocker's version was produced by Jim Price, and released as a single in November 1974. It became Cocker's highest-charting solo hit in the United States, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number four on Canada's Top Singles chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)</span>

"If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" is a popular song, written by Nat D. Ayer with lyrics by Clifford Grey. It was written for the musical revue The Bing Boys Are Here, which premièred on 19 April 1916 at the Alhambra Theatre in Leicester Square, London. The song was originally performed as a duet between Lucius Bing, played by George Robey, and his love interest Emma, originated by Violet Loraine.

"Frankie and Johnny" is a murder ballad, a traditional American popular song. It tells the story of a woman, Frankie, who finds her man Johnny making love to another woman and shoots him dead. Frankie is then arrested; in some versions of the song she is also executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Could Have Danced All Night</span> 1956 song from My Fair Lady

"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, published in 1956. The song is sung by the musical's heroine, Eliza Doolittle, expressing her exhilaration and excitement after an impromptu dance with her tutor, Henry Higgins, in the small hours of the morning. In a counterpoint during the second of 3 rounds, two maids and the housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, urge Eliza to go to bed, but she ignores them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let Me Call You Sweetheart</span> 1910 song

"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" is a popular song, with music by Leo Friedman and lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson. The song was published in 1910 and was a huge hit for the Peerless Quartet in 1911. A recording by Arthur Clough was very popular the same year too. A 1924 recording identifies a Spanish title, "Déjame llamarte mía".

"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, is one of the most famous songs from their classic 1927 musical play Show Boat, adapted from Edna Ferber's 1926 novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag</span> Song

"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile" is the full name of a World War I marching song, published in 1915 in London. It was written by Welsh songwriter George Henry Powell under the pseudonym of "George Asaf", and set to music by his brother Felix Powell. The song is best remembered for its chorus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding</span> Song

"There's a Long, Long Trail" is a popular song of World War I. The lyrics were by Stoddard King (1889–1933) and the music by Alonzo "Zo" Elliott, both seniors at Yale. It was published in London in 1914, but a December 1913 copyright for the music is claimed by Zo Elliott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside</span> Song by Mark Sheridan

"I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside" is a popular British music hall song. It was written in 1907 by John H. Glover-Kind and made famous by music hall singer Mark Sheridan, who first recorded it in 1909. It speaks of the singer's love for the seaside and his wish to return there for his summer holidays each year. It was composed at a time when the yearly visits of the British working class to the seaside were booming. It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 32459.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen</span> African-American spiritual song

"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" is an African-American spiritual song that originated during the period of slavery but was not published until 1867. The song is well known and many cover versions of it have been recorded by artists such as Marian Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Paul Robeson, and Sam Cooke among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">With a Little Bit of Luck</span> Song from My Fair Lady

"With a Little Bit of Luck" is a popular song by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, written for the 1956 Broadway play My Fair Lady.

References

  1. J. J. Kennedy (4 November 2011). The Man Who Wrote the Teddy Bears' Picnic: How Irish-Born Lyricist and Composer Jimmy Kennedy Became One of the Twentieth Century's Finest Songwriters. AuthorHouse. p. 46. ISBN   978-1-4678-8569-0.
  2. 1 2 3 Marvin E. Paymer; Don E. Post (1999). Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs, 1920-1945. Noble House Publishers. p. 80. ISBN   978-1-881907-09-1.
  3. "Show Me the Way to Go Home", Secondhand Songs. Retrieved 16 November 2020
  4. Howard T. Weiner (6 November 2008). Early Twentieth-Century Brass Idioms: Art, Jazz, and Other Popular Traditions. Scarecrow Press. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-8108-6246-3.
  5. Francis Edward Abernethy, Kenneth L. Untiedt (2004). Both Sides of the Border: A Scattering of Texas Folklore. University of North Texas Press. p. 192. ISBN   9781574411843.
  6. Wilson, Gregory (2014). I Shall Sing and Dance in the Rain. Xlibris Corporation. p. 41. ISBN   9781493159079.
  7. Hischak, Thomas S. (9 November 2018). The Woody Allen Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 60. ISBN   9781538110676.
  8. Leggatt, Matthew (14 November 2017). Cultural and Political Nostalgia in the Age of Terror: The Melancholic Sublime. Routledge. p. 172. ISBN   9781315411477.
  9. Sesame Street - The Cow Who was Looking for a Home, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIlim-W645I
  10. "Frank Crumit Collection 1925-1934 (COMPLETE)". 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings. Internet Archive. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  11. "Max Bygraves – Singalong With Max". Discogs. Retrieved 5 December 2023.