Show Me the Way to Go Home

"Show Me the Way to Go Home" is a popular song written in 1925 by the pseudonymous "Irving King" (the English songwriting team James Campbell and Reginald Connelly). 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, and North America.

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 can always hear me singing this song
Show me the way to go home.

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, including radio personalities The Happiness Boys,[2] Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra,[2] and the California Ramblers.[3] Throughout the twentieth into the twenty-first century it has been recorded by numerous artists.

Popular culture

Literature

Film

Television

Popular Music

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. 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.
  4. "Frank Crumit Collection 1925-1934 (COMPLETE)". 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings. Internet Archive. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
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