| AKA | Show me the way to get home |
| First Published | 1925 |
| Writer/composer | Irving King, Hal Swain | Roud | RN7859 |
| Music Hall Performers | Ella Shields |
| Folk performances | Source Singers (1901 version) Covington, William B. USA : N. Carolina 1913 Cox, Miss Jeanette USA : N. Carolina 1921 Buffalo, Ethel Hicks USA : N. Carolina no date Bennett, Louise USA : N. Carolina; no date Beasley, Antoinette USA : N. Carolina; no date Cheek, Lucille USA : N. Carolina; no date Source Singers (1925 version) Tanner, Gid & his Skillet-Lickers USA : Georgia 1929 McConnell, Mary Alice USA : Virginia 1929-35 Michaels, Chloe USA : N. Carolina 1929-35 [Pub company] England : Sussex 1960 Hunt, Ed Canada : Newfoundland 1974 Griggs, Everett USA : Arkansas : Clinton 1975 |
Show me the way to go home (The basic song by Irving King,1925) When I'm happy, when I'm happy, singing all the while I don't need nobody then to show me how to smile When I'm out upon the spree, toddling down the street With this little melody everyone I greet 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 No matter where I roam, on land or sea or foam You will always hear me singing this song Show me the way to go home Old King Cole was a merry old soul. A merry old soul was he. Called for his pipe and he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three. When they'd had a high old time,all the whole night through what was it that King Cole said, and his fiddlers too? Additional verses as sung by Ella Shields from monologues.co.uk Old Mother Hubbard she went to the cupboard To get her daughter a dress When she got there, the cupboard was bare And so was the daughter, I guess When the daughter heard the news, she had an awful fright Wearing just a great big smile she cried with all her might Crosswords here, crosswords there, everywhere I see People doing puzzles.Oh, what can the matter be? Spooning with a girl last night, she cried with a sigh “What's the word for ‘let's get wed'? So I made this reply Some folks say, eat more fruit, some folks, eat more meat Others say, what's wrong with fish? and how's your poor old feet? I think that's a waste of time, you must with me agree Everyone should sing more songs, Sing this one with me Show me the way to get home (Chorus only, Murray/Berry 1906) Mr Copper will you show me the way to get home, I'm tired and I want to go to bed I drank some gin about an hour ago, And it's done gone to my head Well there ain't no other person going down my way, And I'm afraid to go home alone, So there's only one favour I'll ask if you, Just show me the way to get home. Show me the way to go home babe (Morrow/Herbert 1901) Show me the way to go home babe Show me the way to go home, I'll be just as good as I can, babe And never more will I roam Show me the way to go home babe Show me the way to go home, I've been drunk these last six months, So show me the way to go home.
An international hit song from the 1920s with a chorus still well known throughout the English speaking world. There are a huge number of variations of the song, and where they include anything other than the chorus, most have the basic two verses from the “Irving King” version given above. After that, just about anything goes, and the additional verses vary a great deal. The chorus itself may well be derived from an earlier ragtime song, as explained below.
The song and its predecessor(s) have appeared in the repertoire of traditional singers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Show me the way to go home was a big hit for Ella Shields in the British Music Halls, but it was recorded by dozens of artists internationally so its success did not come from the Halls alone. It was played by dance bands on both sides of the Atlantic, sung by comedians and crooners all over the world, and appears to have been particularly enthusiastically adopted by musicians in the southern United States. It seems that if you lived somewhere in the English-speaking world in the year 1925 it would be difficult to avoid hearing this song.
Its generally agreed that the song was written by young Londoners Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connolly, who together used the pen name Irving King. Many sources also credit Hal Swain, a Canadian jazz musician who played and led a number of dance bands in the UK in the 1920s and 30s.
At least one source claims that the song was composed/written by Canadians Margaret Toohey and Harold Bradley – and sheet music credited to them was published in 1925. From the information I have it appears that these authors wrote different verses and described their very similar chorus as being “adapted from a familiar air “– an acknowledgement that their chorus was older than the verses. However, no other sources that I can find give any credence to their claim and it does not seem to have influenced later singers, so for now I will put this to one side and return to Campbell and Connelly…
Under the headline “£1000 a minute song writing”, a British newspaper report, written 9 months or so after the song was published, confirms that Hal Swain had some initial input and describes the origins of the song:
After thinking hard for 20 minutes one night last January while on a train journey to London, Mr Jimmy Campbell sketched the words and music of the chorus which promises to bring himself and his collaborator, Mr Reg Connolly, the very satisfactory reward of £20,000. The finished product of that initial effort is known to millions in all parts of the world… Show Me The Way to go Home.
Daily Mail Atlantic Edition, October 23, 1925
The article goes on to suggest that “knowing the British public’s weakness for American dance songs, the writers cunningly employed a name of Transatlantic flavour – Irving King”. So confident were Campbell and Connolly that they launched their own publishing business in order to print the sheet music – at the time of the article’s publication they had already sold 750,000 copies. The input of Hal Swain is not particularly clear, but according to Jimmy Connolly:
It was Mr. Hal Swain … who made the suggestion to us originally for the song. It lay dormant in both our minds from the autumn of last year to the night of the fateful journey.
Daily Mail Atlantic Edition, October 23, 1925
It is tempting to speculate about the idea was that was “lying dormant” -could it have been an outline of the chorus??….
The chorus bears a striking similarity to several fragments of African American song collected earlier in the 20th century. The fragments can be found in the Frank C Brown Collection, and most of them were collected between 1900 and the early 1920s (but see footnote). They tend to follow a verse structure associated with the Blues, for example this one from the singing of William B Covington in 1913:
Show me the way to go home babe
Frank C Brown Collection Vol. 3
Show me the way to go home,
I’ve been drunk these last six months,
So show me the way to go home.
Digging deeper, most of these fragments seem to be derived from one or other of two earlier song written for American black-face entertainers:
- Show me the way to go home babe by Wilford Morrow and Archie Herbert, published in 1901.
- Show me the way to get home by Henry Murray and Harry Berry, in 1906
In the racist language of the day these would have been referred to as a “coon songs” – searches of the Internet reveal both were published with covers featuring unpleasant comedic racial stereotypes. I have been unable to access the complete words or music for the 1906 version, but an online searches revealed a picture of the cover of the sheet music which include the chorus given above.
The short lyrics to the 1901 song are given in full above, and whilst the words are very similar, to my ears the tune of the 1901 song bears some similarities the 1925 version. I consulted my colleagues at the Traditional Song Forum, and Vic Gammon kindly suggested that whilst there are superficial differences, for example in rhythm, the similarity is striking, and differences result from simple chord substitutions not uncommon in the period.
The story may extend even further back and it’s distinctly possible that the 1901 version is drawing on fragments of song circulating in the 19th century, In Shearing’s 1913 “Syllabus of Kentucky folksongs” Show me the way to go home is listed as one of a number of hard to classify fragments: “paralipomena which baffle individual description … counting-out rimes, jigs, lullabies, child-rimes, nonsense-rimes, and ditties. They are always rhythmical, and usually rimed, varying in length from a couplet to an endless improvisation”
That last sentence pretty much describes the song perfectly!
Partly for the sake of my sanity, I have made no attempt to discuss the innumerable parodies…
Gid Tanner & his Skillet-Lickers:
Sources:
- VWML entry
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- US Sheet Music for Irving King song: Baylor University
- UK Sheet Music: personal collection
- Syllabus of Kentucky folksongs
- Frank C Brown North Carolina folklore volume 3
- Frank C Brown North Carolina Folklore volume 5
- Mudcat thread
- Fresno Ballad Index entry
- Worldcat Entry for Toohey/Bradley version
- Advert for Toohey/Bradley version [accessed 29/01/21]
- Worldcat entry for Show me the way to go home babe (1901)
- Sheet Music for Show me the way to go home babe (polka, 1901) Library of Congress
- Paymer and Post: Sentimental Journey
[Footnote: One of the fragments, labelled H, collected from African American singers in North Carolina between 1927 and 1932 by John Burch Blaylock, is clearly derived from the 1925 “Irving version”]
Last Updated on October 3, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: January 28, 2021
