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"The Trolley Song" is a song written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis.

In a 1989 NPR interview, Blane and Martin reminisced about the song's genesis. They were assigned to write a song for the trolley scene in the film. Their first three efforts were rejected by producer Arthur Freed because, as Blane came to realize, Freed wanted something specifically about a trolley and not just a generic love song for Judy Garland's character in that scene.

In search of ideas, Blane went to the Beverly Hills Public Library and rummaged through turn-of-the-century newspapers to learn more about trolleys in the time period of the St. Louis World's Fair. He finally found a picture of a double-decker trolley with the caption, "Clang, clang, here comes the trolley." Blane showed the picture to Martin and told him, "Hugh, look at this. And Hugh said, clang, clang, clang went the trolley, and about - it was very few minutes, he had the whole thing going. In fact, it didn't take long to write that song at all once we got the first line." Three hours later they played it for Freed who said, "now, that's what I wanted all the time."

The song as conducted by Georgie Stoll for Meet Me in St. Louis has a complex, evocative arrangement by Conrad Salinger featuring harmonized choruses, wordless vocals, and short highlights or flourishes from a wide range of orchestral instruments. It was recorded on April 21, 1944, at Decca Studios on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

"The Trolley Song" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1945 Academy Awards but lost to "Swinging on a Star" from Going My Way. "The Trolley Song" was ranked #26 by the American Film Institute in 2004 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.

The song has been used in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida as one of the core soundtrack numbers for the dance performances during the Main Street Trolley Show.

Covers

• Five versions of the song charted in 1944-45. Garland's single and a version by the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra—sung as a duet by Monroe and Marilyn Duke—both peaked at number four, but the biggest hit version was by the Pied Pipers, which reached number two on Billboard magazine's "Best Selling Retail Records" chart the week of December 16, 1944.
• Instrumental versions of the song were used in the scores of MGM animated shorts, arranged by Scott Bradley, including Swing Shift Cinderella (1945) and Tom and Jerry cartoons, e.g., Cat Fishin' (1947).
• Numerous jazz instrumental interpretations have been released, such as the one by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in March 1954. The quartet recorded another version in 1962, featuring Paul Desmond on alto sax, and included it on the Bossa Nova U.S.A. album. The distinctive structure of "The Trolley Song"—in which the end of the second and third verses introduce a new melodic line and simulate the feeling that the song is taking off like the accelerating motion of a trolley, or like the dizzying sensation of falling in love—lends itself to jazz improvisation.
• In 2021, Randy Rainbow covered the song in a political parody YouTube version called "Clang Clang Clang went Josh Hawley", about Missouri Senator Josh Hawley.

In popular culture

• In The Simpsons episode "Burns' Heir", Martin Prince sings the song for Mr. Burns, before being punched down by Nelson Muntz.
• At the end of The Simpsons Halloween episode "Treehouse of Horror X", "The Trolley Song" is sung by Rosie O'Donnell.

See also

• List of train songs

References

1. ^ "Decca matrix L 3388. The trolley song-1 / Judy Garland - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
2. ^ Don Tyler (April 2, 2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era. McFarland. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-7864-2946-2.
3. Gilliland, John (October 10, 1972). "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #11 All Tracks". UNT Digital Library.
4. ^ "Remembering 'Christmas' Songwriter Hugh Martin". NPR.org. March 15, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
5. "The Music of Meet Me in St. Louis". Judy Garland News and Events. September 13, 2019.
6. Lysy, Craig (July 25, 2022). "Meet Me in St. Louis – Roger Edens, Georgie Stoll, Conrad Salinger". Movie Music UK.
7. "The 17th Academy Awards | 1945". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
8. "Magic Kingdom Trolley Show Music". YouTube.
9. "Music Popularity Chart – Week Ending Dec. 14, 1944". The Billboard. Cincinnati, Ohio. December 16, 1944. p. 18. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
10. "Swing Shift Cinderella (Short 1945) - Soundtracks". IMDb.
11. "Everytime "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St. Louis is played in Tom and Jerry". YouTube.
12. "Tom & Jerry - "Cat Fishin'" - 1947 - Classic Cartoon". YouTube.
13. "Trolley Song - Dave Brubeck's Greatest Hits". YouTube.
14. "Judy Garland - The Trolley Song Lyrics | Genius Lyrics". Genius.com.
15. For example, the end of Verse 2: "As he started to go then I started to know how it feels / When the universe reels".
16. "Watch Randy Rainbow Channel Judy Garland to Slam Josh Hawley & the GOP". Billboard.
17. Richdale, Jace (April 14, 1994). "Burns' Heir". The Simpsons Archive.
18. Hauge, Ron; Cary, Donick; Long, Tim (October 31, 1999). "Treehouse of Horror X". The Simpsons Archive.

• 1944 songs
• 1944 singles
• Judy Garland songs
• Songs about trains
• Songs from Meet Me in St. Louis
• Songs written by Hugh Martin
• Songs written by Ralph Blane
• Vaughn Monroe songs