The Sidewalks of New York (1894)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- A waltz song and chorus that identifies the big apple.
Lyrics:
1. Down in front of Casey's
Old brown wooden stoop
On a summer's evening
We formed a merry group
Boys and girls together
We would sing and waltz
While the "Ginnie" played the organ
On the sidewalks of New York
Chorus:
East side, west side, all around the town
The tots sang "ring a rosie"
"London Bridge is falling down"
Boys and girls together
Me and Mamie Rorke
Tripped the light fantastic
On the sidewalks of New York
2. That's where Johnny Casey
And little Jimmy Crowe
With Jakey Krause the baker
Who always had the dough
Pretty Nellie Shannon
With a dude as light as cork
First picked up the waltz step
On the sidewalks of New York
3. Things have changed since those times
Some are up in "G"
Others they are on the hog
But they all feel just like me
They would part with all they've got
Could they but once more walk
With their best girl and have a twirl
On the sidewalks of New York
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words and music by Chas. B. Lawlor and James W. Blake
published by Howley Haviland & Co.
A small-time vaudevillian, Charles Lawlor had often watched children dancing on the sidewalks. He met up with James Blake, another vaudevillian, in a hat store. On Blake's block when he was a kid, everyone was Irish. They developed these lyrics that provide an idealized view of NYC neighborhoods in the 1890s. They were paid $5000 for the song by a publisher. Lawlor died penniless in 1925. Blake went blind, was penniless and performing in obscurity by 1934. He died in 1935. There is a companion song called The Streets of the Crowded City.
sung by sheet music singer, Fred Feild
piano according to the sheet music
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Get the sheet music and MIDI at:
www.sheetmusic...
It's so cool you bring old music back to life.
Written the year my grandfather was born on the lower east side. so nice to find this.
God Bless Al Smith. May God always embrace thee for thy good works.
My grandma had a music box that played this (she was born in NYC in 1887), I loved it and played it all the time when I was very young
My grandmother (born 1919) who raised me gave me a little pillow with a wind-up music box inside with this song and I would fall asleep with it. I miss her so much.
It’s a beautiful little ditty.
PS: After all these decades, no, let's argue: It's Mamie O'Rourke, I say, and further supported by its Irishness, no? :-) Cheers. You're such a mentsch!
Until recently, I had (as did most of us) thought the name was "Mamie O'Rourke"
in the original song it was....somehow it got "Americanized" as most things back then did....it WAS originally Mamie O'Rourke.....a true Irish lass.
@David Meller not maybe.....that was the original name of the girl.
@@teresamanley7154 I was just taking it from the lyrics printed on the piano roll shown
What a wonderful singalong and memory of singing this some sixty years ago. Thank you SO much! Really moved in the moment. Great things to you!
Glad you enjoyed it! Such a wonderful gem.
David, so many good memories!!
Its a lovely lovely song....I've been to New York its a humbling place with all the history that has happened there. Incredible. I love this song, takes you back in time (not to a gentler time necessarily but it does time warp you back in time) Lovely. Its a piece of history, glad I got to listen to it, especially after watching the entire documentary of how this song came to be.
You can watch that documentary on the link down below.
th-cam.com/video/hXM-g-UAJiA/w-d-xo.html
This song mentions waltzing and is in a waltz rhythm, but can you imagine waltzing to it? I finally figured out why: it was originally sung at a tempo suitable for waltzing. That's appropriate, since this is a nostalgic song about a past New York, not a celebration of New York now.
Great song! Sometimes I sing it as "The Sidewalks of Frankfurt", about the children from my current favorite book, Struwwelpeter.
Nice!
This was NYC's official theme song until 1994 when Sinatra's NY NY replaced it.
I learned something new. I knew the chorus, but I did not know, or forgot, it was a whole song. Love it.
This music speaks life, back then music was meant for the life of people. Not today, the music of today only speaks death into existence mocking the very foundation of life as we desperately need. Music is not what it use to be sadly, and it only will change when Heaven comes back. Amen.
For Annie Clark and Danny O'Connell and New York City
MERRY MELODIES Opening Title
I was just reminded of this song, they disgraced the Belmont Stakes when they stopped playing this after the race. With the coronavirus Belmont they should have played it again!
I agree on your point, but I may be biased. If they do it this way, those whose knowledge of the song comes from the Belmont will be confused.
Very good. Is it London Bridgeis or London bridge is falling down.
Ohh this is the tune I heard in the John Phillip Sousa (1952) movie
Saw a video about this song and it was so sweet. I wish we'd sing it at New Years eve. The video traced the exact people this song was written for and about. "Baker always had the dough" corny but way sweet!
There was an old Abbott and Costello routine in which Bud is trying to get Lou to get a job as a baker "because bakers get dough to loaf!"
link to the video! please. :-)
Thank u! Veto uebertox! Stop the hoax!
My grandmother used to sing the chorus to my mother (with the chorus of Daisy Bell added on to the end) and my mother sang it to me. So interesting to be in an age where we can find these songs again.
My grandma had a music box that played this song
I assume that "up in G" means 'up in God's Heaven" (or maybe it means a prison). "Ginny played the organ" is not Jenny but Guinea, with a hard G, an epithet for an Italian person.
Up in G might be gold, G for grands, or money. They were rich.
How about "on the hog"? I take a proprietary interest in this song.
Robert B. O'Rourke
@@robertorourke2358 I believe that it means to be rich, my grandparents used to use the term "living high on the hog", which meant someone was very rich
When it says The "Ginnie" played the organ, it means that he was an organ grinder.
Mamie o'Rourke.
Really appreciate you including the verses so often. Those add much to the historicity and beauty of the songs.
Yes, there are many reasons that the verses got lost. One of the first was The Illustrated Song. Glass slides were projected from a lantern in theaters and the audience could sing the latest choruses. But I feel strongly that the entire song as written is a unit. The verses give the setting for the chorus (refrain). I always do the whole song and put the full lyrics in the description. You can sing many of these yourself over at the blog Sheet Music Singer .com
I'll second that!
This is awesome. I never heard the entire song.
george carlin complaints and greivances
I knew just the chorus of this before seeing this thanks to the animatronic band Daniel and the Dixie Diggers. I thank you for teaching me the verses to this.
i remember when i was on my great grandmothers knee and she would sing this to me.....:)
Kids LOVE simple songs like this!
This type of music used to be mostly listened to by adults
This was NYC's official theme song until 1994 when Sinatra's NY NY replaced it. Hardly a "Kids" song.
THE DEUCE!
This is a song that is referenced in alot of old NY literature and older movies I've seen. I've always wondered what it sounded like and know I know lol TY
This makes me cry
The bit I always love is the intro where it has the little bit and it does a little ditty start which is so conflicting and beautiful and lovely. And the pitch and key scale it’s in is just fine for this song and it’s very relaxing I think it’s today in sort of a Victorian New York American style music I think.
I meant relaxing instead of conflicting.
I just finished watching a George Carlin special and this song was playing without the words. A core memory was unlocked and I started singing it. I learned this in the late 80s from my third grade music teacher. I knew it was an old song but here I am now, surprised at how old it actually is! I got weird looks from my hubby as I was singing it. Lol
A Treasure trove of the good stuff. Thank you S.M.S. Had to subscribe!💙
When we sang this song we sang it much faster. It's ginny not Jenny, a ginny was a carriage horse.
"Ginnie" was slang for an Italian.
Although spelled “Ginnie,” the intent was to have it mean “Guinea,” a street term of that era for an Italian. It’s pronounced with a hard G. The “Guinea” was playing an organ in the song, with that organ being a hardy-gurdy (Google it)!
We grew up singing the chorus while we were playing potsy and kick the can. Forgot the rest of the words long ago. Thanks for bringing it back!!
Thanks so much!
And an old favourite but a goldie too.
Fred, may I ask you where you are from? (I'm NOT asking the precise location, the city/town, of course NOT!) Just the state or region... I've noticed you distinguish 'whine' and 'wine'...so, I think you're from the South! Am I correct? :-)
Born in Kentucky and lived there until four years old. School years in Michigan.
Thanks! :-)
i love the song and love old music
It's "New Yaaaawwwwk" ;-)
That was a great memory.
I enjoy your recordings very much. Years ago I had a recording of this song by the Robert Cormier Singers. According to the liner notes, they were unable to find out what was meant by "up in 'G'". Do you know what it means? Thanks.
Great to have you on board. I've always thought "up in G" meant "well off financially". Perhaps G stands for Grands, thousands of dollars. Then "on the Hog" might mean so poor they had to "eat pork"? It has something to do with possessions as both are willing to part with all they've got later in the verse.
Thanks, that makes sense to me. I somehow knew you’d have a logical answer. Your approach to these songs are truly wonderful. You bring to them to life once again, by letting the songs speak for themselves, just as written, but still inject your own musical talent to put them across. Rare for any musician, but indispensable for a scholar. Your work is greatly appreciated - I’ve been singing “Me and Mamie O’Rourke” my whole life and now I know it’s wrong!
Yes, these old sheet music songs certainly speak for themselves. This is honest history. Let's let them sing out.
Someone else said it might be jail, as gaol means jail in Gaelic. Meanwhile the others are riding hog...
Up in Glory, maybe, up in Heaven. Reliving that memory may be sweeter than Heaven for them.
I like it :)
You forgot to put this song in the chronological playlist for 1890-1894
Is this "Tempo di valse"?
Sidewalks Of New York is the song.
@@DavidBurgessMechanicalMusic Yes, I know. I take note of songs with my surname. I was asking if it was being performed in waltz tempo.
@@robertorourke2358 Ah, that sorta confused me since I thought you were asking for the title. Oh well.