Down by the Station

"Down by the Station" (also known as "Down at the Station") is a popular song written by Paul Mills and Slim Gaillard and first recorded by The Slim Gaillard Trio in 1947.[1] The song was most famously recorded by Tommy Dorsey in 1948.

"Down by the Station"
Song
Written1948
Songwriter(s)Paul Mills, Slim Gaillard

Background

The song remains popular today as a children's music standard. The opening lines of the song are: Down by the station, early in the morning, see the little pufferbellies all in a row. It is a simple song about a railroad station master seeing the steam locomotives off to work. The song itself is much older than 1948; it has been seen in a 1931 Recreation magazine.[2]

Whether deliberately copied or not, the tune is very closely related to the chorus of the French-Canadian folk song "Alouette".[3] Although the first line is similar to "Alouette", it is more closely related to the tune of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," with the first two lines being similar. The third line of "Down by the Station" is higher in pitch than the second, and the fourth line returns to the pitch of the first line (except for a higher pitched or onomatopoetic "Toot! Toot!").

Other versions
  • The Four Preps recorded a version of "Down by the Station" in 1959, featuring an entirely different set of lyrics by group members Bruce Belland and Glen Larson. It peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4]

References
  1. "secondhandsongs.com". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  2. "Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning". Mudcat.org. Archived from the original on 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  3. "Lyr Req: Down by the station, early in the morning". Mudcat.org. Archived from the original on 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 314.
  5. RMT-Rede Mundo de Televisão (2016-08-09), Thomas & Friends | Interview - Rev. Wilbert Awdry - TVam (1984), retrieved 2018-01-04
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