"Down by the Lazy River" is a song written by Alan and

Merrill Osmond Merrill Davis Osmond (born April 30, 1953) is an American musician, singer, and occasional actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and bassist of the family music group The Osmonds and The Osmond Brothers, as well as an occasional s ...

and performed by

The Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...

, it was produced by Alan Osmond and Michael Lloyd. "Down By the Lazy River" was released on January 15, 1972 and appeared on the band's 1972 album, '' Phase III''. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on March 24, 1972. In 2021, the song was featured in the '' South Park'' episode " South ParQ Vaccination Special".

Chart performance

Weekly charts

It reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on March 4, 1972, and spent two weeks at No. 3 on the '' Cash Box'' Top 100. It also reached No. 40 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1972. The song reached No. 1 for two weeks in both the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Year-end charts

The song was ranked No. 36 on '' Billboard'' magazine's Top '' Hot 100'' songs of 1972. ''Cash Box'' had it at No. 30 for the year. The song, like almost all of the Osmonds' discography, was largely left out of recurrent rotation as radio stations no longer play the record; of all of the Osmonds' songs, "Down by the Lazy River" fared the worst relative to its popularity at the time.

Certifications

Cover versions

# 1973 - The Barron Knights, on the album ''Barron Knights'' # 1974 -

Society of Seven The Society of Seven (SOS) is a musical group that performs a variety show of the same name. Based in Hawaii, it was formed in 1969 from the pop group known as the Fabulous Echoes, which originated in Hong Kong in the early 1960s. The group mainl ...

# 2002 - Montezuma's Revenge # 2002 - Wonderboy, on the compilation album ''Right to Chews - Bubblegum Classics Revisited'' # 2007 - Rytterne Röj, a Swedish band

References

1971 songs 1972 singles Songs about rivers The Osmonds songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles MGM Records singles Songs written by Alan Osmond Songs written by Merrill Osmond Songs written by Wayne Osmond Song recordings produced by Michael Lloyd {{1970s-single-stub