"Down by the Station" (also known as "Down at the Station") is a popular song written by Paul Mills and

Slim Gaillard Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 9, 1911 – February 26, 1991), also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing ...

and first recorded by The Slim Gaillard Trio in 1947. The song was most famously recorded by

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

in 1948.

Background

The song remains popular today as a

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

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. Whether deliberately copied or not, the tune is very closely related to the chorus of the

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

folk song " Alouette". 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 The Four Preps are an American popular music male quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group amassed eight gold singles and three gold albums. Their million-selling signature tunes included "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)", "Big Man (The Four ...

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 Glen Albert Larson (January 3, 1937 – November 14, 2014) was an American musician, television producer, writer, and director. His best known work in television was as the creator of the television series ''Alias Smith and Jones'', ''Battlestar ...

. It peaked at #13 on the Billboard

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

Popular culture

*Reverend

Wilbert Awdry Wilbert Vere Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was best known for creating Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and several other characters he created appeared in ...

may have been inspired by the words of the song to write his first

Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twe ...

story,

Edward's Day Out This article is a list of books in ''The Railway Series'', a British series of children's books written by both the Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. The Rev. W. Awdry Era: 1945–1972 The first 26 books in the series were written ...

References

{{authority control 1948 songs 1959 singles Children's songs Tommy Dorsey songs Songs about trains Songs written by Slim Gaillard

Background

Other versions

Popular culture

See also

References