"Walking Down Canal Street" is a

drinking song A drinking song is a song sung while drinking Alcoholic beverage, alcohol. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. ...

from

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...

New York, describing Canal Street. There are variations and additional

impromptu An impromptu (, , loosely meaning "offhand") is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ''ex tempore'' improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano. According to ''Allgeme ...

verses. Max Hunter collected a version of this song from Charles Varley on January 19, 1967, in Hope, Arkansas (Se
here
. This recording is now on the Southern Missouri State University website online archive of the

Max Hunter Max Franklin Hunter (July 2, 1921November 6, 1999) was an American folklorist who, while working as a travelling salesman, compiled an archive of nearly 1,600 folk songs from the Ozarks region of the southern United States between 1956 and 197 ...

Collection. In 2015, the

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team at the

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washingt ...

was dissolved indefinitely after a recording of team members singing a version of the song was publicized.

Lyrics

Each line is usually first sung by the lead singer, then repeated by the group.

References

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Sources

*Randolf, Vance and G. Legman (editor). ''Roll Me In Your Arms''. "Walking Down Canal Street" on pg. 561. *

Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, also known as Doug Clark and his Hot Nuts, The Hot Nuts and, since the death of Doug Clark in 2002, Doug Clark's Hot Nuts, is an American rhythm and blues, rock and novelty band that has played party and club dates fo ...

. Rush Week P ND (ca 1965). Song is titled "Canal Street". Drinking songs Songs about prostitutes Songs about New York City Songs about diseases and disorders Songs about pregnancy Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown