"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

Me and My Girl ''Me and My Girl'' is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, wh ...

'' (with book and lyrics by

Douglas Furber Douglas Furber (13 May 1885 – 20 February 1961) was a British lyricist and playwright. Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song "The Lambeth Walk" and the libretto to the musical ''Me and My Girl'', composed by Noel Gay, from which ...

and L. Arthur Rose and music by

Noel Gay Reginald Moxon Armitage (15 July 1898 – 4 March 1954) known professionally as Noel Gay. was a British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows. She ...

). The song takes its name from a local street,

Lambeth Walk Lambeth Walk is a street in Lambeth, London, England, off Lambeth Road. It was at the heart of a working class residential area and there was a street market. The area was originally developed with wells and a recreation ground. Houses foll ...

, once notable for its

street market A street market or open-air market, with alternative names such as: market square and sometimes charity market, in cases where the sale is made for charity reasons, is a market that is set up on certain days of the week, generally on the street i ...

and

working-class culture Working-class culture or proletarian culture is a range of cultures created by or popular among working-class people. The cultures can be contrasted with high culture and folk culture, and are often equated with popular culture and low culture (t ...

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, an area of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The tune gave its name to a

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

dance made popular in 1937 by

Lupino Lane Henry William George Lupino (16 June 1892 – 10 November 1959) professionally Lupino Lane, was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous theatrical Lupino family, which eventually included his cousin, the screenwriter/di ...

. The story line of ''Me and My Girl'' concerns a Cockney

barrow boy ''Barrow boy'' is a British expression with two meanings, occupational and social. Street traders since the 19th century (and perhaps earlier) sold seasonal goods (especially vegetables) from two-wheeled barrows. London street traders were called ...

who inherits an earldom but almost loses his Lambeth girlfriend in the process. It was turned into a 1939 film ''

The Lambeth Walk "The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical theater, musical ''Me and My Girl'' (with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay). The song takes its name from a local street, Lambeth Walk, once notable for i ...

'' which starred Lane.

Dance craze

The choreography from the musical, in which the song was a show-stopping Cockney-inspired extravaganza, inspired a popular walking dance, performed in a jaunty strutting style. Lane explained the origin of the dance as follows: When the stage show had been running for a few months, C. L. Heimann, managing director of the Locarno Dance Halls, got one of his dancing instructors, Adele England, to elaborate the walk into a dance. "Starting from the Locarno Dance Hall,

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, the dance-version of the Lambeth Walk swept the country." The craze reached Buckingham Palace, with

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

and

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

attending a performance and joining in the shouted " Oi" which ends the chorus. The fad reached the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1938, popularized by Boston-based orchestra-leader Joseph (Joe) Rines, among others. Rines and his band frequently performed in New York, and the dance became especially popular at the "better" night clubs. As with most dance crazes, other well-known orchestras did versions of the song, including

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

's. The dance then spread across America, and to Paris and Prague.

Mass Observation Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex. Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...

devoted a chapter of their book ''Britain'' (1939) to the craze. In Germany, big band leader

Adalbert Lutter Adalbert is a German language, German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Deriv ...

made a German-language adaptation called that quickly became popular in swing clubs. A member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

drew attention to it in 1939 by declaring The Lambeth Walk "Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping", as part of a speech on how the "revolution of private life" was one of the next big tasks of

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

in Germany. However, the song continued to be popular with the German public and was even played on the radio, particularly during the war, as part of the vital task of maintaining public morale. In Italy, the song was popularized by Dino Di Luca and the

Trio Lescano The Trio Lescano was a female musical ensemble, vocal group singing in Italian language, Italian from 1936 to 1950, originally consisting of Hungarian-Dutch sisters Alessandra Lescano (Alexandrina Eveline Leschan; 1910–1987), Giuditta Lescano ...

in an Italian version titled . In 1942, Charles A. Ridley of the Ministry of Information made a short propaganda film, ''Schichlegruber'' 'sic''''Doing the Lambeth Walk'', which edited existing footage – including comical 'backstepping' – taken from

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial ...

's ''

Triumph of the Will ''Triumph of the Will'' () is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his name appears in the opening ...

'' to make it appear as if they were goose-stepping and skipping to "The Lambeth Walk". The propaganda film was distributed uncredited to newsreel companies, which would supply their own narration.

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

placed Ridley on a

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

list for elimination if Britain were defeated. In the 1970s, the song

Lambeth walk Lambeth Walk is a street in Lambeth, London, England, off Lambeth Road. It was at the heart of a working class residential area and there was a street market. The area was originally developed with wells and a recreation ground. Houses foll ...

was recorded in French by the French-Italian singer

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...

. One of photographer

Bill Brandt Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt ; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalism, photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his ...

's best-known pictures is "Dancing the Lambeth Walk", originally published in 1943 in the magazine ''

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,000,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

''. Both

Russ Morgan Russell Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being one of the composers of the song " You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock an ...

and

had hit records of the song in the United States.

Cultural impact

"The Lambeth Walk" had the distinction of being the subject of a headline in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in October 1938: "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances – to The Lambeth Walk." In the film '' The Longest Day'' (1962), about the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, this song is sung by glider troopers of Major

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

in a glider on its way to capture Pegasus Bridge. The

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Franz Reizenstein Franz Theodor Reizenstein (7 June 191115 October 1968) was a Germany, German-born British composer and concert pianist. He left Germany for sanctuary in Britain in 1934 and went on to have his teaching and performing career there. As a composer, ...

wrote a set of ''

Variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

on the Lambeth Walk'', each variation a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

of the style of a major classical composer. Notable are the variations in the styles of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, Chopin, and

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

1899 song by Alec Hurley

An earlier, different song titled "The Lambeth Walk" (composed in 1899 by Edward W. Rogers) was popularised by

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

singer

Alec Hurley Alexander Hurley (24 March 1871 – 6 December 1913) was an English music hall singer, and Marie Lloyd's second husband. Born in London, Hurley began a boxing career, during which he would perform a song entitled "The Strongest Man on Earth" af ...

(1871–1913).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambeth Walk 1937 songs Songs from musicals Songs about London Songs with lyrics by Douglas Furber Songs with music by Noel Gay Dance in England Novelty and fad dances