I Want to Go Back to Michigan is a song by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

composed in 1914. It was a moderate commercial success when it was first released with popular versions by Elida Morris and by Morton Harvey. Afterwards it became a staple in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

. Its most famous performance was by

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

in the film ''

Easter Parade The Easter parade is an American cultural event consisting of a festive strolling procession on Easter Sunday. Typically, it is a somewhat informal and unorganized event, with or without religious significance. Persons participating in an East ...

''.

Lyrics

The

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

's lyrics employ imagery of an idyllic rural childhood juxtaposed against less appealing city life, which was a theme among some popular songs during this period of rapid urban growth in 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 ...

. :''You can keep your cabarets'' :''Where they turn nights into days.'' :''I'd rather be where they go to bed at nine.'' :''I've been gone for seven weeks'' :''And I've lost my rosy cheeks.''

Composition

According to Charles Hamm in a biography of Irving Berlin, the songwriter composed "I Want to Go Back to Michigan" at a time when his ambitions were aiming past

toward musical theater and he was exercising new styles. The nostalgic reminiscence here, along with "Happy Little Country Girl" composed during the same period, was previously unknown in his work. Billy Murray, a popular singer during the period when the song was first composed, recorded it for

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important and successful company in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by ...

in 1914.

Other recordings

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

recorded it on December 3, 1947 (Decca 9-24424) *

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

included the song in his album ''Burl Ives Sings Irving Berlin'' (1960).

Movies

The Avalon Boys performed an a cappella version of the song in the 1931

Laurel & Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the ...

film ''

Pardon Us ''Pardon Us'' is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the team's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. Plot Du ...

''.

performed the song in the 1948 film ''Easter Parade'', which was written around a mixture of ten older and eight newly composed Irving Berlin songs. Berlin's deal with MGM for the package of songs that included "I Want to Go Back to Michigan" was $500,000 plus a percentage of box office receipts, which was an unusually advantageous contract for a songwriter and amounted to twenty percent of the film's total budget of $2.5 million. The film won the 1948

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Musical Score.

References

External links

{{authority control 1914 songs Songs about Michigan Songs written by Irving Berlin