Ralph Thomas Butler (12 October 1886 – 8 April 1969) was a British songwriter, responsible for the lyrics of many popular songs of the 1930s and later, mostly with comic or novelty elements. He was active as a songwriter from the late 1920s until the mid-1950s. Among his most famous songs were "All By Yourself In The Moonlight" (1929), published under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Jay Wallis, which reportedly sold over a million copies; "Let’s Sing The Cuddly Song" (written with Julian Wright, 1929); " The Sun Has Got His Hat On" (1932), " Run, Rabbit, Run" (1939), and "Hey! Little Hen" (1941), all co-written with

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 ...

; "Let's All Go To The Music Hall" (1934), written with Harry Tilsley and

Lawrence Wright Lawrence Wright (born August 2, 1947) is an American writer and journalist, who is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as ...

; "There's A Lovely Lake In London" (1935), with

Tolchard Evans Sydney Edmund Tolchard Evans (20 September 1901 – 12 March 1978) was a British songwriter, composer, pianist and bandleader, whose works were popular from the 1920s to the 1960s. Early life He was born in West Kilburn, London, the son of Edmu ...

and Stanley Damerell; " Horsey Horsey" (1938), with Paddy Roberts; "Come And Have A Drink At The Victory Arms" (1941), with Tolchard Evans; and "

Nellie the Elephant "Nellie the Elephant" is a children's song written in 1956 by Ralph Butler and Peter Hart about a fictional anthropomorphic elephant of that name. Original version The original version, released on Parlophone R 4219 in October 1956, was record ...

" (1956), written with Peter Hart. Another song, also co-written with Noel Gay, " We Don't Know Where We're Going" (1944), was used to great effect during war scenes in the movie ''

Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or ...

''. He died in 1969 in a

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 ...

hospital, at the age of 82.

References

1969 deaths English lyricists 1886 births {{songwriter-stub