"Das Glühwürmchen", known in English as "The Glow-Worm", is a song from

Paul Lincke Carl Emil Paul Lincke (7 November 1866 – 3 September 1946) was a German composer and theater conductor. He is considered the "father" of the Berlin operetta. His well-known compositions include "" ("Berlin Air"), the unofficial anthem of Berlin ...

's 1902 operetta ''Lysistrata'', with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

lyrics by Heinz Bolten-Backers. In the operetta, it is performed as a trio with three female solo voices singing alternately and the women's chorus joining in the refrain. Rhythmically, it is in the form of a

gavotte The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, accordin ...

. The song, with its familiar chorus, was translated into English and became an American

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

History

It was originally translated into English by Lilla Cayley Robinson, in the early 20th century, and was used in act 2 of the 1907 Broadway adaptation of the musical ''

The Girl Behind the Counter ''The Girl Behind the Counter'' is an Edwardian musical comedy with a book by Arthur Anderson (dramatist), Arthur Anderson and Leedham Bantock, music by Howard Talbot and lyrics by Arthur Anderson (dramatist), Arthur Anderson (and additional lyr ...

''. American lyricist

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

later expanded and greatly revised Robinson's lyrics, for the 1952 recording by

The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers and originally known as Four Boys and a Guitar, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and g ...

. His version was a hit for the Mills Brothers, and it has been performed by several others. The tune has also been heard as an orchestral instrumental.

Lyrics

Robinson's English-translation lyrics (circa 1905):

kept the original chorus basically intact and added three new "verses" to that same tune but did not use music from the original song's verses at all.

Renditions and other appearances in popular culture

* Probably the best-known recording of the song was done by

with the

Hal McIntyre Hal McIntyre (born Harold William McIntyre; November 29, 1914, Cromwell, Connecticut – May 5, 1959, Los Angeles, California) was an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. McIntyre played extensively as a teenager and led his ...

Orchestra in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. Their version spent 21 weeks on the charts, including 3 weeks at #2. * Ballerina

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...

performed an orchestrated version of "The Glow-Worm". * The Victor Company's

Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents w ...

arranged and recorded an instrumental version titled '' The Glow-Worm--Idyl'' with the Victor Salon Orchestra, released as Victor 19758 in 1925. *

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment wer ...

released a version of the song in 1946, replete with his typical comic sound effects. *

Allan Sherman Allan Sherman (born Allan Copelon or Allan Gerald Copelon; November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973) was an American musician, satirist, and television producer who became known as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, '' M ...

parodied the song as "Grow, Mrs. Goldfarb." * The song was heard multiple times in the season 2 ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'' episode "The Saxophone" (1952), being played by Lucy Ricardo (

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

) on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

. * The tune was used in pianist George Feyer's RCA Victor album ''Memories of Viennese Operettas'' (1958) *

Jean-Jacques Perrey Jean Marcel Leroy (20 January 1929 – 4 November 2016), better known as Jean-Jacques Perrey (), was a French people, French electronic music performer, composer, producer, and promoter. He is considered a pioneer of pop electronica.Mister Ondioline''. * In the 1960s, the soft drink

Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. Dr Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper in t ...

used the tune of the song's chorus in its "It's Dr Pepper Time!" ads. * In an early sketch by

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

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(performed by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

) sits on a wall and hums "Glow-Worm". One by one, small worms crawl up to Kermit, and he eats them - but the third worm turns out to be the long nose of a giant monster, who eats Kermit. This sketch was performed on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' (November 27, 1966), in a 1971 episode of ''

The Dick Cavett Show ''The Dick Cavett Show'' is the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: * ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968 – January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning'' * ABC prime time, Tuesday ...

'', and ultimately on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'' itself. * The German keyboard player Klaus Wunderlich recorded an electronic version in 1974 using a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

to imitate the sound of glow-worms, frogs, mosquitoes and other animals. *

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

recorded a version with alternate lyrics for his 1992 Christmas album, ''

Christmas Songs Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of J ...

''. * An orchestral arrangement of the song is used in

McCain Foods McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a ...

's "Good Unlimited" ads, which first aired in November 2009. * In Season 8 of '' Ninjago'', the character Cole cannot remember the whole song, and in frustration sings part of the chorus repeatedly

References

External links

*
"The Glow-Worm" lyrics, Robinson and Mercer versions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glow-Worm, The Songs with music by Paul Lincke Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer Spike Jones songs Songs about insects 1902 songs 1952 singles Compositions in E-flat major