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Meet
Me in Saint Louis, Louis
(1904)
Words:
Andrew B. Sterling
Music:
Kerry Mills
Arr:
Merv Rowley
The
twelve-year span in America (1892-1904) included two
World Fairs, first the Columbian
Exposition in Chicago, IL, followed by the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition and Centennial in St. Louis, MO. The latter is most commonly referred to as the St.
Louis World’s Fair. These were no ordinary affairs
for the American public, but festive events featuring
exhibits of new technology of all kinds, and
entertainment on a grand scale. The public was
spellbound by the magnitude of such a gala event.
Two Tin Pan Alley songsmiths, F.A. (Kerry) Mills
and A..B. Sterling, were prompted to commemorate the
1904 event with a somewhat frivolous “gang song”
entitled, Meet Me
in Saint Louis, Louis. For reasons that will become
apparent when you read the lyrics, the caption shown
here, beneath the song title on the first page of music,
was added by the lyricist. This is to assure that
the word Louis is
given the French pronunciation, as in “Louisiana”.
♫♫♫
Most readers are already familiar with the chorus
of this well-known tune because of a movie and musical
of the same title in the 1940’s, starring Judy
Garland. The verse lyrics were soon forgotten, and many
will be seeing them here for the first time. They add to
the spirit and purpose of the song, and are intended to
add humor. Note: in measures 51-52, “Hoochie-Koochie” was the name of a current dance
style; in measures 55-56, “toostie-wootsie” meant
“sweetie” or “honey-bunch”. This arrangement
should be easy to play as a sing-along in a festival or
elsewhere.
♫♫♫
The historical links below give biographical
information and details of the fair itself, for those
who may be interested.
Download music/tablature files for
"Meet Me In St. Louis":
PDF
file
TEF(TablEdit)
file
MIDI
file
Historical
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Mills
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_B._Sterling
http://www.explorestlouis.com/uniquelystl/worldsFair.asp?PageType=4
picture
at the top: The Festival
Hall at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, MO
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