The Lambeth Walk

"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 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 [ [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=531019&Y=178950&A=Y&Z=1 streetmap.co.uk] - Location of "Lambeth Walk"] once notable for its street market and working class culture in Lambeth, an area of London, England.

The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance first made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane. The story line of the original show concerns a Cockney barrow boy who inherits an earldom but almost loses his Lambeth girlfriend.

Dance craze

The choreography from the musical, in which the song was a show-stopping Cockney-inspired extravaganza, inspired a popular walking dance, done in a jaunty, strutting style. The craze reached Buckingham Palace, with King George and Queen Elizabeth attending a performance and joining in the shouted "Oi" which ends the chorus.

The craze also reached America 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. And as with most dance crazes, other well-known orchestras did versions of the song, including Duke Ellington. It was also heard on radio.

An SA Mann of the Nazi Party declared the Lambeth Walk "Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping" in early 1939 as part of a speech about how the "revolution of private life" was one of the next big tasks of National Socialism.

In 1942 Charles A. Ridley of the British Ministry of Information made a short propaganda film, "Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style," which edited existing footage of Hitler and German soldiers (taken from Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will") to make it appear as if they were marching and dancing to "The Lambeth Walk". The film so enraged Josef Goebbels that he ran out of the screening room kicking chairs and screaming profanities. The film was distributed uncredited to newsreel companies, who would supply their own narration.

One of photographer Bill Brandt's most well-known pictures is ""Dancing the Lambeth Walk", originally published in 1943 in the magazine "Picture Post".

The Words to the Song

the opening verses are-

:"Any time you're Lambeth way,:"Any evening, any day,:"You'll find us all:"Doin' the Lambeth Walk. Oi!

:"Every little Lambeth gal,:"With her little Lambeth pal,:"You'll find 'em all:"Doin' the Lambeth Walk. Oi!

Cultural impact

"The Lambeth Walk" had the distinction of being the subject of a headline in "The Times" in October 1938: "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances — to The Lambeth Walk."

In the movie The Longest Day from 1962 about the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 this song is sung by the squadron of Major John Howard in a glider on its way to capture Pegasus Bridge.

The composer Franz Reizenstein wrote a set of "Variations on the Lambeth Walk" with each variation being a pastiche of the style of a major classical composer. Notable are the variations in the style of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt.

References

* Nazis Hold Lambeth Walk is 'Animalistic Hopping', New York Times January 8, 1939 page 26.
* Liner notes for the 2007 Criterion DVD of "Overlord," which includes the Ridley film as one of its extras under the title "Germany Calling." This source gives the date of the Ridley film as 1941, not 1942.