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"Down by the Station" (also known as "Down at the Station") is a popular song written by Paul Mills and Slim Gaillard and first recorded by The Slim Gaillard Trio in 1947.[1] The song was most famously recorded by Tommy Dorsey in 1948.
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2016) |
| "Down by the Station" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | 1948 |
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Mills, Slim Gaillard |
The song remains popular today as a children's music standard. The lyrics of the song are:
Down by the station early in the morning,
See the little pufferbellies all in a row.
See the engine driver pull the little handle,
Puff, puff, Toot! Toot!
Off we go.
It is a simple song about a railroad station master seeing the steam locomotives off to work. The song itself is much older than 1948; it has been seen in a 1931 Recreation magazine.[2]
Whether deliberately copied or not, the tune is very closely related to the chorus of the French-Canadian folk song "Alouette".[3][better source needed] Although the first line is similar to "Alouette", it is more closely related to the tune of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," with the first two lines being similar.[original research?] The third line of "Down By the Station" is higher in pitch than the second, and the fourth line returns to the pitch of the first line (except for a higher pitched or onomatopoetic "Toot! Toot!").[original research?]
- The Four Preps recorded a version of "Down By the Station" in 1959, featuring an entirely different set of lyrics by group members Bruce Belland and Glen Larson. It peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100[4] and #10 in Canada.[5]
- Reverend Wilbert Awdry may have been inspired by the words of the song to write his first Railway Series story, Edward's Day Out.[6]
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