{{Distinguish|Bowery (song)}} right|thumb|200px|{{center|Sheet Music to ''The Bowery'', 1892}} "'''The Bowery'''" is a song from the musical ''A Trip to Chinatown'' with music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Charles H. Hoyt. The musical toured the country for several years and then opened on Broadway in 1891.<ref name="Kenrick2">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Kenrick | first = John | title = The 1890s: Part I| encyclopedia = Musicals 101.com, The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, Television and Film | year = 2008 | url = http://www.musicals101.com/1890-1900.htm | format = website | access-date = 2009-02-11}}</ref>
==Description== The song is written in 3/4 time in a major key. The lyrics describe an incident in New York City and have nothing to do with the plot, a story set in San Francisco.<ref name="Kenrick">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Kenrick | first = John | title = Sample Lyrics| encyclopedia = Musicals 101.com, The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, Television and Film | year = 2008 | url = http://www.musicals101.com/lybowery.htm | format = website | access-date = 2009-02-11}}</ref> They consist of six verses interspersed with the chorus, which ends with the vow:
<blockquote>The Bowery, the Bowery,<br /> I'll never go there anymore!</blockquote>
Although the Bowery neighbourhood of New York City was where theater life flourished from about 1860 to 1875, by the 1880s it had become a sordid district.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title = the Bowery | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76169/the-Bowery | access-date = 2009-02-06 }}</ref> The experience of the singer is described in part by the ''Village Voice'':<ref>{{cite web | last = Christgau| first = Robert| author-link = Robert Christgau | title =Noise on Music Central | work = The Village Voice | date = February 22, 2005| url = http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-02-22/nyc-life/noise-on-music-central/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090116225813/http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-02-22/nyc-life/noise-on-music-central/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 16, 2009 | access-date = 2009-02-06 }}</ref>
<blockquote>He's [the singer] buttonholed by a grifter and conned by a shopkeeper before entering "a concert hall," where he starts a row because he thinks "A New Coon in Town" is directed at him. Bye-bye rube: "A man called a bouncer attended to me./I'll never go there any more."</blockquote>
==Lyrics== {| class="wikitable" | '''The Bowery'''<ref name="Kenrick"/><br /> by Charles H. Hoyt and Percy Gaunt<br /> From the Broadway play ''A Trip to Chinatown'' (1891) <poem>''Verse 1'' Oh! the night that I struck New York, I went out for a quiet walk; Folks who are "on to" the city say, Better by far that I took Broadway; But I was out to enjoy the sights, There was the Bow'ry ablaze with lights; I had one of the devil's own nights! I'll never go there anymore.
''Refrain'' The Bow'ry, the Bow'ry! They say such things, And they do strange things On the Bow'ry! The Bow'ry! I'll never go there anymore!
''Verse 2'' I had walk'd but a block or two, When up came a fellow, and me he knew; Then a policeman came walking by, Chased him away, and I asked him why. "Wasn't he pulling your leg?," said he. Said I, "He never laid hands on me!" "Get off the Bow'ry, you Yap!," said he. I'll never go there anymore.
(''Repeat Refrain'')
''Verse 3'' I went into an auction store, I never saw any thieves before; First he sold me a pair of socks, Then said he, "How much for the box?" Someone said "Two dollars!" I said "Three!" He emptied the box and gave it to me. "I sold you the box not the sox," said he, I'll never go there any more.
(''Repeat Refrain'')
''Verse 4'' I went into a concert hall, I didn't have a good time at all; Just the minutes that I sat down Girls began singing, "New Coon in Town," I got up mad and spoke out free, "Somebody put that man out," said she; A man called a bouncer attended to me, I'll never go there anymore.
(''Repeat Refrain'')
''Verse 5'' I went into a barbershop, He talk'd till I thought that he'd never stop; I: "Cut it short," he misunderstood, Clipp'd down my hair just as close as he could. He shaved with a razor that scratched like a pin, Took off my whiskers and most of my chin; That was the worst scrape I'd ever been in. I'll never go there anymore.
(''Repeat Refrain'')
''Verse 6'' I struck a place that they called a "dive," I was in luck to get out alive; When the policeman heard of my woes, Saw my black eye and my batter'd nose, "You've been held up!" said the copper fly. "No, sir! But I've been knock'd down," said I; Then he laugh'd, tho' I could not see why! I'll never go there anymore!
(''Repeat Refrain'') </poem> |}
==History== right|thumb|250px|A poster with lyrics to ''The Bowery'', 1890The producer/playwright/lyricist Charles H. Hoyt (1849–1900) collaborated on at least 11 musicals with conductor/composer Percy Gaunt (1852–1896).<ref>{{cite web | title = THE INTERNET'S ORIGINAL (1988) COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS DATABASE| year = 1988| url = http://nfo.net/cal/tg1.html | access-date = 2009-02-12 }}</ref> Hoyt, who has been called the Father of American Farce,<ref name="Hoyt">{{cite web| last = Hoyt| first = Cliff| author2 = Linda Hoyt| title = Charles Hoyt, Popular Playwright of the Gay Nineties| url = http://choyt48.home.comcast.net/~choyt48/chhoyt_run.htm| access-date = 2009-02-11| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100127194005/http://choyt48.home.comcast.net/~choyt48/chhoyt_run.htm| archive-date = 2010-01-27}}</ref> developed a style in his musicals based upon fast action, outrageous situations, witty dialogue, dancing, acrobatics, and singing. The meager plot of ''A Trip to Chinatown'' did not remain constant during its long run but varied with changes in novelty acts, songs, characters, and lines.<ref name="Hoyt"/> One constant was ''The Bowery'', which had been interpolated initially to shore up the musical's appeal.<ref name="Behrens">{{cite web | last = Behrens| first = Frank| title = The Stories Behind the Songs| work = Art Times | date = June 2005| url = http://www.arttimesjournal.com/music/June%2005music.htm | access-date = 2009-02-11 }}</ref> The strategy proved successful, and ''The Bowery'' became a major factor in the show's success.<ref name="Behrens"/> It was introduced on Broadway by comic Harry Conor.<ref name="Behrens"/> ''A Trip to Chinatown'' ran for 650 performances and set a Broadway record that stood for 20 years.<ref name="Hoyt"/> ''The Bowery'' sold more than 1 million copies of sheet music and has remained a familiar song.<ref>{{cite book | last = Crawford| first = Richard| title = "After the Ball": The Rise of Tin Pan Alley|work = America's Musical Life | year = 2001| publisher = W.W Norton & Company| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=l8qJI3ak-UsC&q=%22the+bowery%22+song+HOYT+GAUNT&pg=PA483 | isbn = 9780393048100| access-date = 2009-02-11}}</ref>
Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album ''Join Bing and Sing Along'' (1959).
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://archive.org/download/TheBoweryFromATripToChinatown/TheBoweryFromATripToChinatown.mp3 ''The Bowery'' (mp3 file)] from [https://archive.org/details/TheBoweryFromATripToChinatown Internet Archive]. *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crh1v3zdCEs Recording by the New York Light Opera] *[http://cather.unl.edu/j00029.html Willa Cather review of touring production of ''A Trip to Chinatown'' in 1894]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowery, The}} Category:1891 songs Category:Bowery Category:American comedy songs Category:Songs about New York City Category:Songs from musicals