The Trolley Song

"The Trolley Song" is a song written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis.^[3]

In a 1989 NPR interview, Blane and Martin reminisced about the song's genesis. They were assigned to write a song for the trolley scene in the film. Their first three efforts were rejected by producer Arthur Freed because, as Blane came to realize, Freed wanted something specifically about a trolley and not just a generic love song for Judy Garland's character in that scene.^[4]

In search of ideas, Blane went to the Beverly Hills Public Library and rummaged through turn-of-the-century newspapers to learn more about trolleys in the time period of the St. Louis World's Fair. He finally found a picture of a double-decker trolley with the caption, "Clang, clang, here comes the trolley."^[4] Blane showed the picture to Martin and told him, "Hugh, look at this. And Hugh said, clang, clang, clang went the trolley, and about - it was very few minutes, he had the whole thing going. In fact, it didn't take long to write that song at all once we got the first line."^[4] Three hours later they played it for Freed who said, "now, that's what I wanted all the time."^[4]

The song as conducted by Georgie Stoll for Meet Me in St. Louis has a complex, evocative arrangement by Conrad Salinger featuring harmonized choruses, wordless vocals, and short highlights or flourishes from a wide range of orchestral instruments.^[5][6] It was recorded on April 21, 1944, at Decca Studios on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California.^[1]

"The Trolley Song" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1945 Academy Awards but lost to "Swinging on a Star" from Going My Way.^[7] "The Trolley Song" was ranked #26 by the American Film Institute in 2004 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.

The song has been used in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida as one of the core soundtrack numbers for the dance performances during the Main Street Trolley Show.^[8]