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Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis
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"Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis", better known as just Meet Me in St. Louis, was a popular song from 1904 which celebrated the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, i.e., the St. Louis World's Fair. The words were by Andrew B. Sterling; the music, by Kerry Mills. The song was published in 1904 in New York by Mills's firm operating under the name F. A. Mills. It was recorded by many artists such as Billy Murray.
The song and the fair were focal points of the Judy Garland movie, Meet Me in St. Louis.
"Louis" in the song is pronounced "LOO-ee", akin to the French. The song is one of the few instances of pronouncing the city's name that way. It is normally pronounced "LOO-is".
The song, which is generally styled in the form of a limerick, has many and varied verses, few of which are remembered today — unlike the chorus.
Verse 1
- When Louis came home to the flat
- He hung up his coat and his hat
- He gazed all around
- But no wifey he found
- So he said, "Where can Flossie be at?"
- A note on the table he spied
- He read it just once, then he cried
- It ran, "Louis, dear,"
- "It's too slow for me here,"
- "So I think I will go for a ride..."
Verse 2
- The dresses that hung in the hall
- Were gone, she had taken them all
- She took all his rings
- And the rest of his things
- The picture he missed from the wall
- "What, moving?" the janitor said
- "Your rent is paid three months ahead!"
- "What good is the flat?"
- Said poor Louis, "Read that!"
- And the janitor smiled as he read...
Chorus
- Meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
- Meet me at the Fair
- Don't tell me the lights are shining
- Anyplace but there
- We will dance the "Hoochie-Koochie"
- I will be your "Tootsie-Wootsie"
- If you will meet me in St. Louis, Louis,
- Meet me at the Fair.
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