Song Overview
Personal Review
I still remember lowering the needle on my worn RCA Red Seal LP, waiting for the hush before that snap-tight tap riff cracked the silence. 42nd Street hit me like a confetti cannon full of brass and neon. The Original Broadway Cast of 42nd Street released the cut in 1980, but the tune itself dates to Warner Bros.’ 1933 backstage blockbuster—Harry Warren’s melody’s got more mileage than the Shuttle to Times Square.
What makes the song tick? A snare that struts, a walking bass that never calls in sick, and a lyric that sells New York like a carnival barker with glitter in his shoes. Forty-two bars later I’m ready to quit my day job, buy a pair of Capezio K360s, and chase Broadway glory down Eighth Avenue.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Urban postcard. The opening verse paints Midtown as “a crazy quilt that Wall Street Jack built.” Dubin splices Wall Street money with vaudeville hustle—capital and chorus girls co-habiting the same block.
Time-travel montage. “Little nifties from the Fifties… sexy ladies from the Eighties.” Dubin’s lyric free-wheels through decades, turning the street into a living time-capsule where flappers and punks party shoulder-to-shoulder.
Musical DNA. Warren drops a sly ragtime left hand under a jazz-age melody, then lets the trombones slide like subway doors. The 1980 Broadway chart piles on disco-bright trumpets—proof that the street reinvents itself every decade.
Mythic meet-cute. “Where the underworld can meet the elite.” That couplet nails Manhattan’s oldest alchemy: skyscraper bankers and Bowery drifters sharing the same pavement.
Verse Highlights
Pep Talk Prelude
Peggy Sawyer’s spoken intro (“I want to take you there…”) functions like a stage manager raising the ghost light—inviting us behind the velvet rope.
Refrain
Those stacked thirds on “come and meet those dancing feet” demand call-and-response from the pit. Even my living-room stereo joins the chorus.
Song Credits
- Featured: Lee Roy Reams, Wanda Richert & Ensemble
- Producer (1980 cast album): Thomas Z. Shepard
- Composer: Harry Warren
- Lyricist: Al Dubin
- Release Date (OBCR): 1980
- Genre: Broadway Show Tune / Jazz Standard
- Instruments: full theatre orchestra—reeds, brass, strings, rhythm section, twin pianos, tap shoes
- Label: RCA Red Seal
- Mood: Brassy, aspirational
- Length: ~2 min 40 sec (OBCR track 13)
- Track #: 13 on 42nd Street – Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Language: English
- Poetic meter: Trochaic swing
- Copyrights © 1932 (renewed) Warner Bros. Music / 1980 RCA Red Seal
Songs Exploring Themes of Broadway & Dreams
“Lullaby of Broadway” – 42nd Street (film & stage). A nighttime cousin to our title song—same neon glow but whispered after last call. While “42nd Street” struts, “Lullaby” croons.
“On Broadway” – George Benson. Warren & Dubin’s optimism meets Leiber & Stoller’s streetwise doubt. Benson’s jazz-funk guitar sketches the same avenue, but his dreamer watches from across the Hudson.
“Broadway Baby” – Follies. Sondheim’s solo is Peggy Sawyer’s inner monologue five blocks uptown—no tap chorus, just raw yearning under a streetlamp.
Questions and Answers
- Where did the song first appear?
- In Warner Bros.’ 1933 film 42nd Street, sung by Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, and ensemble.
- Did it chart in its own era?
- Yes—Don Bestor’s recording hit #1 in the U.S. trades in April 1933, with Hal Kemp’s version peaking at #7.
- How is the 1980 Broadway arrangement different from the film?
- Champion’s stage version adds full tap-break choruses and key-changes engineered to lift the ensemble three semitones by the coda.
- Any notable covers?
- Jazz stylists from Mel Tormé to Diana Krall have swung the tune; Cherry Poppin’ Daddies dropped a big-band take in 2016.
- Has the song received cinematic recognition?
- Absolutely—the American Film Institute ranked it #97 on its list of top 100 movie songs.
Awards and Chart Positions
Chart Peaks (1933) • Don Bestor & His Orchestra – U.S. #1 • Hal Kemp & His Orchestra – U.S. #7
Honors • AFI 100 Years…100 Songs: #97 (2004) • 42nd Street musical – Tony Award Best Musical (1981) & Best Revival (2001) • Olivier Award Best Musical (1984)
How to Sing?
Range. Peggy sits A3–C5; the chorus spans B2–E4; Julian Marsh’s spoken-song lives around G2–B3.
Rhythmic feel. Treat the back-beat like a soft-shoe—land every off-beat with the ball of the foot to keep articulation crisp.
Breath strategy. Make one silent catch before “little nifties from the Fifties” or you’ll never finish the lyric with clean diction.
Fan and Media Reactions
“The tap-dancing ensemble is the real star of the Santa Barbara revival—curtain up on 30 pairs of feet and the house erupts.” Los Angeles Times, 1995 revival review
“AFI’s list nailed it—‘42nd Street’ still shimmers like the marquee lights it celebrates.” AFI special broadcast
“Krall’s 1993 cover proves the melody can trade spats for smoky jazz and still swing.” Album liner notes, Stepping Out
“When the 2001 revival hit Radio City for the Tonys, that classic vamp felt brand new.” Tony Awards live blog
“Those first two brass hits? Instant goosebumps—every single time.” Reddit thread on show-tune hooks