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Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie

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"Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie"
1905 sheet music cover with insert photos of songwriter Harry Von Tilzer and of singer Geo. R. Brown.
Song
Released1905 (1905)
GenrePop standard
Composer(s)Harry Von Tilzer
Lyricist(s)Andrew B. Sterling
Audio sample
Sung by Harry Tally in 1905. (Victor 4551)

"Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" is a 1905 popular song with music written by Harry Von Tilzer and lyrics by Andrew B. Sterling.[1][2][3]

History

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"Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" has been recorded many times and is now considered a pop standard. The first recorded versions were by Byron G. Harlan and Harry Tally.[4]

Bing Crosby and Mary Martin sang it in the 1941 film Birth of the Blues, and also recorded it for Decca Records on March 13, 1942.[5] Harry James recorded a version in 1941 on Columbia 36466.

In a long-standing tradition, floor traders at the New York Stock Exchange sing this song on the last trading day of every year and on Christmas Eve.[6] The song has been the stock exchange anthem at least back as far as 1934.[7][8]

It is also a popular song in barbershop music.

It appeared as a country music hit as performed by the Golden Memory Boys in the summer of 1940.

A sample of the song, sung a cappella by Tom Bromley, an elderly First World War veteran, appears on the Roger Waters 1992 album Amused to Death at the end of the track "What God Wants (Part III)". The clip is from BBC television's 1991 Everyman documentary, "A Game of Ghosts".[9]

Film appearances

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The song has been featured in many films and found ideal for the purpose of evoking a period flavor.

References

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  1. ^ Derrick, Jayson (2016-12-27). "The 140-Year-Old Holiday Tradition On The NYSE Floor You Probably Don't Know". Benzinga. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  2. ^ "Song: Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie written by Harry Von Tilzer, Andrew B. Sterling | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  3. ^ "150.114 - Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie. Harry Von Tilzer's Great Novelty Marcy Song. | Levy Music Collection". levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. pp. 602. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  5. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  6. ^ "Stocks advance in light, Christmas Eve trading". Deseret News. New York. Associated Press. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2019. Floor traders, as they do every year on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, gathered for a moment at the New York Stock Exchange to sing "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." The song is about waiting for the rain to end, and the Big Board tradition has roots going back to the Great Depression.
  7. ^ "Along The Highways of Finance". New York Times. June 24, 1934. Retrieved 2008-12-25. The Stock Exchange anthem, by common consent, has been for many years "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." In recent years "The Wearing of the Green" has ...
  8. ^ "State of the Market". Time magazine. July 20, 1934. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved 2008-12-25. Floor favorites as "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" or "The Wearing of the Green."
  9. ^ "A Game of Ghosts". Everyman. 1 July 1991. BBC Television.
  10. ^ "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  12. ^ "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
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