Take me out

For the next several months here in St. Louis—indeed, in every city with a major or minor league baseball team—there's one song that will be close to a second national anthem.  It's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," of course.  Everybody knows the lyrics (or they think they do); but not very many know the song's history.

I say everybody thinks they know the lyrics because the only part of the song that's heard these days—whether in ball parks or in concert halls—is the refrain.  The chorus, in other words.  But like nearly every song of it's vintage (it was written in 1908) "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has two verses that go with the chorus.

Well—four verses, actually.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The lyrics of "Take Me out to the Ball Game" were scribbled down by vaudeville performer, songwriter, and film/radio actor Jack Norworth after seeing a sign advertising a ball game at the polo ground.  He handed that scrap of paper (now enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame) to songwriter Albert Von Tilzer (composer of "(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time," "Oh By Jingo!," and many other lesser hits) who wrote the simple (and therefore easily sung) tune. And the rest, as they say, is history.  "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was immediately popular with vaudeville performers and audiences alike, who loved to sing along to the chorus.


The song was Norworth's biggest hit, eclipsing even his second most famous number, "Shine On, Harvest Moon."  He wrote that one with vaudeville legend Nora Bayes, to whom he was married and with whom he was performing at the time.  They would later divorce and Bayes would marry a total of five times before her death at the age of 50.

Albert Von Tilzer's brother Harry was also a hit songwriter with a local connection; in 1903 he wrote the music for "Under the Anheuser Bush."

But I digress.

Part of the song's success lies in the fact that, like many vaudeville hits, it's actually a story song.  The story is in those two verses known only to song geeks like yours truly, and it goes like this:

1st Verse:
Katie Casey was baseball mad,
Had the fever and had it bad.
Just to root for the home town crew,
Ev'ry sou
Katie blew.
On a Saturday her young beau
Called to see if she'd like to go
To see a show, but Miss Kate said "No,
I'll tell you what you can do:"

[Chorus]

2nd Verse:
Katie Casey saw all the games,
Knew the players by their first names.
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Katie Casey knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:

[Chorus]

Yep, that's right.  The singer in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a woman and the song is really about how she drags her boyfriend to the diamond for a game.  I think it puts an amusing (ahem) spin on the song when you realize that.

Here's something else amusing:  Norworth and Von Tilzer said that when they wrote "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" neither of them had ever seen a baseball game.  Norworth, in fact, wouldn't see a major league game until 1940.
"But wait," I hear you cry, "you said there were four verses.  What about the other two?"

Just testing your attention span, pilgrim.  For reasons known only to him, Norworth wrote a second version of the song in 1927.  The name of the protagonist changes and there's a topical reference to Coney Island (which might be the whole point, come to think of it) but it's otherwise essentially the same song.  Here are the changed verses (the chorus is the same; Norworth knew when he had a good thing going):

1st Verse:
Nelly Kelly loved baseball games,
Knew the players, knew all their names.
You could see her there ev'ry day,
Shout "Hurray"
When they'd play.
Her boyfriend by the name of Joe
Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go",
Then Nelly started to fret and pout,
And to him, I heard her shout:

2nd Verse:
Nelly Kelly was sure some fan,
She would root just like any man,
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along,
Good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Nelly Kelly knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song:

You can find out more about our unofficial national anthem at the Library of Congress site.  Meanwhile, let's get that hot dog vendor over here....

[This article was originally published at Chuck's OnSTL.com blog.]