"Chicago" is a popular song written by Fred Fisher and published in 1922 by Fred Fisher. The original sheet music variously spelled the title "Todd'ling" or "Toddling." The song has been recorded by many artists, but the best-known versions are by Frank Sinatra, Ben Selvin and Judy Garland.
The song alludes to the city's colorful past, feigning "... the surprise of my life / I saw a man dancing with his own wife", mentioning evangelist Billy Sunday as having not been able to "shut down" the city, and State Street where "they do things they don't do on Broadway".
The song made a minor appearance on the U.S. pop charts, reaching #84 in the fall of 1957. It was the first of two charting songs about Chicago recorded by Sinatra. The other was "My Kind of Town" from 1964, which reached U.S. #110.
This song was parodied in 1996 as "Chicago (No Elmos Allowed)" as a satirical commentary on the mass-commercialization of Elmo, as that was when he was at the peak of pop culture saturation with Elmo themed merchandise and Tickle-Me Elmo dolls.
Contents
Lyrics
As with many similar songs, the lyrics have undergone a number of reworkings. The original third verse included the lines, "More Colored people up in State Street you can see,/ Than you'll see in Louisiana or Tennessee" and makes reference to the Chicago Stockyards. Later recordings have a number of replacements: Of all versions, Judy Garland's 1961 Judy at Carnegie Hall concert recording contains more references than most: Marshall Field's department store, the Drake Hotel, the Chicago Loop, The Pump Room at the Ambassador East hotel, and even Mrs O'Leary's Cow.
Film appearances
1937 - Instrumental version played over opening credits of 1933 film, Little Giant with Edward G. Robinson; also reprised later in the film.
1939 - featured in H.C. Potter's 1939 film, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
1942 - the song was featured in the opening and closing credits of the 1942 movie Roxie Hart starring Ginger Rogers and Adolphe Menjou.
1949 - included in the fictionalized biography of Fred Fisher, Oh, You Beautiful Doll.
1952 - used in the 1952 film With a Song in My Heart.
1957 - performed by Frank Sinatra in a 1957 movie in which he starred, The Joker Is Wild. His separately-recorded rendition (i.e., not the same version that is in the film) is the only charting version of the song.
1974 - appears in the film Harry and Tonto.
Live covers
Green Day during a concert at Chicago's United Center on July 13, 2009
Sergio Franchi recorded this song in Italian during his concert in 1965 for RCA Victor, Live at The Coconut Grove
CM Punk at the end of the 27 June 2011 edition of Monday Night Raw