The Fountain in the Park

"The Fountain in the Park", also known as "While Strolling Through (or Thru') the Park One Day", is a song by Ed Haley, a member of the vaudeville act the Haley Brothers.[1] Some authors believe the song was written by Robert A. Keiser, to whom Haley dedicated the song.[2][3] The song was published in 1884 by Willis Woodward & Co. of New York, but dates from about 1880.[4] It is best known for the lyric "While strolling through the park one day, in the merry merry month of May," and has been featured in numerous films, including Strike Up the Band (1940), in which it was sung by Judy Garland.

The Fountain in the Park sheet music cover.

As early as 1938, Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra recorded the song as a Swing Jazz fox trot entitled In the Merry Month of May for Bluebird Records (#B-7606, 1938) featuring the young concert accordionist John Serry Sr.[5][6]

Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs (1961)

Apollo 17

A few bars of "The Fountain in the Park" were sung on the Moon by NASA Astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan on the Apollo 17 mission. Schmitt started by singing "I was strolling on the Moon one day..." when Cernan joined in. Cernan kept with the original "merry month of May", however, while Schmitt sang "December", which was the actual date at the time. After a brief debate, Schmitt resumed, singing "When much to my surprise, a pair of bonny eyes..." before humming the notes instead. Moments later, Capsule Communicator Robert A. Parker cut in from Houston, saying "sorry about that, guys, but today may be December."[7]

External audio
audio icon You may hear the tune "In the Merry Month of May" performed by the Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm Orchestra with the accordionist John Serry Sr. in 1938 Here

Film

TV and Animation

References
  1. Spaeth, Sigmund Gottfried (1979). Read 'em and weep : the songs you forgot to remember. New York : Da Capo Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-306-79564-0. Retrieved 2021-03-01.. Not to be confused with the blind fiddler and composer, Ed Haley (1885-1951)
  2. Marcuse, Maxwell F. (1959). Tin Pan Alley in gaslight;a saga of the songs that made the gray nineties "gay.". Watkins Glen, N.Y.: Century House. p. 60. hdl:2027/uc1.31822013278122.
  3. Studwell, William E. (William Emmett) (1997). The Americana song reader. New York: Haworth Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-7890-0150-4. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  4. Kilgarriff, Michael (1998). Sing us one of the old songs: a guide to popular song 1860-1920. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-19-816657-3.
  5. Rust, Brian (1975). The American Dance Band Discography 1917-1942: Irving Aaronson to Arthur Lange. Arlington House. p. 517. ISBN 978-0-87000-248-9.
  6. "In the Merry Month of May" recorded by Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra on archive.org
  7. "Traverse to Station 1". NASA. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
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