“On The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"

The Oscar-winning song, “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” was written by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Johnny Mercer for the 1946 motion picture, The Harvey Girls. In the film, the song is an important element in a nine-minute sequence which charts the growing excitement in the Arizona community of Deadrock as the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe train arrives. Among the passengers aboard the train are young women who have come to the Southwest to be waitresses, or “Harvey Girls,” in a Harvey House restaurant. The song became a staple in the repertoire of Judy Garland, the film’s star. Garland’s photograph is central to the design on the sheet music cover. The illustrations of dance hall girls and Harvey House waitresses that flank the photo convey graphically the central plot conflict in the movie.

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