"I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside" is a popular
Britishmusic hall song. It was written in 1907 by John H. Glover-Kind[1] (1880 – 1918)[2] and made famous by music hall singer
Mark Sheridan, who first recorded it in 1909.[3] It speaks of the singer's love for the seaside and his wish to return there for his summer holidays each year. It was composed at a time when the yearly visits of the British working class to the seaside were booming. It is catalogued as
Roud Folk Song Index No. 32459.
It was used as a signature tune for a long time by
Reginald Dixon MBE, who was the resident organist at the
Tower Ballroom, Blackpool between 1930 and 1970.
Lyrics
Everyone delights to spend their summer's holiday
down beside the side of the silvery sea.
I'm no exception to the rule, in fact, if I'd my way,
I'd reside by the side of the silvery sea.
But when you're just the common garden Smith or Jones or Brown,
At business up in town, you've got to settle down.
You save up all the money you can till summer comes around
Then away you go to a spot you know where the cockleshells are found
Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside!
I do like to be beside the sea!
Oh I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play, "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!"
So just let me be beside the seaside!
I'll be beside myself with glee
and there's lots of girls beside,
I should like to be beside, beside the seaside,
beside the sea!
Timothy went to Blackpool for the day last Eastertide
To see what he could see by the side of the sea.
As soon as he reached the station there the first thing he espied
Was the wine lodge door stood open invitingly
To quench his thirst, he toddled inside and called out for a wine
Which grew to eight or nine, till his nose began to shine.
Said he 'What people see in the sea, I'm sure I fail to see'
Then he caught the train back home again and to his wife said he
Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside!
I do like to be beside the sea!
Oh I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play, "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!"
So just let me be beside the seaside!
I'll be beside myself with glee
and there's lots of girls beside,
I should like to be beside, beside the seaside,
beside the sea!
William Sykes the burglar he'd been out to work one night
filled his bags with jewels, cash and plate.
Constable Brown felt quite surprised when William hove in sight.
Said he, "The hours you're keeping are far too late."
So he grabbed him by the collar and lodged him safe and sound in jail.
Next morning looking pale, Bill told a tearful tale.
The judge said, "For a couple of months I'm sending you away!"
Said Bill, "How kind! Well if you don't mind, Where I spend my holiday!"
Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside!
I do like to be beside the sea!
For the sun's always shining as I make my way,
And the brass bands play, "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay"
So just let me be beside the seaside!
I'll be beside myself with glee
and there's lots of girls beside,
I should like to be beside, beside the seaside,
beside the sea!
References in culture
Cavalcade (1933), starring
Diana Wynyard and
Clive Brook, shows the song being performed by seaside entertainers in a scene set in 1909.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), starring
Basil Rathbone, involves a heavily disguised Holmes singing the song. An anachronism, as the film was set in 1894 thirteen years before the song was written.
Oh What a Lovely War (1969) features a pierside scene where Sir
Douglas Haig is trying to recruit for the First World War, with the words of the song changed to "I do to like to see a lot of soldiers".[citation needed]
The Thomas & Friends Series 18 episode "Thomas the Quarry Engine" (2014) ends with Mavis, Salty, Cranky, Thomas, and Porter singing the song. It is also sung in the Series 19 episode "Toad and the Whale" (2015). An instrumental version is heard in "Thomas & Friends in 4-D: Bubbling Boilers" (2016) on Mr. Bubbles' bubble machine. In the
YouTube video "Meet the Steam Team: Rebecca" (2019), she and Gordon sang a parody of the song called "It's Lovely to Pull the Great Express Train".
In the Hey Duggee Series 2 episode "The Fossil Badge" (2017), a seashell character sings a few lines from the song.
Mr. Bean episodes "Holiday for Teddy" and "A Magic Day Out", Mr. Bean sings the song.
In the Bluey episode "Dad Baby" (Episode 13, Season 2, 2020) Bluey's neighbor Wendy is singing the song while watering her plants in her yard.