"The Charleston" is a jazz composition that was written to accompany the Charleston dance

Charleston (dance)

The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...

. It was composed in 1923

1923 in music

-Events:*November 11 - Premiere of John Foulds's World Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It is repeated on that date each year until 1926....

, with lyrics by Cecil Mack

Cecil Mack

Cecil Mack was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher....

 and music by James P. Johnson

James P. Johnson

James P. Johnson was an American pianist and composer...

, who first introduced the stride piano

Stride piano

Harlem Stride Piano, Stride Piano, or just Stride, is a jazz piano style that was developed in the large cities of the East Coast, mainly in the New York, during 1920s and 1930s. The left hand may play a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and...

 method of playing. The song was featured in the American black Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 musical comedy show Runnin' Wild. The music of the dockworkers from South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 inspired Johnson

James P. Johnson

James P. Johnson was an American pianist and composer...

 to compose the music. The dance known as the Charleston

Charleston (dance)

The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...

 came to characterize the times. It was this song that propelled the dance to international popularity and a place in musical history. Lyrics, though rarely sung (an exception is Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

's 1961 recording), were penned by Cecil Mack

Cecil Mack

Cecil Mack was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher....

, himself one of the most accomplished songwriters of the early 1900s. The song's driving rhythm, basically the first bar of a 3 2 clave

Clave (rhythm)

The clave rhythmic pattern is used as a tool for temporal organization in Afro-Cuban music, such as rumba, conga de comparsa, son, son montuno, mambo, salsa, Latin jazz, songo and timba. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms...

, came to have widespread use in jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and is still referenced by name by musicians.

In the classic 1946 Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....

with James Stewart

James Stewart (actor)

James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...

 and Donna Reed

Donna Reed

Donna Reed was an American film and television actress.With appearances in over 40 films, Reed received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the tramp Lorene in the war drama From Here to Eternity. She is also noted for her role in the perennial Christmas...

, the song was played during the school dance scene. In the movie Tea for Two

Tea for Two (film)

Tea for Two is a 1950 American musical film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Harry Clork and William Jacobs was inspired by the 1925 stage musical No, No Nanette, although the plot was changed considerably from the original book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, and the score by Harbach,...

(1950), with Doris Day

Doris Day

Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

 and Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...

, the song was a featured production number.

Lyrics

Caroline, Caroline, at last they’ve got you on the map.

With a new tune, a funny blue tune, with a peculiar snap!

You many not be able to buck and wing, fox-trot, two-step, or even swing,

If you ain’t got religion in your feet, you can do this prance and do it neat.

Charleston! Charleston! Made in Carolina.

Some dance, some prance, I’ll say, there’s nothing finer

Than the Charleston, Charleston. Lord, how you can shuffle.

Ev’ry step you do leads to something new, man, I’m telling you it’s a lapazoo.

Buck dance, wing dance, will be a back number,

But the Charleston, the new Charleston, that dance is surely a comer.

Sometime you’ll dance it one time, the dance called the Charleston,

Made in South Caroline.

Charleston! Charleston! Made in Carolina.

Some dance, some prance, I’ll say, there’s nothing finer

Than the Charleston, Charleston. Lord, how you can shuffle.

Ev’ry step you do leads to something new, man, I’m telling you it’s a lapazoo.

Buck dance, wing dance, will be a back number,

But the Charleston, the new Charleston, that dance is surely a comer.

Sometime you’ll dance it one time, the dance called the Charleston,

Made in South Caroline!