Hit the Road to Dreamland

"Hit the Road to Dreamland"
from the musical Star Spangled Rhythm
Song by Dick Powell, Mary Martin, and the Golden Gate Quartet
Published	1942
Composer(s)	Harold Arlen
Lyricist(s)	Johnny Mercer

"Hit the Road to Dreamland" is a popular song. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

The song was introduced in 1942 in the Paramount musical film Star Spangled Rhythm where it was introduced by Dick Powell, Mary Martin, and the Golden Gate Quartet. It was the rhythmic highlight of the wartime film, set in the dining car of a train with the clickity-clack of the train wheels pacing the song's rhythm. Arlen was a master of tricky jazz rhythms and Mercer's playful colloquial lyric phrases match the music exquisitely.

Betty Hutton's 1956 rendition of the song was featured on the soundtrack to L.A. Confidential (1997). The song was also covered by Susannah McCorkle on her 1993 album From Bessie to Brazil.