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Run Rabbit Run

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Wikipedia article




'"Run, Rabbit, Run"' is a song written by Noel Gay and Ralph Butler. The music was by Noel Gay and the song was originally sung by Flanagan and Allen accompanied by the Harry Bidgood orchestra.

Background



This song was written for Noel Gay's show 'The Little Dog Laughed', which opened on 11 October 1939, at a time when most of the major London theatres were closed. It was a popular song during World War II, especially after Flanagan and Allen changed the lyrics to poke fun at the Germans (e.g. Run, Adolf, run, Adolf, run, run, Run........)

The lyrics were used as a defiant dig at the allegedly ineffectual Luftwaffe. On 13  November 1939, soon after the outbreak of the Second World War and also soon after the song was premiered, Germany launched its first air raid on Britain, on flying boats that were sheltering in Sullom Voe, Shetland. Two rabbits were supposedly killed by a bomb drop, although it is suggested that they were in fact procured from a butchers' shop and used for publicity purposes.[https://web.archive.org/web/20170109021123/http://photos.shetland-museum.org.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&key=SXsiTiI6MzUsIlAiOnsidmFsdWUiOiJib21iIiwib3BlcmF0b3IiOiIxIiwiZnV6enlQcmVmaXhMZW5ndGgiOiIzIiwiZnV6enlNaW5TaW1pbGFyaXR5IjowLjY1LCJtYXhTdWdnZXN0aW9ucyI6IjUiLCJhbHdheXNTdWdnZXN0IjpudWxsfX0&pg=5&WINID=1483827056459 "The event made headline news across Britain] and a photograph was taken of a man holding two dead rabbits at the site of the crater. The rabbits came from a butcher shop in Lerwick. The story popularised the song Run, Rabbit, Run, which was seen as a skit on the ineffectiveness of the German air force (Luftwaffe)." Photo Number NE02730, Bomb crater, 13th Nov 1939, at https://photos.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk/. Accessed 4 Jan 2021[https://photos.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk/index.php?a=ViewItem&key=SXsiTiI6NSwiUCI6eyJ2YWx1ZSI6InJ1biByYWJiaXQiLCJvcGVyYXRvciI6IjEiLCJmdXp6eVByZWZpeExlbmd0aCI6IjMiLCJmdXp6eU1pblNpbWlsYXJpdHkiOjAuNjUsIm1heFN1Z2dlc3Rpb25zIjoiNSIsImFsd2F5c1N1Z2dlc3QiOm51bGx9fQ&pg=5&WINID=1652955423863#_0oo1QFRnMYAAAGA29EEfg/129694 "The idea that the popular song "Run, Rabbit, Run" commemorated it is nonsense."] /comparing dates of song and bomb/ Photo Number 02963, Bomb Crater, November 1939, at [https://photos.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk/ Shetland Museum Archives], accessed 4 Jan 2021

Walter H. Thompson's TV biography 'I Was Churchill's Bodyguard' rates the song as Winston Churchill's favourite as Prime Minister. Jock Colville, Churchill's private secretary during much of the war, mentions the Prime Minister singing part of the song.Hickman, Tom: 'Churchill's Bodyguard: The Authorised Biography of Walter H Thompson'. Headline Book Publishing, 2005,

In popular culture



* In a 1992 advert for Weetabix, the song is sung by Elmer Fudd as he chases Bugs Bunny.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2feED6Bujh0|title=Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd Weetabix advert]

* In the 2003 movie, House of 1000 Corpses, one of the villains sings this song.

* In 2004, the song was used in an advertisement for Tourism Victoria (Australia), which depicted the Yarra Valley.

* The 2014 television series opener of Outlander used the song.

* The book series and 2016 film 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' uses this song on a number of occasions.

* The 2017 horror film 'Get Out', written and directed by Jordan Peele, uses the original version in the opening scene and once again near the end.

References



Category:1939 songs

Category:Songs from musicals

Category:Songs with music by Noel Gay

Category:Songs with lyrics by Ralph Butler

Category:Flanagan and Allen songs

Category:Songs about rabbits and hares

Category:Songs about hunters

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