Morningtown Ride facts for kids

Morningtown Ride is a gentle lullaby song. It was first written and sung by Malvina Reynolds. Many other singers have also performed their own versions of it. The song tells a comforting story about a train journey. All the "little travellers" (children) are on board this special train. The Sandman acts as the guard, making sure everyone is safe on their nighttime trip.

The Seekers' Popular Version

The famous Australian group The Seekers recorded "Morningtown Ride." They first included it on their 1964 album, Hide & Seekers. Later, in 1966, they re-recorded it and released it as a single song. Tom Springfield produced this popular version.

The song became a big hit in the United Kingdom. It stayed on the UK music charts for 15 weeks. On December 28, 1966, it reached its highest spot at number 2. In the United States, the song also did well. It spent seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It reached number 44 there. It also climbed to number 13 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. The song was also popular in other countries. It reached number 2 in Ireland and number 4 in Malaysia. In South Africa, it reached number 9.

Other Artists' Versions

Many other artists have recorded "Morningtown Ride." Here are some of the notable versions:

• The American singing group The Limeliters sang it. Their version appeared on their 1962 album, Through Children's Eyes.
• Malvina Reynolds herself recorded the song. It was on her 1970 album, Artichokes, Griddle Cakes, and Other Good Things.
• The Flanagans also recorded their version in 1964.
• Country Four, a Swedish group, made a Swedish version. It was called Vägen till morgonstad (The Road to Morningtown) in 1967.
• The Irish Rovers released versions of the song. These were on their albums The Irish Rovers Live (1972) and Children of the Unicorn (1976).
• Bob McGrath sang this song on the Sesame Street album. It was on Bert & Ernie Sing-Along in 1975.
• The children's music artist Raffi included it on his 1980 album, Baby Beluga.
• Brendan Grace recorded a version that reached number 25. This was on the Irish Singles Chart in 1985.
• The Wiggles and Jimmy Little sang it together. Their version was on the 2000 album It's a Wiggly Wiggly World.
• Genevieve Jereb sang this song on her 2004 album, Cool Bananas.
• Erkki Liikanen recorded a Finnish language version. It was called "Matka Aamun Kaupunkiin" in 1967.
• Annette Hodgson performed this song in the film The Sapphires. She played the character Noelene.
• A mostly instrumental version by Stan Butcher was used. It became the theme tune for the Junior Choice radio show. This show was on BBC Radio 1.
• Mirusia recorded this song on her 2019 album. It was called "A Salute to The Seekers." This album reached number 1 on the Aria Jazz and Blues chart.