Ralph Butler

Who is Ralph Butler?

Ralph Thomas Butler was a British songwriter, responsible for the lyrics of many popular songs of the 1930s and later, mostly with comic or novelty elements.

He was active as a songwriter from the late 1920s until the mid-1950s. Among his most famous songs were "All By Yourself In The Moonlight", published under the pseudonym Jay Wallis, which reportedly sold over a million copies; "Let’s Sing The Cuddly Song"; "The Sun Has Got His Hat On", "Run Rabbit Run", and "Hey! Little Hen", all co-written with Noel Gay; "Let's All Go To The Music Hall", written with Harry Tilsley and Lawrence Wright; "There's A Lovely Lake In London", with Tolchard Evans and Stanley Damerell; "Horsey Horsey", with Paddy Roberts; "Come And Have A Drink At The Victory Arms", with Tolchard Evans; and "Nellie the Elephant", written with Peter Hart. Another song, also co-written with Noel Gay, "We Don't Know Where We're Going", was used to great effect during war scenes in the movie Overlord.

He died in 1969 in a London hospital, at the age of 82.