Nice & Lyrical

The No. 1 jukebox and hit-parade tune last week was Lyricist Johnny Mercer's On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe -- from the railroad of the same name. Written two years ago for M.G.M.'s yet unreleased The Harvey Girls, the song began catching on a month ago, became one of the quickest hits in the history of the U.S. music business. Sheet-music sales to date: 500,000.

Actress Judy Garland, who sings it in the picture, and who last winter sent The Trolley Song down the track to success, says that friends are calling her "Miss Transportation of 1945." Song Writer Mercer, explaining that he dashed off the lyrics in an hour, says: "I saw the name on a boxcar once -- thought it had a nice, lyrical quality."

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