(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China
"On A Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser published in 1948.
The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including a duet between Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni James, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jimmy Buffett, Fats Domino and Liza Minnelli.
In the UK, the biggest hit version was recorded in 1959 by Emile Ford and the Checkmates, which peaked at #3 in the official singles chart.
Paul McCartney sang this song to honor Frank Loesser.
Idiom
Frank Loesser's daughter, Susan Loesser, authored a biography of her father, A Most Remarkable Fella, in which she writes:The idea is that a slow boat to China was the longest trip one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time.
Media
The phrase "a slow boat to China" (or a [snowclone] thereof) features
- The title of Gavin Young's break-through book, recounting a journey from Piraeus to Canton.
- The title of a novel by Chen Danyan in Shanghai, China.
- The title of a short story by Haruki Murakami, translated into English in the collection The Elephant Vanishes.
- Played on in the title of the song "Slow Hole to China" on the 2003 compilation album Slow Hole to China: Rare and Unreleased by the band Clutch.
- Referenced within the film 'The Apartment' with the innuendo "Boy I'd like to get her on a slow boat to China"
- Played on in the title of the song "Slowcar to China" on the Gary Numan album Dance.
- Referred to elsewhere in Only Fools and Horses; an episode is called "Slow Bus to Chingford".
- Description of "girls Stepping on that slow boat to China" in the Sailor song "Girls Girls Girls"
- Used as a pun in a lyric for the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? theme song by Rockapella.