"Easter Parade" is an American popular song with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, published in 1933. Berlin first wrote the melody in 1917 under the title "Smile and Show Your Dimple", a cheer-up song during World War I. A 1918 recording of that version by Sam Ash had modest success. Berlin later reworked the tune with modifications and gave it Easter lyrics for the 1933 Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer, where Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb first sang it. Hit recordings include those by Leo Reisman with Clifton Webb (1933), Bing Crosby and Harry James (both 1942), Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians (1947) and Liberace (1954). The song was sung on screen by Don Ameche in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) and by Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (1942). Judy Garland and Fred Astaire performed it in Easter Parade (1948), a film built around the song. It was also featured in the Rankin/Bass special The First Easter Rabbit (1976).
