The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamour and excitement of a life in show business, is sung in the musical by members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in an attempt to persuade Annie Oakley to join the production.
The song is also featured in the 1954 movie of the same name, where it is notably sung by Ethel Merman as the main musical number.
Other singers to have recorded the song include Judy Garland,[4] The Andrews Sisters (with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes), Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr. (from Come by Me, 1999), Susannah McCorkle, Mary Hopkin, and Bernadette Peters.
[6] In his liner notes for Susannah McCorkle's version of the song on her Ballad Essentials album Scott Yanow writes "usually performed as a corny razzle-dazzle romp, that piece was drastically slowed down by Susannah who performed all of its known lyrics, including stanzas that show Irving Berlin's lyrics were actually quite touching and meaningful".
Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins did a rendition of the tune on his 1956 Prestige album, Work Time.