A song written by M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl for the film Casablanca, where it was performed onscreen by Dooley Wilson to music played by pianist Elliot Carpenter. Commissioned by producer Hal B. Wallis, the song is the movie's only original composition.
Performance in Casablanca
In the film band leader Sam, played by Wilson, sings the refrain "Who's got trouble? / Knock on wood" at Rick's Cafe Americain during an early conversation between main character and bar owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and black market dealer Guillermo Ugarte (Peter Lorre). The conversation introduces stolen letters of transit, a plot device that drives the Casablanca story and personal turmoil for Rick. The song foreshadows the role the letters of transit and Ugarte will play on the story and for Rick.
References
Knocking on wood refers to the apotropaic tradition in Western folklore of literally touching, tapping, or knocking on wood, or merely stating that you are doing or intend same, in order to avoid "tempting fate" after making a favourable observation, a boast, or declaration concerning one's own death or other unfavorable situation beyond one's control. The origin of this may be in Germanic folklore, wherein dryads are thought to live in trees, and can be invoked for protection.
Similar traditions in other cultures
Knock on Wood may refer to:
Music
Film and television
Little Einsteins is an American animated children's television series on Playhouse Disney (later Disney Junior). The educational preschool series was developed for television by Douglas Wood who created the concept and characters, and a subsequent team headed by Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and JoJo's Circus co-creator Eric Weiner, and produced by Curious Pictures and The Baby Einstein Company. The first episode of the Little Einsteins TV series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo on October 5, 2005 and in the United States on the Disney Channel on October 9, 2005. In Europe, the second season of the show premiered on the Disney Channel around Christmas time, and in Japan, it aired on October 8, 2007, on Playhouse Disney Japan.
Little Einsteins was designed to teach the target demographic art and music appreciation by integrating famous or culturally significant art works (usually, but not exclusively, paintings) and classical music (most typically from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods) into the scenery, plot and soundtrack of each episode. The show is also designed to encourage viewer interaction (such as patting their knees, gesturing or singing along to help the characters succeed on their "mission"); at the end of the mission, Leo says "Mission Completion!" and the Little Einsteins then do the Curtain Call. At the end of the Curtain Call, Leo says, "See you on the next mission!", then the curtains close and in season 2 a "That's Silly" segment is shown.