Yankee Doodle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today . It is the state anthem of Connecticut.[1]
The first verse and refrain, as often sung today, run thus:
- Yankee Doodle went to town,
- A-Riding on a pony;
- He stuck a feather in his hat,
- And called it macaroni.
- Yankee Doodle, keep it up,
- Yankee Doodle dandy;
- Mind the music and the step,
- And with the girls be handy!
The tune has become synonymous with the United States. The Voice of America begins and ends all broadcasts with the interval signal of "Yankee Doodle".
Contents |
[edit] History and lyrics
The song's origins were in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally sung by British military officers to mock the disheveled, unorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. At the time, the most common meaning of the word doodle had the meaning of "simpleton" or "fool". It is believed that the tune comes from the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. One version of the Yankee Doodle lyrics is attributed to Doctor Richard Shuckburgh, a British Army surgeon.
The Boston Journal of the Times wrote about a British band declaring "that Yankee Doodle song was the Capital Piece of their band music."
[edit] Early versions
The earliest known version of the lyrics comes from 1775:
- Brother Ephraim sold his Cow
- And bought him a Commission;
- And then he went to Canada
- To fight for the Nation;
- But when Ephraim he came home
- He proved an arrant Coward,
- He wouldn't fight the Frenchmen there
- For fear of being devour'd.
(Note that the sheet music which accompanies these lyrics reads, "The Words to be Sung through the Nose, & in the West Country drawl & dialect.")
The Ephraim referenced here was Ephraim Williams, a popularly known Colonel in the Massachusetts militia who was killed in the Battle of Lake George. He left his land and property to the founding of a school in Western Massachusetts, now known as Williams College.
During the Revolutionary War, the Americans embraced the song and made it their own, turning it back on those who had used it to mock them. A newspaper account after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, a Boston newspaper reported: "Upon their return to Boston [pursued by the Minutemen], one [Briton] asked his brother officer how he liked the tune now, — 'Damn them,' returned he, 'they made us dance it till we were tired' — since which Yankee Doodle sounds less sweet to their ears."
The British responded with another set of lyrics following the Battle of Bunker Hill:
- The seventeen of June, at Break of Day,
- The Rebels they supriz'd us,
- With their strong Works, which they'd thrown up,
- To burn the Town and drive us.
Also on February 6, 1788. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution by a vote of 186 to 168. To the ringing of bells and the booming of cannons, the delegates trooped out of Brattle Street Church. Before many days had passed, the citizens sang their convention song to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Here are the lyrics to their song...
- The vention did in Boston meet,
- The State House could not hold 'em
- So then they went to Fed'ral Street,
- And there the truth was told 'em...
- And ev'ry morning went to prayer,
- And then began disputing,
- Till oppositions silenced were,
- By arguments refuting.
.....................
- Now politicians of all kinds,
- Who are not yet decided,
- May see how Yankees speak their minds,
- And yet are not divided.
- So here I end my Fed'ral song,
- Composed of thirteen verses;
- May agriculture flourish long
- And commerce fill our purses!
[edit] Full version
A full version of the song, as it is known today, goes:
- Fath'r and I went down to camp,
- Along with Captain Gooding,
- And there we saw the men and boys
- As thick as hasty pudding.
- Yankee Doodle keep it up,
- Yankee Doodle dandy,
- Mind the music and the step,
- And with the girls be handy.
- And there we saw a thousand men
- As rich as Squire David,
- And what they wasted every day,
- I wish it could be saved.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- And there we saw a swamping gun,
- Large as a log of maple,
- Upon a deuced little cart,
- A load for father's cattle.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- And every time they shoot it off,
- It takes a horn of powder;
- It makes a noise like father's gun,
- Only a nation louder.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- Cousin Simon grew so bold,
- I thought he would have cock'd it.
- It scared me so, I shrieked it off,
- And hung by father's pocket.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- I saw a little barrel too,
- The heads were made of leather.
- They knocked on it with little clubs
- And called the folks together.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- And there was Captain Washington,
- And gentlefolks about him.
- They say he's grown so tarnal proud,
- He will not ride without them.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- He got himself in meeting-clothes,
- Upon a slapping stallion.
- He set the world along in rows,
- In hundreds and in millions.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
- The flaming ribbons in his hat,
- They looked so taring fine, ah,
- I wanted pockily to get,
- To give to my Jemimah.
- Yankee Doodle &c.
[edit] Civil war
During the American Civil War, Southerners added some new lines of their own:
- Yankee Doodle had a mind
- To whip the Southern rebels,
- Because they did not choose to live
- On codfish from his tables.
- Yankee Doodle, fa, so la,
- Yankee Doodle dandy,
- And so to keep his courage up,
- He took a drink of brandy.
Also popular in the South was a further customized version called "Dixie Doodle":
- Dixie whipped old Yankee Doodle
- Early in the morning.
- Yankeedom had best look out
- And take a timely warning.
- Hurrah! for our Dixie land,
- Hurrah! for our borders!
- Southern boys to arms will stand
- And whip the dark marauders.
[edit] Variations and parodies
Many other variations and parodies have since arisen, including the one taught to schoolchildren today:
- Yankee Doodle went to town
- A-riding on a pony
- He stuck a feather in his hat
- And called it macaroni
- Yankee Doodle, keep it up
- Yankee Doodle dandy
- Yankee Doodle round the world
- As sweet as sugar candy
Some believe that these were alternative lyrics used by the British army during the revolutionary war. A "macaroni", in mid-18th-century England, was a dandyish young man with affected Continental mannerisms; the joke being that the Yankees believed that a feather in the hat was sufficient to make them the height of fashion. Whether or not these were alternative lyrics sung in the British army, they were enthusiastically taken up by the Yanks themselves.
In the 1930's jazz vocalist Billie Holiday sung her own parodical version of the song, which began:
- Yankee Doodle never went to town
- I've just discovered the story was phony
- Let me give you all the real low-down
- He didn’t even own a pony
[edit] Popular culture
- The theme songs of the 1960s TV cartoon series Roger Ramjet and the children's TV show Barney & Friends are sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
- A 1990's commercial for the popular Magna Doodle toy was released and was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
- In the musical Paint Your Wagon, the "Shivaree" concerning Ben Rumson's impending arranged marriage inspired a variation.
- In America Sings, a Disneyland attraction made for the American Bicentennial, "Yankee Doodle" (with new lyrics) acts as a transition song between each scene with these lyrics, sung by a Bald Eagle named Sam, voiced by Burl Ives.
[edit] Versions in other languages
[edit] Bengali lyrics
The song Laal jhuti kakatua, set to the Yankee Doodle/Lucy Locket melody, is a favorite among the Bengali people. It goes:
| Bengali lyrics | English translation |
|---|---|
|
Laal jhuti kakatua |
A red-tufted cockatoo |
It is not clear where the Bengalis picked it up or how old this version is.
[edit] References
- ^ STATE OF CONNECTICUT, Sites º Seals º Symbols; Connecticut State Register & Manual; retrieved on January 4, 2007
[edit] External links
- Library of Congress Yankee Doodle music website
- Library of Congress Yankee Doodle historical context site
- h2g2 Yankee Doodle Edited Guide Entry
