For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
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"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" is a British & American song which is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a retirement.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is the second most popular song in the English language, following "Happy Birthday to You" and followed by "Auld Lang Syne."
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[edit] British and Australian lyrics
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us
- And so say all of us, and so say all of us
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us
[edit] American lyrics
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny
- Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny
[edit] Variations
Amongst certain groups a different word is substituted for "fellow". Also the 'British' and 'American' versions can be combined, normally with 'and so say all of us' in the middle of the verse, and 'which nobody can deny' at the end.
In addition the song can be altered to agree with the gender of the intended recipient, "he" being replaced with "she".
In some parts of the United Kingdom, when singing the song to the driver of a bus or coach, usually on a specially commissioned trip rather than a standard scheduled journey, it is customary to add "on the bus" to the line "and so say all of us", resulting in "and so say all of us on the bus".
The 1977 Disney animated feature film The Rescuers featured a variation of the song called "For Penny's a Jolly Good Fellow".
[edit] Foreign languages
Some languages other than English have their own versions of this song. The following versions are sung to the same melody as the English version, and are used for the same kinds of occasions.
[edit] French
- Car c'est un bon camarade, car c'est un bon camarade,
- Car c'est un bon camarade (pause), et qu'on est tous d'accord.
Another version:
- Car c'est un bon camarade, car c'est un bon camarade
- Car c'est un bon camarade (pause), personn' n'dira le contraire
[edit] Spanish
- Porque es un muchacho excelente, porque es un muchacho excelente,
- Porque es un muchacho excelente, (pause), y siempre lo será.
Another version would be
- Porque es un buen compañero, porque es un buen compañero,
- Porque es un buen compañero, (pause), y nadie lo puede negar
[edit] Portuguese
As sung in Brazil:
- Ele é um bom companheiro, ele é um bom companheiro,
- Ele é um bom companheiro (pause), ninguém pode negar.
[edit] Italian
- Perché è un bravo ragazzo, perché è un bravo ragazzo,
- Perché è un bravo ragazzo (pause), nessuno lo può negar.
[edit] Finnish
- Ja hän on loistava veikko, ja hän on loistava veikko,
- Ja hän on loistava veikko (pause), käkäkäkääk käkääk.
[edit] Melody
[edit] Other appearances of the melody
- Many other standard children's songs use the same melody, including "The Bear Went Over the Mountain".
- A variation of the melody appears in Ludwig van Beethoven's composition "Wellington's Victory, Op. 91", also known as "The Battle of Vitoria".
- The Hungarian punk'n'roll band Zorall has a version of the song with the lyrics:
"Zorall akarok lenni, Zorall akarok lenni, Zorall akarok lenni (pause) mert én Zorall vagyok!"
[edit] See also
- Sto lat
- For He's a Jolly Good Fellow article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
