Yankee Doodle

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"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today . It is the state anthem of Connecticut.

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.

[edit] Full version

A full version of the song, as it is known today, goes:

Father 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: 'Yankee Doodle never went to town':

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
He was really very short and fat
While in the story so skinny and bony
And so hungry that he ate his hat
You can call the fellow macaroni
Underneath the chestnut tree
He and the blacksmith would sip their tea
Then he’d bring out his uniform down
That’s how he went to town
Yankee Doodle tried to leave one day
Took his belongings and mounted his saddle
But he never started on his way
Cause he didn’t have a pony
And the fairy tale is phony
How could Yankee Doodle go to town?

[edit] Popular Culture

[edit] Roger Ramjet

The theme song for the 1960s TV cartoon series, Roger Ramjet was sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle. The first verse and the chorus were:

Roger Ramjet and his Eagles
Fighting for our freedom
Flies through in and outer space
Not to join 'em, but to beat 'em
Roger Ramjet, he's our man,
Hero of our nation
For his adventures just be sure
And stay tuned to this station


[edit] Paint Your Wagon

In the musical, Paint Your Wagon, the "Shivaree" concerning Ben Rumson's impending arranged marriage inspired this version:

Mr. Rumson went to town
Ridin' on a pony
Bought a wife and brought her home
And called it matrimony
Mr. Rumson bought a bride
Out in "Californy"
He'd a-saved a lot o' money
Stayin' drunk and horny!

[edit] America Sings

In America Sings, a Disneyland attraction made for the bicentennial, Yankee Doodle acts as a transition song between each scene with these lyrics, sung by a Bald Eagle named Sam, voiced by Burl Ives:

Refrain:

Yankee Doodle sing it up.
Yankee Doodle dandy.
Mind the music and the words
and with the songs be handy...

The South:

Yankee Doodle travelled south,
a-riding on a riverboat,
played a tune and sang it out;
it sounded like a billygoat.
Yankee Doodle liked the South
and sang their songs so dear.
Thought they were most elegant
for everyone to hear.

The Old West:

Yankee Doodle headed west
a-workin' on the railroad;
Crossin' them rivers, over hills,
and moving with a big load.
Onward west the trains rolled.
where cattle were a-grazin'.
The tales and songs that people sang
were really quite amazin'

The 1890's:

The "Gay 90s" were upon us now;
the country was in full swing.
People headin' for the cities;
had to do their own thing.
Each time the people sang a song,
the tunesmiths wrote another
'bout love, marriage, moon in June,
and always one about Mother.

The 20th Century:

Next came ragtime, blues and jazz.
The nation was a-jumpin'!
Fox trots and the bunny hug
had everyone a-stompin'
Then swing and big bands were the rage.
The songs they were most pleasin'.
Rock and roll soon took its toll;
the dancers stopped a-squeezin'.

Transition to finale:

Yankee Doodle remembers when,
to make these songs ring true,
people came from every land
to mix these tunes for you.
So we should all remember,
as hist'ry moves along,
that everything is better now
'cause someone wrote a song

Final Verse:

Yankee Doodle always said
the past is just a start;
Tomorrow will bring songs to you
that come straight from the heart.
Another thing he had to say
is life is just a song.
So, everybody get in tune,
and let's all sing along!


Casual Version:
Yankee doodle went to town
riding on a pony
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!

[edit] Full House

In an episode of Full House, Derek sings a version of "Yankee Doodle" that incorporates lyrics from "The Yankee Doodle Boy," written in the early 1900s by George M. Cohan.

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
Yankee Doodle do or die,
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam,
Born on the Fourth of July.
I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,
She's my Yankee Doodle gal,
Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.

[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
dhorechhey je bayena
Chai taar laal phite
chiruni aar ayena.

A red-tufted cockatoo
has a whim
She wants a comb
and a red ribbon.

It is not clear where the Bengalis picked it up and how old this version is.

[edit] External links


Patriotic music of the United States Flag of the United States
"America the Beautiful" | "Ballad of the Green Berets" | "Battle Cry of Freedom" | "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" | "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" | "For The Dear Old Flag, I Die" | "God Bless America" | "God Bless the USA" | "Hail Columbia" | "Hail to the Chief" | "The Liberty Bell" | "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" | "Over There" | "PT-109" | "The Stars and Stripes Forever" | "The Star-Spangled Banner" | "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" | "This is My Country" | "This Land Is Your Land" | "Yankee Doodle" | "The Yankee Doodle Boy" | "You're a Grand Old Flag" | "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
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