I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am
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"I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (also "I'm Henery the VIII, I Am" or I'm Henery VIII, I Am") is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston. It was a signature song of music hall star Harry Champion, and became the fastest-selling song in history when revived in 1965 by Herman's Hermits.[1] In the well-known chorus, Henery explains that his wife had been married seven times before:
I'm Henery the Eighth, I am!
Henery the Eighth I am! I am!
I got married to the widow next door,
She's been married seven times before.
Every one was an Henery
She wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam
I'm her eighth old man named Henery
Henery the Eighth I am.
According to one source, Champion "used to fire off [the chorus] at tremendous speed with almost desperate gusto, his face bathed in sweat and his arms and legs flying in all directions."[1]
The song is often sung with a Cockney pronunciation, "I'm 'er eyeth ol' man nymed 'Enery."
Earlier sources usually spell the name Henery[2][3][4] (as do some old sources when referring to the historical King of England[5]), and the music requires the name "Henery" to be pronounced as three syllables. The sheet music for the 1965 Herman's Hermits revival, however, presented the name as "Henry," as do sources referring to this version.[1][6]
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[edit] Meaning
Contrary to popular belief, the song is not about King Henry VIII, the British monarch, but instead about a man named Henry whose wife has been married to seven men before him, all of whom were named Henry.
[edit] Popular Culture
It was popularised for a new generation by Herman's Hermits in 1965 in their album, Herman's Hermits On Tour. Herman's Hermits omitted the scene-setting verses and merely repeated the chorus over and over. One story says that Hermits vocalist Peter Noone simply forgot the words to the verses and spontaneously called out "Second verse, same as the first." The song topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but was considered too old-fashioned to release in the UK.
In an episode of Steptoe and Son the song is sung to the duo by a medium as she pretends to be in contact with the dead, something paralleled, whether by chance or design, in the 1990 movie Ghost, where the spectre of Sam (Patrick Swayze) pesters medium Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) into doing his bidding by singing the chorus to "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" over and over again.
It was also used in the 1993 movie Look Who's Talking Now.[citation needed]
The Seattle based ska punk band Instant Winner covered the song on their sophomore album Cease & Desist. The song is a hidden track that plays at 9:11 after the song Y2K ends.[citation needed]
It has spawned many parodies; one, typical of the genre, emerged during Bill Clinton's impeachment: "I'm Henry the Hyde, I am/Henry the Hyde, I am, I am/I'm the G.O.P. prosecu-tor/After I get Clinton, I'll get Gore".[citation needed]
Another notable parody was on The Simpsons when Homer portrayed Henry VIII in the episode "Margical History Tour": "I'm Henery VIII I am, / Henery VIII I am I am. / I've been a-eating since six a.m. / For dessert I'll have dinner again. / My name's synonymous with gluttony / I'll always eat a turkey or a ham...".[citation needed]
Another parody is sung by Greg Champion called Dipierdomenico about the great Australian Footballer, Robert Dipierdomenico.[citation needed]
In the Sierra game Quest for Glory the main character meets "'Enry the 'Ermit" who, when asked about his name, responds with "I'm 'Enry. 'Enry the eighth I is. Me farther was an 'Enry and 'is farther was an 'Enry and 'is farther was an 'Enry and 'is farther was an 'Enry and 'is farther was an 'Enry and 'is farther was an 'Enry and 'is farther was an 'Enry. And every one was an 'ermit."[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c MacInnes, Colin (1965) "The Old English Music Hall Songs Are New." The New York Times, November 28, 1965, p. SM62: "Henery—which hit the top of the record lists and, according to one American expert, was 'the fastest-selling song in history'—was in fact an old English music hall song enjoying a new lease on life. Description of Champion's performance: p. 95. Spelling of title: image on p. 62 shows title presented in all-caps, "I'M HENRY VIII, I AM." Text of article, however, uses the spelling "Henery" throughout, even when referring to the Herman's Hermits revival.
- ^ Sharpe, R. A. (2005). Philosophy of Music: An Introduction. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 0-7735-2928-4. "I shall give an example of the first, Harry Champion's music-hall song 'I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am', although I suspect readers may not thank me. (You probably won't be able to dislodge it from your mind for a week or two). p. 161
- ^ Lawrence, D. H. (1987). Mr. Noon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-27247-5. "He strayed on inconsequentially, singing: Henery the eighth I am, I am/Henery the eighth I am" p. 258
- ^ Lynch, William J. (2003). Just a Philadelphia Boy. ISBN 1-4010-7911-3. "We had a neighbor, a skinny little Englishman... He would saunter merrily up our street... singing 'I'm Henery the Eighth, I am" at the top of his voice..." p. 42
- ^ Child, Francis James; George Lyman Kittredge (1883). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Houghton, Mifflin. "And lowlye kneeled his prince before/And sayd, My soueraigne king, Henery the Eighth" p. 356
- ^ Guiheen, Anna Marie (1995). Sheet Music Reference and Price Guide. Collector Books. ISBN 0-89145-648-1. "I'm Henry the Eighth I Am by Fred Murray and L. P. Weston, 1965, Herman's Hermits" p. 102
[edit] See also
- Henry VIII, British monarch known for having had six wives. (A listener to the song might assume the narrator is claiming to be Henry VIII until the third or fourth line.)
[edit] External links
- An MP3 download of a 1911 recording is available at Archive.org: I'm Henery The Eighth
| Preceded by "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (by Herman's Hermits August 7, 1965 |
Succeeded by "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher |
