The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze

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"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" 'The Flying Trapeze'
The Daring Young man on the Flying Trapeze Jules Léotard
Music by	Gaston Lyle, Alfred Lee
Lyrics by	George Leybourne
Published	1867
Language	English

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, also known as The Man on the Flying Trapeze, is a very well-known 19th century popular song about a flying trapeze circus performer. The melody and words of its central refrain are instantly recognisable:

He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,

That daring young man on the flying trapeze.

The song was first published in 1867, with words written by the British lyricist, George Leybourne, with music by Gaston Lyle, and arranged by Alfred Lee. The lyrics were based on the phenomenal success of trapeze artist Jules Léotard. The 3/4 time tune may have been based on Jacques Offenbach's Le Papillon, Act 2, Scene 1.

Contents 1 Literature 2 Recordings 3 Cinema 4 Published Versions 5 References

[edit] Literature

The following century, the song inspired the breakthrough 1934 short story The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by William Saroyan. The film The Man on the Flying Trapeze came out in 1935, starring W. C. Fields and Mary Brian.

[edit] Recordings

Recordings or notable performances of the song have been made by Walter O'Keefe (1934), Don Redman & His Orchestra (1936), Eddie Cantor, Burl Ives, Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, Spike Jones (with lyrics thoroughly trashed), Ian Whitcomb, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Crispin Hellion Glover, and Bruce Springsteen (with a couple of F-bombs inserted), among others.

[edit] Cinema

A memorable version was performed by the Little Rascals as the International Silver String Submarine Band in the episode Mike Fright.(1934) It was also memorably sung by Clark Gable in the 1934 Frank Capra film It Happened One Night. American Actor, musician Crispin Glover covered the song on his 1989 album, The Big Problem ≠ The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be.

[edit] Published Versions

• July 11, 1874 broadside ^[1]
• Rise Up Singing page 80

[edit] References