For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
- Not to be confused with Lostprophets song "For He's a Jolly Good Felon".
"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" is a song which is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as, a promotion, a birthday, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event. The melody originates from that of the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre (Marlborough Has Left for the War). The traditional children's song The Bear Went Over the Mountain is sung to the same tune.
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." It is frequently used instead of "Happy Birthday to You" in films and TV to avoid possible copyright issues.
History
The tune was originally composed the night after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709.[1] It became a French folktune and was later popularized by Marie Antoinette after she heard one of her maids singing it.[2] The melody became so popular in France that it was used to represent the French defeat in Ludwig van Beethoven's composition "Wellington's Victory" Opus 91 written in 1813.[3]
The melody also became popular in England, for example as a harpsichord exercise, and by the 19th century it was being sung with the words "For he's a jolly good fellow." British and American versions of the lyrics differ. "And so say all of us" is typically British, while "which nobody can deny" is regarded as the American version.[3] Nevertheless, "which nobody can deny" has also been reported by non-American writers including Charles Dickens in Household Words[4] and James Joyce in Finnegans Wake.[5]
Lyrics
As with many songs that use gender-specific pronouns, the song can be altered to agree with the sex of the intended recipient, "he" being replaced with "she."
British Version
(New Zealand)
- 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!
American Version
- 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!
Variations
- 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 Spain, it is sometimes sung at birthdays instead of Happy Birthday To You.
In popular culture
- Sung in the 1934 film, "Evergreen" at Harriet's farewell party.
- Sung in the 1939 film, "Gone With the Wind" at Ashley's birthday party.
- Sung in the 1940 film, "A Chump at Oxford" when the Oxford graduates sing to Stan and Ollie.
- Sung in the 1941 film, "That Hamilton Woman" at Sir William Hamilton's birthday.
- Sung in the 1941 film, "The Devil and Miss Jones" at the ball at the end of the film.
- Sung in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai.
- Played (in a somewhat varied form) by the band escorting the intended groom (who is carried in a covered litter) at the village wedding in Satyajit Ray's The World of Apu.
- Played in the beginning of Saint Valentine's Day massacre scene of Some Like It Hot.
- Sung in the 1966 film, "Grand Prix" in a celebration, after Brian Bedford's character Scott Stoddard wins an F1 race.
- Occasionally quoted (with obvious irony) in the incidental music to the cult TV series, The Prisoner.
- Played in the background when Asrani makes his entrance as police officer in the 1975 Indian movie Sholay.
- The 1977 Disney animated feature film The Rescuers featured a variation of the song called "For Penny's a Jolly Good Fellow."
- The "People's Front of Judea" sung it to Brian in the ending scene of Monty Python's Life of Brian.
- The song is sung by officers in the 1954 movie The Caine Mutiny.
- The song is sung to Mrs. Peacock in the second ending of the 1985 film Clue.
- In the movie Grease, the T-Birds sing this to Danny Zuko after he wins the race at Thunder Road.
- The song is sung to Benjamin Sisko in congratulations of his promotion to captain in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Adversary".
- A Klingon version is sung to Lieutenant Worf for his birthday during the Star Trek: Next Generation episode "Parallels".
- Eric Matthews sung the different version in a episode of Boy Meets World.
- Fans of Arsenal F.C. have a variation called "Jolly Good Vela," named after fan-favorite Carlos Vela.
- In the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the character Zartan (played by Arnold Vosloo) has the habit of whistling the song.
- This song Sung to "Toot" in Holly Hobbie's "Toot & Puddle."
- This song is frequently sung on the Nickelodeon television show iCarly.
- In the 1975 episode "Disturbing the Peace" in Ronnie Barker's famous TV show Porridge, every inmate sings the song on the return of Mr. Mackay.
- In the episode "The Good Sport" on Arthur, Francine starts singing the song to Jenna because Jenna won Athlete of the Year Award. The other students in Francine's class uncomfortably join in.
- A variation of the song called "For He's a Jolly Good Rookie" is used in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode called "Fun".
- In the 2011 video game Portal 2, the sinister AI villain, GLaDOS is sarcastically humming the song for the player after completing a puzzle.
- In Boardwalk Empire season 1.
- In Mad Men season 1 episode 3.
- In Gossip Girl Season 2.
- In The Hour Season 1 Episode 4.
See also
See also in the movie "John Rabe", the life-safer for many Chinese people in Nanjing in 1937. From the movie "The Godfather Part II" at the very end of the film it is sung to Don Corleone on his birthday. See also the TV Show "Glee", Season 1 Episode 3. Football fans sing a version We're gonna win the league
References
Glee Season 1 Ep 2; The Acafellas sing For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, in the staff room.
External links