The Yankee Doodle Boy

"The Yankee Doodle Boy",also known as"(I'm a) Yankee Doodle Dandy"is a patriotic song from theBroadwaymusicalLittle Johnny Jones,written byGeorge M. Cohan.The play opened at theLiberty Theateron November 7, 1904. The play concerns the trials and tribulations of a fictional American jockey, Johnny Jones (based on the real-life jockeyTod Sloan), who rides a horse namedYankee Doodlein theEnglish Derby.Cohan incorporates snippets of several popular traditional American songs into his lyrics of this song, as he often did with his songs. The song was performed byJames Cagneyin the 1942 filmYankee Doodle Dandy,in which he played Cohan.^[1]

Modern performances and covers

In 2004, theAmerican Film Instituteplaced the song at No. 71 on itsAFI's 100 Years...100 Songs.A version of the song was recorded by Cohan's contemporary and fellow Irish-AmericanBilly Murray,who sang it as indicated in the lyrics. Also, a shortened lyric disco version of the song was sung byPaul Jabaraon the 1977 albumShut Outand the 1983 albumGreatest Hits and Misseson Casablanca Records. The song appears in an episode ofIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In Victoria Australia, a LocalAFLclubHawthorn Football Clubre-wrote the lyrics of "The Yankee Doodle Boy" as their club Anthem, "We're a Happy Team at Hawthorn" This is sung at the start of every Hawthorn AFL & AFLW game as the players make their way onto the ground and also after a win.

Lyrics

James CagneyasGeorge M. Cohanperforming "The Yankee Doodle Boy" inYankee Doodle Dandy(1942)

Verse 1

I'm the kid that's all the candy,¹

I'm aYankeeDoodle Dandy,

I'm glad I am,

So'sUncle Sam.

I'm a real live Yankee Doodle,

Made my name and fame andboodle,

Just like Mister Doodle did, by riding on a pony.

I love to listen to theDixiestrain,

I long to seethe girl I left behind me;

That ain't a josh,

She's a Yankee, by gosh.

Oh, say can you see,

Anything about a Yankee that's a phony?

Verse 2

Father's name was Hezikiah,

Mother's name was Ann Maria,²

Yanks through and through.

Red, White and Blue

Father was so Yankee-hearted,

When theSpanish warwas started,

He slipped on a uniform and hopped upon a pony.

My mother's mother was a Yankee true,

My father's father was a Yankee too:

That's going some,

For the Yankees, by gum.

Oh, say can you see

Anything about my pedigree that's phony?

Chorus

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,

A Yankee Doodle, do or die;

A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam,

Born on theFourth of July.

I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,

She's my Yankee Doodle joy.

Yankee Doodlecame to London, just to ride the ponies;

I am the Yankee Doodle Boy.

Footnotes:

¹"All the candy" was late 19th century slang equivalent to "hot stuff".

²Pronounced the old-fashioned way, "mah-RYE-ah"

References

^Collins, Ace.Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs.HarperResource, 2003, p. 112-120.

External links

[1] Collins, Ace.Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs.HarperResource, 2003, p. 112-120.

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