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"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known US song, often sung patriotically today. The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles Patriotism is commonly defined as love of and/or devotion to one's country It is the state anthem of Connecticut. Introduction Forty-nine states of the United States (all except New Jersey) have one or more state songs, selected by the state Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. [1]

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.

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". Voice of America ( VOA) is the official external radio and Television broadcasting service of the United States federal government. An interval signal, or tuning signal, is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in International broadcasting and by some domestic broadcasters

Contents

History and lyrics

The song's origins were in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The term Yankee, sometimes abbreviated to Yank, has a few related meanings often referring to someone of U The French and Indian War (1754&ndash1763 was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War. The word doodle first appeared in the early seventeenth century to mean a fool or simpleton, and is thought to derive from the Low German dudeltopf, meaning "fool" or "simpleton". At the time, the most common meaning of the word doodle was that of "simpleton" or "fool". A doodle is a type of sketch an unfocused Drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied It is believed that the tune comes from the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. A nursery rhyme is a traditional Song or Poem taught to young children originally in the nursery. Lucy Locket is an English Nursery rhyme. Lucy Locket lost her pocket Kitty Fisher found it Not a penny was there in it Only ribbon One version of the Yankee Doodle lyrics is attributed to Doctor Richard Shuckburgh, a British Army surgeon. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces.

The Boston Journal of the Times wrote about a British band declaring "that Yankee Doodle song was the Capital Piece of their band music. "

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. Year 1775 ( MDCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

(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. Ephraim Williams Jr ( March 7, 1715 &ndash September 8, 1755) was the benefactor of Williams College, located in northwestern The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The Battle of Lake George was fought on September 8 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. He left his land and property to the founding of a school in Western Massachusetts, now known as Williams College. Williams College is a highly selective private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

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, — 'Dang them,' returned he, 'they made us dance it till we were tired' — since which Yankee Doodle sounds less sweet to their ears. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. "

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. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775 on Breed's Hill, as part of the Siege of Boston during the American Revolutionary

Also on February 6, 1788. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution by a vote of 186 to 168. To the ringing of bells and the booming of cannons, the delegates trooped out of Brattle Street Church. Before many days had passed, the citizens sang their convention song to the tune of "Yankee Doodle. " Here are the lyrics to their song. . .

The vention did in Boston meet,
The State House could not hold 'em
So then they went to Fed'ral Street,
And there the truth was told 'em. . .
And ev'ry morning went to prayer,
And then began disputing,
Till oppositions silenced were,
By arguments refuting.


Now politicians of all kinds,
Who are not yet decided,
May see how Yankees speak their minds,
And yet are not divided.
So here I end my Fed'ral song,
Composed of thirteen verses;
May agriculture flourish long
And commerce fill our purses!

Full version

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

Source: Gen. George P. Morris - "Original Yankee Words", The Patriotic Anthology, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. publishers, 1941. Introduction by Carl Van Doren. Literary Guild of America, Inc. , New York N. Y.

Fath'r and I went down to camp,
Along with Cap'n Goodin',
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty puddin'.
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, keep it up, etc.
The 'lasses they eat it every day,
Would keep a house a winter;
They have so much, that I'll be bound,
They eat it when they've mind ter.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
And there I see a swamping gun
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father's cattle.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
And every time they shoot it off,
It takes a horn of powder,
and makes a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.
Yankee Doodle , keep it up, etc.
I went as nigh to one myself
As 'Siah's inderpinning;
And father went as nigh again,
I thought the deuce was in him.
Yankee Doodle , keep it up, etc.
Cousin Simon grew so bold,
I thought he would have cocked it;
It scared me so I shrinked it off
And hung by father's pocket.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
And Cap'n Davis had a gun,
He kind of clapt his hand on't
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on't
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
And there I see a pumpkin shell
As big as mother's bason,
And every time they touched it off
They scampered like the nation.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
I see a little barrel too,
The heads were made of leather;
They knocked on it with little clubs
And called the folks together.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
And there was Cap'n Washington,
And gentle folks about him;
They say he's grown so 'tarnal proud
He will not ride without em'.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
He got him on his meeting clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion;
He sat the world along in rows,
In hundreds and in millions.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
The flaming ribbons in his hat,
They looked so tearing fine, ah,
I wanted dreadfully to get
To give to my Jemima.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
I see another snarl of men
A digging graves they told me,
So 'tarnal long, so 'tarnal deep,
They 'tended they should hold me.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
It scared me so, I hooked it off,
Nor stopped, as I remember,
Nor turned about till I got home,
Locked up in mother's chamber.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up, etc.
Gen. George P. Morris

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. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South
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. Dixie Doodle was a popular parody of Yankee Doodle in the South at the time of the American Civil War.
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.

During the Civil War, the Democratic party of 1864 adopted this version of the song as its anthem. This variation, although undoubtedly racist, is important to mention as a part of history so that the watering-down of the racism of the time doesn't permeate any further into our culture.

Yankee Doodle is no more,
Sunk his name and station;
Nigger Doodle takes his place,
And favors amalgamation.
CHORUS: Nigger Doodle's all the go,
Ebony shins and bandy,
"Loyal" people all must bow
To Nigger Doodle Dandy.
The white breed is under par
It lacks the rich a-romy,
Give us something black as tar,
Give us "Old Dahomey. "
chorus
Blubber lips are killing sweet,
And kinky heads are splendid;
And oh, it makes such bully feet
To have the heels extended.
chorus

James Loewen, in his critical examination of American History textbooks and teaching Lies My Teacher Told Me, notes that the college students and high-school history teachers he has shared these lyrics with are shocked, and that "Nothing in their high school history textbooks hinted that national politics was ever like this".

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

or

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!

Some believe that these were alternative lyrics used by the British army during the revolutionary war. A parody (ˈpɛɹədiː US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK) in contemporary usage is a work created to mock comment on or poke fun at an original work its subject A "macaroni", in mid-18th-century , was a fashionable person; 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 1930s jazz vocalist Billie Holiday sung her own parodical version of the song, which began:

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

A more modern parody version:

Yankee Doodle went to London riding on a turtle
Turned the corner just in time to see a lady's girdle!

Media

Popular culture

The Spirit of '76 (aka Yankee Doodle)
Archibald MacNeal Willard, circa 1875
oil
61 × 45 cm
United States Department of State

Versions in other languages

Bengali lyrics

The song Laal jhuti kakatua (Bangla: লাল ঝুটি কাকাতুয়া), set to the Yankee Doodle/Lucy Locket melody, is a favorite among the Bengali people. Full House is an American Television sitcom that originally ran from September 22 1987 to May 23 1995 on ABC. The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between Bangladesh and India) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating It goes:

Bengali lyrics English translation

লাল ঝুটি কাকাতুয়া
ধরেছে যে বায়না
চাই তার লাল পিঠে
চিরুণী আর আয়না

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

The Bengali Version of Yankee Doodle was composed for the Film "Badshah" in the year 1964. The song was sang By Ranu Mukherjee, daughter of famous Bengali singer Hemanta Mukherjee.

References

  1. ^ STATE OF CONNECTICUT, Sites º Seals º Symbols; Connecticut State Register & Manual; retrieved on May 23, 2008

External links

Events 1430 - Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

Dictionary

Yankee Doodle

-noun

  1. A patriotic song popular with the Americans in their Revolutionary War.
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