Yankee Doodle lyrics - Page 2

[OkiMom]

When I was younger I thought it meant not to step on any of the girls toes while dancing.. Then I got older and I thought it meant to help the girls out. Ive never thought of an offensive way of interpreting the song, till now.

[newbymom05]

I agree w/ those who think it should remain the same (plus I always thought "handyman" too). I thought one reason to teach a song like YD was because it's part of our cultural heritage, so why change it?

[The4OfUs]

Originally Posted by paquerette

Actually, does anyone want to court me? My screen door has been broken since last year.

[mamazee]

ROFL.

Now that I've ruined the song for everyone!!

Here's another one. My daughter is in this group and this past Christmas they sang Joy to the World, but they took out any religious reference, which made the song really awkward. "Joy to the world, the light has come". I don't remember all the lyrics. This is not specifically a non-religious group, it's just a musical group, but it is a diverse group, and I think they were trying to be inclusive.

It was really awkward and my thought was if they didn't want religious language they should have just chosen a different song.

[EnviroBecca]

I agree, if you're offended by the song choose a different song, or at least make a modification that RHYMES! Like when we sang "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog" in my elementary school, we sang about how we always had a mighty fine time instead of how he always had some mighty fine wine.

You reminded me of when I was 7 or 8 and at my best friend's house, and her dad got us to calm down by saying that if we did he would teach us a Dirty Song. Oh boy!! The song was:

Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on a turtle.
Turned the corner just in time to see a lady's girdle.

He waited for our shocked giggles. We looked blankly at him and asked, "What's a girdle??"

(He was kind of an old dad...must have been our age circa 1940 when girdles were common!)

[moondiapers]

Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni
Yankee Doodle keep it up
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Mind the music and the step
And let the boys be handy

this is how my song book from when I was a child has it written

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by hummingmom

Of course, guess what's going through my head now: the James Taylor version of "I'm Your Handyman".

You know, I could have sworn that song went:

I'm not the kind to use a pencil or rule
I'm handy with a different tool

Is there some different version that goes like that, or did I just make it up?

[jennifercp8]

I thought the Macaroni thing was supposed to quite derogatory, actually. I saw on a history show that the Macaroni Club in England was a gay-bar (essentially) and that this song was sung to make the new colonists look like patrons of the Macaroni Club.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle

OK - so I stand corrected. Not a "gay bar", but definitely something being made fun of.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by mamazee

It was really awkward and my thought was if they didn't want religious language they should have just chosen a different song.

That's how I feel about all this kind of stuff, including Yankee Doodle. If people are that worried about a song being inappropriate or offensive, why use the song at all?

[Kiltie Girl]

Originally Posted by birdie22

I thought it was about dancing... "mind the music and the step and with the girls be handy," as in, when you're dancing the quadrille or whatever, make sure that you're in place when it's your turn to step up and offer your hand.

I don't mind updating offensive song lyrics, but there ought to be a really good reason. "What do you do with a drunken sailor" comes to mind. And it really needs to be cleverly done, and worthy of the original.

I teach elementary music and one of the things I hear a lot is that as music teachers (and schools) we are not doing enough to teach the kids "traditional" American music. One of the reasons I feel this happens is because teachers are afraid to teach them due to the language in the songs.

What I do is teach the song as written. Then I talk to the kids about it. We discuss the time period the song was written in and what was happening in the world at that time. We talk about what the words might mean. And then maybe we "re-write" them to make them more appropriate for today.

I don't see a problem teaching even the littlest ones these songs as written, as long as you discuss with them what the words mean and why they are that way.

For what it's worth, when I do "Yankee Doodle" the explaination above about dancing is what I use to explain the line. Sometimes the kids will give their opinions on what they think it means as well...a handyman, or that you are nice to girls, etc.

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by Theoretica

Macaroni was used to mean 'cool'

Actually it meant "dandy", not "cool" - they were making fun of the Yankees because the Yankees thought they could become fancy merely by adding a feather to their shabby outfits.

I clearly was naive. I just thought it meant that the girls were standing around waiting to dance! (Common enough scenario, right?)

[ece602]

LOL I thought it just meant they were being helpful too

[AbbieB]

Originally Posted by EnviroBecca

I agree, if you're offended by the song choose a different song, or at least make a modification that RHYMES! Like when we sang "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog" in my elementary school, we sang about how we always had a mighty fine time instead of how he always had some mighty fine wine.

You reminded me of when I was 7 or 8 and at my best friend's house, and her dad got us to calm down by saying that if we did he would teach us a Dirty Song. Oh boy!! The song was:

Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on a turtle.
Turned the corner just in time to see a lady's girdle.

He waited for our shocked giggles. We looked blankly at him and asked, "What's a girdle??"

(He was kind of an old dad...must have been our age circa 1940 when girdles were common!)

laughup

I just went to wikipedia to get the low down on the "real" lyrics and found the above alternative version along with this:

Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a baby
He accidentally turned around and saw a naked lady

My 5.5 year old have been singing it and laughing hysterically. : (She also knows the "Batman smells" version of jingle bells.)

[frontierpsych]

"With the girls be handy?!"

*tsk tsk* How DARE you teach them such osbcenities!

When I was a kid, we kept it clean with:

Yankee Doodle went to town
Riding on a rocket
stuck his finger up his butt
and called it Hershey's chocolate!

[EVC]

You know, I always thought "and with the girls be handy" to mean being readily helpful- like politely pulling out a chair and things like that.

Uh, yeah. I'm 35, married, and have a child and UNTIL SEEING THIS THREAD JUST NOW this is what I thought

Actually it meant "dandy", not "cool" - they were making fun of the Yankees because the Yankees thought they could become fancy merely by adding a feather to their shabby outfits.

And this I actually knew!

[AbbieB]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

"With the girls be handy?!"

*tsk tsk* How DARE you teach them such osbcenities!

When I was a kid, we kept it clean with:

Yankee Doodle went to town
Riding on a rocket
stuck his finger up his butt
and called it Hershey's chocolate!

: I think I have regressed back to being 7.

I won't be teaching my 5.5 year old that one...she makes up enough butt jokes already.