I am surely your American patriot type, I am grateful of all things this country has done for me. I take full advantage of my freedoms every day; I gave back and served in the military for 4 years. But does all of that make me a Yankee Doodle Dandy?
While in the South, I am always trying to shake the Yankee stereotype that we are arrogant,
pushy, to fast and that we are screamers.
Most people will tell you that everybody everywhere has their moments; there is no geographical area that doesn’t have people with “issues”
I have seen some very rude Southerners, but I must say ..you have to really listen to what they are saying to you, really listen, as the rudeness may come wrapped in Southern Charm. So, I read this book....
I don’t think we have any Northern or Yankee charm, when was the last time you have seen those words in the same sentence – Yankee and charm. So on the surface it may seem that some of that stereotyping may indeed be correct.
So when recently asked by a southerner “are you a Yankee doodle dandy”, I had to really think of my response, was he referring to my love of country or the popular song?
or was he asking me something a little more probing about my nature?
So I thought I would explore that question a little more before answering:
Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones written by George M. Cohan. The play opened at the Liberty Theater on November 7, 1904.The play concerns the trials and tribulations of a fictional American jockey, Johnny Jones (based on the real life jockey Tod Sloan of Bunker HIll, Indiana), who rides a horse named Yankee Doodle in the English 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 by James Cagney in the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy, in which he played Cohan.
An early hit version of the song was recorded by Cohan's contemporary and fellow Irish-American Billy Murray, who sang it as indicated in the lyrics.
The song lyrics…..
by George M. Cohan
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
A Yankee Doodle, do or die
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam
Born on the Fourth of July
I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart
She's my Yankee Doodle joy
Yankee Doodle came to London
Just to ride the ponies
I am the Yankee Doodle Boy
They don’t make them, like they use to…Click here for the Yankee Doodle Dandy movie trailer with James Cagney staring in the lead role
Many great patriotic songs from Mr. Cohan in this musical
Now, I took a few lines from the “Yankee Doodle Dandy” lyrics above to find out a little about myself, am I a Yankee Doodle dandy? What will be my response when asked again by a Southern Gentleman: So as a good Yankee, I broke the song down in to parts and did a little soul searching
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
I do my best to represent all Yankees while living here in the south. If I knew a little bit more about what exactly a Yankee Doodle Dandy is, I could probably answer this one with a little more enthusiasm. I am a Yankee, I don’t know about being a Doodle Dandy though? Let’s check the dictionary:
A doodle is a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied.
A dandy[1] (also known as a beau and gallant[2]) is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance.
So according to the English language, a Yankee Doodle Dandy could be easily translated into: A northern gentleman who is particular about his appearance with a short attention span?
A Yankee Doodle, do or die
Well, I don’t know if I have any control over this, I was born a Yankee and as they tell me down here, I will always be a Yankee, I don’t think you can change that.
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam
Born on the Fourth of July
Well, I am a real live nephew of my uncle Gordon (was named after him) Uncle Gordon too was very patriotic, he served in WWII and reminded me constantly of the American dream that it could be mine if I persued it.
I wasn’t’ born on the fourth of July……………
But on April 9th, here are a few very important historical happenings throughout the years that happened on April 9:
1950
Bob Hope's 1st TV appearance
1912
Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland for New York
1878
1st Lady Lucy Hayes begins egg rolling contest on White House lawn
1865
Robert E. Lee and 26,765 troops, surrender to U.S. Grant at Appomattox
1831
Robert Jenkins loses an ear, starts war between Britain and Spain
1682
Robert La Salle claims lower Mississippi (Louisiana) for France
I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart
she’s my Yankee Doodle joy
Well I nailed this one: I did marry another Yankee, My sweetheart AJ is from Philly with a true northern heart ..I Just now asked her if she was my Yankee doodle sweetheart and she said “I don’t know, what does that mean?” I said “exactly” ..maybe she will read my blog?
Yankee Doodle came to London Just to ride the ponies
Well, I may fail on this passage as I have a problem with large animals. I don't know what it is but I don't do well around anything bigger than my dog max....
(Max and AJ)
We had the opportunity to "baby sit" a horse for a few months.
Jessie was a great horse, as horses go. I had to get up at 5:30am and feed him, change the water and generally clean his stall. I always kept him at 4 arms leanths away from me..I had this preminition that he was either going to kick or bite me. I need to have that fear looked at.
There are a few versions of this song; one popular version has this line:
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni'.
My first thought of this passage?
I have always wondered what was being called macaroni, the feather, the cap, the horse, the rider?
But alas, In search of the real meaning, I submit to you……
A macaroni (or formerly maccaroni (OED),[1] in mid-18th-century England, was a fashionable fellow who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected and epicene manner
The song “Yankee Doodle”, from the time of the American Revolutionary War, mentions a man who "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni," the joke being that the Yankees were naive enough to believe that a feather in the hat was a sufficient mark of a macaroni. Whether or not these were alternative lyrics sung in the British army, they were enthusiastically taken up by the Yankees themselves
Yup, you heard it here first OR – you already knew!
Well, the bottom line with all of this? I think I will tell my Southern friend that
"Yes,I am a Yankee doodle dandy, Yankee Doodle, do or die
A real live nephew of my Uncle Gordon
Born on the ninth of April I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart
She's my Yankee Doodle AJ
Yankee Doodle came to London
Just to ride the ponies, (but I won't get on one)
I am the Yankee Doodle man. What of it?"
