Yankee Doodle

"Yankee Doodle" adalah lagu patriotik terkenal dari AS, merupakan lagu kebangsaan Connecticut. Bait pertama dan refrain yang dinyanyikan sekarang adalah:

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!

Lagu ini dimainkan pada setiap awal dan akhir interval acara Voice of America. Lagu ini pertama dinyanyikan oleh pejabat militer Inggris untuk menghina orang Amerika yang mereka sebut "Yankee". Saat itu, arti kata doodle adalah orang kampungan atau bodoh.

Versi paling awal lagu ini berasal dari tahun 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.

Ephraim yang disebut di sini adalah Ephraim Williams, seorang kolonel dari Massachusetts yang terbunuh dalam Battle of Lake George. Ia mewariskan tanah dan rumahnya untuk mendirikan sekolah di Massachusetts barat, sekarang dikenal sebagai Williams College.

Pada 6 Februari 1788. Massachusetts bergabung dengan Amerika Serikat dan hal ini dirayakan dengan menyanyikan lagu "Yankee Doodle" dengan lirik mereka sendiri:

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!

Versi lengkap

Versi lengkap lagu ini adalah:

Fath'r and I went down to camp,

Along with Captain Goodin',

And there we saw the men and boys

As thick as hasty pudding.

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 ev'ry day,

I wish it could be saved.

Yankee Doodle &c.

And there we saw a swamping gun,

Large as a log of maple,

Upon a deuced little cart,

A load for father's cattle.

Yankee Doodle &c.

And every time they shoot it off,

It takes a horn of powder;

It makes a noise like father's gun,

Only a nation louder.

Yankee Doodle &c.

Cousin Simon grew so bold,

I thought he would have cock'd it.

It scared me so, I shrieked it off,

And hung by father's pocket.

Yankee Doodle &c.

I saw a little barrel too,

The heads were made of leather.

They knocked on it with little clubs

And called the folks together.

Yankee Doodle &c.

And there was Captain Washington,

And gentlefolks about him.

They say he's grown so tarnal proud,

He will not ride without them.

Yankee Doodle &c.

He got himself in meeting-clothes,

Upon a slapping stallion.

He set the world along in rows,

In hundreds and in millions.

Yankee Doodle &c.

The flaming ribbons in his hat,

They looked so taring fine, ah,

I wanted pockily to get,

To give to my Jemimah.

Yankee Doodle &c.

Perang saudara

Dalam masa Perang Saudara, pihak selatan menambahkan lirik baru:

Yankee Doodle had a mind

To whip the Southern rebels,

Because they did not choose to live

On codfish from his tables.

Yankee Doodle, fa, so la,

Yankee Doodle dandy,

And so to keep his courage up,

He took a drink of brandy.

Selain itu di selatan dikenal juga variasi yang berjudul "Dixie Doodle":

Dixie whipped old Yankee Doodle

Early in the morning.

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.

Variasi dan parodi

Versi yang diajarkan ke anak sekolah sekarang adalah:

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

Pada tahun 1930-an, penyanyi jazz Billie Holiday merekam versi parodi lagu ini:

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

Budaya pop

Lagu ini dimainkan dalam film Yankee Doodle Dandy
Lagu tema film seri televisi Roger Ramjet dan Barney & Friends menggunakan melodi lagu ini.
Iklan untuk mainan Magna Doodle pada tahun 1990-an menggunakan melodi lagu ini.

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