For he's a Jolly Good Fellow
The song For He's a Jolly Good Fellow is sung to congratulate someone, usually on a birthday, an extraordinary event or a wedding. It is especially popular when the team has won a sporting event.
The Guinness Book of Records lists the song as the second most popular in the English-speaking world. It is preceded by Happy Birthday to You , followed by Auld Lang Syne in third place .
History of origin
The melody comes from the French song Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre (French: 'Marlborough goes to war'), which was sung for the first time in 1709 on the night after the battle of Malplaquet . John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was in command on the Allied side in this battle of the War of the Spanish Succession . It then became a French folk tune . It became particularly popular through Marie Antoinette , who had this song sung by her nanny several times. The melody became so popular in France that Ludwig van Beethoven used it in the piece Wellingtons Sieg in 1813 to represent the French musically. The melody of the song was also known in Great Britain as a practice for the harpsichord . The traditional English children's song The Bear Went over the Mountain is sung to the same melody .
text
The melody has been sung with the text For He's a Jolly Good Fellow since the 19th century . The British and American text versions are slightly different from each other. The second line “and so say all of us” is the typical British variant, while “which nobody can deny” is used in America. A mix of the two variants is also possible due to the repetition.
The text that contains a gender-specific pronoun ( he 'he') is now also sung with the feminine pronoun she ('she'), which was not the case with women in earlier times. If the song is sung for several people at the same time, the pronoun they ('they', plural) is used. The translation of the English text could read: "Because he is a funny and good friend".
British version
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us
- And so say all of us, and so say all of us
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us!
American version
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny
- Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny
- For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
- For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny!
Italian version
- Perché è un bravo ragazzo, perché è un bravo ragazzo
- perché è un bravo ragazzo (pause), nessuno lo può negar
- Nessuno lo può negar, nessuno lo può negar
- Perché è un bravo ragazzo, perché è un bravo ragazzo
- perché è un bravo ragazzo (pause), nessuno lo può negar!
Spanish version
- Porque es un muchacho grande, porque es un muchacho grande
- Porque es un muchacho excelente, y siempre lo será.
- Y siempre lo será, y siempre lo será.
- Porque es un muchacho excelente, porque es un muchacho excelente
- Porque es un muchacho excelente, y siempre lo será.
Spanish version in Latin America
- Porque es un buen compañero, porque es un buen compañero
- Porque es un buen compañero (pausa), y nadie lo puede negar
- y nadie lo puede negar, y nadie lo puede negar
- Porque es un buen compañero, porque es un buen compañero
- Porque es un buen compañero (pausa), y nadie lo puede negar
Portuguese version
- Ele é um bom companheiro, ele é um bom companheiro
- Ele é um bom companheiro (pause), ninguém pode negar
- ninguém pode negar, ninguém pode negar
- Ele é um bom companheiro, ele é um bom companheiro
- Ele é um bom companheiro (pause), ninguém pode negar
Individual evidence
- ^ Catalog of rare books of and relating to music . Ellis, London, p. 32.
- ↑ Nancy Shohet West: Mining nuggets of music history . In: Boston Globe , June 9, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
- ↑ Max Cryer: Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Favorite Songs (Large Print) . Exisle Publishing, 2010, ISBN 1-4587-7956-4 , p. 26 ff.