If You're Happy and You Know It

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If You're Happy and You Know It is a popular repetitive nursery rhyme from the USA . The song became known for its similarities to Molodejnaya , a song from the 1938 Soviet musical film Volga-Volga .

history

The song has been published in a number of locations including a volume of "constructive leisure activities" for children (1957), a book of theater projects for disabled children (1967), and a nursing home manual (1966).

In 1971, Jonico Music filed the copyright for the song and attributed it to Joe Raposo.

In the early 2000s, the American Music Recording Industry Association actively prosecuted people for downloading music using file sharing services. Media attention was focused on a 12-year-old whose downloads included If You're Happy and You Know It through the Kazaa program .

There is also a German version of the song with the title When you are happy .

song lyrics

As with many children's chants, there are many versions of the lyrics. A popular version looks like this:

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it;
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

This verse is usually followed by three more, following the same pattern, but saying: "If you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet!", "If you're happy and you know it, shout / say 'hooray' ! " or "shout / say 'amen'!"; and "If you're happy and you know it, do all three!". Other versions of the song say "then your face will surely show it" instead of "and you really wanna show it"; the phrase "then you really ought to show it" was also used. There are many other variations on the first three verses including:

"... shout / say, 'Hooray'!"
"... slap your knees!"
"... slap your legs!"
"... turn around!"
"... snap your fingers!"
"... nod your head!"
"... tap your toe!"
"... honk your nose!"
"... pat your head!"
"... shout / say, 'We are'!"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ If You're Happy and You Know It - Famous Nursery Rhymes. Retrieved July 30, 2019 (American English).
  2. ^ Richard G. Kraus: Play Activities for Boys and Girls, Six Through Twelve: A Guide for Teachers, Parents . McGraw-Hill, 1957 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 30, 2019]).
  3. ^ Regina Schattner: Creative Dramatics for Handicapped Children . John Day Company, 1967 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 30, 2019]).
  4. ^ H. Lee Jacobs, Woodrow Wilbert Morris: Nursing and retirement home administration . Iowa State University Press, 1966 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 30, 2019]).
  5. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Catalog of Copyright Entries 3D Series Vol 25 Pt 5 Secs 1-2 . US Govt. Print. Off., Washington DC 1971, p. 348 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive [accessed July 30, 2019]).
  6. ^ Music firms target 12-year-old . September 10, 2003 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed July 30, 2019]).
  7. ↑ When you are happy - Germany. Retrieved July 30, 2019 .