"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is a popular song that is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a promotion, a birthday, a wedding (or playing a major part in a wedding), a retirement, a wedding anniversary, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event. The melody originates from the French song "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" ("Marlborough Has Left for the War").

History

The tune is of French origin and dates at least from the 18th century.[1] Allegedly it was composed the night after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709.[2] It became a French folk tune and was popularised by Marie Antoinette after she heard one of her maids singing it.[3] The melody became so popular in France that it was used to represent the French defeat in Beethoven's composition Wellington's Victory, Op. 91, written in 1813.[4]

The melody also became widely popular in the United Kingdom.[5] By the mid-19th century[6] it was being sung with the words "For he's a jolly good fellow", often at all-male social gatherings,[7] and "For she's a jolly good fellow", often at all-female social gatherings. By 1862, it was already familiar in the United States.[8]

The British and the American versions of the lyrics differ. "And so say all of us" is typically British,[9] while "which nobody can deny" is regarded as the American version,[4] but the latter has been used by non-American writers, including Charles Dickens in Household Words,[10] Hugh Stowell Brown in Lectures to the Men of Liverpool[11] and James Joyce in Finnegans Wake.[12] (In the short story "The Dead" from Dubliners, Joyce has a version that goes, "For they are jolly gay fellows..." with a refrain between verses of "Unless he tells a lie".) The 1935 American film Ruggles of Red Gap, set in rural Washington State, ends with repeated choruses of the song, with the two variations sung alternately.

Text

As with many songs that use gender-specific pronouns, the song can be altered to agree with the gender of the intended recipient.[13] If the song is being sung to two or more people, it is altered to use plurals.

British version

For he's a jolly good fellow and so say all of us, by Walter Dendy Sadler

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
For he's a jolly good fellow, 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, which nobody can deny!

Melody

\layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } } \relative c' { \key f \major \time 6/8 \partial 8 \autoBeamOff \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"trumpet" \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 144 c'8 | a4 a8 a8 g8 a8 | bes4. a4 a8 | g4 g8 g8 f8 g8 | a4. f4 g8 | a4 a8 a8 g8 a8 | bes4. \tempo 4 = 48 d4\fermata \tempo 4 = 144 d8 | c8 d8 c8 bes4 g8 f2. } \addlyrics { For he's a jol- ly good fell- ow, for he's a jol- ly good fell- ow, for he's a jol- ly good fell- ow, which no- bo- dy can de- ny! }

In pop culture

  • Sung in the 1934 film Evergreen at Harriet's farewell party.
  • Played at the end of the 1936 film Mr. Deeds (Longfellow Deeds) Goes to Town by Frank Capra.
  • Sung in the 1939 film Gone With the Wind at Ashley's birthday party.
  • Sung in the 1940 film A Chump at Oxford when the Oxford graduates sing to Stan and Ollie.
  • Sung in the 1941 film That Hamilton Woman at Sir William Hamilton's birthday.
  • Sung in the 1941 film The Devil and Miss Jones at the ball at the end of the film.
  • Sung in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai by colonel Nicholson's men after he is punished by Saito.
  • Played (in a somewhat varied form) by the band escorting the intended groom (who is carried in a covered litter) at the village wedding in Satyajit Ray's The World of Apu.
  • Sung in the movie Some Like It Hot.
  • Sung in the 1953 film The Band Wagon for Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) in the final scene.
  • Sung in the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny in the penultimate scene.
  • Sung in the 1963 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show called "A Surprise Surprise is a Surprise," second season, number 30.
  • In Gilligan's Island episode, Gilligan Gets Bugged.
  • Sung in the 1966 film Grand Prix in a celebration, after Brian Bedford's character Scott Stoddard wins an F1 race.
  • Occasionally quoted (with obvious irony) in the incidental music to the cult TV series The Prisoner.
  • Played in the background when Asrani makes his entrance as police officer in the 1975 Indian movie Sholay.
  • The 1977 Disney animated feature film The Rescuers featured a variation of the song called "For Penny's a Jolly Good Fellow".
  • The "People's Front of Judea" sung it to Brian in the ending scene of Monty Python's Life of Brian.
  • The song is sung by officers in the 1954 movie The Caine Mutiny.
  • The song is sung to Mrs. Peacock in the second ending of the 1985 film Clue.
  • In the 1978 movie Grease, the T-Birds sing this to Danny Zuko after he wins the race at Thunder Road.
  • The song is sung to Benjamin Sisko in congratulations of his promotion to captain in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Adversary".
  • A Klingon-language version is sung to Lieutenant Worf for his birthday during the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Parallels".
  • Eric Matthews sung the different version in an episode of Boy Meets World.
  • Fans of Arsenal F.C. have a variation called "Jolly Good Vela", named after fan-favorite Carlos Vela.
  • In the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the character Zartan (played by Arnold Vosloo) has the habit of whistling the song.
  • In the 1975 episode "Disturbing the Peace" of Ronnie Barker's TV show Porridge, every inmate sings the song on the return of Mr. Mackay.
  • In the episode "The Good Sport" of the animated TV series Arthur, Francine starts singing the song to Jenna because Jenna won Athlete of the Year Award. The other students in Francine's class uncomfortably join in.
  • A variation of the song called "For He's a Jolly Good Rookie" is used in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode called "F.U.N".
  • In the 2011 video game Portal 2, the sinister AI villain, GLaDOS is sarcastically humming the song for the player after completing a puzzle.
  • In The Godfather Part II, Rizzi sings this.
  • In Boardwalk Empire, season 1.
  • In Seinfeld, season 9, episode 18, The Frogger
  • In Mad Men, season 1, episode 3.
  • In Gossip Girl, season 2.
  • In The Hour, season 1, episode 4.
  • In Glee, season 1, episode 3
  • In the 2008 film 21.
  • In the 2009 film John Rabe.
  • In the 2013 film White House Down.
  • In the 2022 film Aftersun.
  • The song is sung by Big Daddy's grandchildren in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).
  • In Brazil, a variation of the song was used as a jingle in the advertisement of Brazilian beer called Kaiser, produced by beverage company FEMSA. The jingle's lyric is "Kaiser is a greatest beer, which nobody can deny" (in Portuguese: "A Kaiser é uma grande cerveja, ninguém pode negar").
  • In the 2009 iCarly episode "iMake Sam Girlier", the song is sung after a character is prevented from singing "Happy Birthday to You" because of copyright.
  • In The Big Bang Theory, season 5, episode 22.
  • In Peppa Pig, season 4, episode 26.
  • In Blue Bloods, season 3, episode 5.
  • In Barney and the Backyard Gang, episode 1
  • In Black Mirror, season 4, episode 1, USS Callister
  • In King of the Hill, season 9, episode 15
  • In Batman, season 2, episode 17 "Hizzoner the Penguin" a variation of the song called "For He's a Jolly Good Penguin" is used.
  • In Dawn of the Croods, the lyrics changed into "For She's a Bloodthirsty Cavewoman" on Ugga's surprise birthday party.
  • In Columbo, season 10, episode 4 – "Death Hits the Jackpot"
  • In Columbo, season 10, episode 5 – "No Time to Die"
  • In Columbo, season 10, episode 12 – "Ashes to Ashes" as "For He's a Jolly Good Undertaker"
  • In Sea of Thieves, as a sea shanty for all instruments.
  • In Watchmen, Season 1, Episode 1 - "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice"
  • In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius season 1, episode 7a - "See Jimmy Run"
  • In Mixed Nutz season 1, episode 8 - "Camping"
  • In Fellow Travelers season 1, episode 2 — "Bulletproof"

References

  1. ↑ The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd. ed. (revised). Ed. Michael Kennedy: "18th‐cent. Fr. nursery song. ... It is usually stated that 'Malbrouck' refers to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, but the name is found in medieval literature."
  2. ↑ Catalogue of rare books of and relating to music. London: Ellis. 1728. p. 32.
  3. ↑ West, Nancy Shohet (9 June 2011). "Mining nuggets of music history". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 Cryer, Max (2010). Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Favourite Songs. Exile Publishing. pp. 26 ff. ISBN 978-1-4587-7956-4.
  5. ↑ The Times (London, England), 28 March 1826, p. 2: "The Power of Music: A visiting foreigner, trying to recall the address of his lodgings in Marlborough Street, hums the tune to a London cabman: he immediately recognises it as 'Malbrook' ".
  6. ↑ The song may have featured in an "extravaganza" given at the Princess Theatre in London at Easter 1846, during which fairies hold a moonlight meeting: "...the meeting closes with a song of thanks to Robin Goodfellow (Miss Marshall), who had occupied the chair, ...and who is assured that 'he's a jolly good fellow'." "Princess's." The Times (London, England) 14 April 1846: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 1 October 2012.
  7. ↑ The Times reprinted an article from Punch describing a drunken speech given at a (fictional) public meeting. The speech ends: "Zshenl'men, here's all your vehgood healts! I beggapard'n – here's my honangal'n fren's shjolly goo' health! 'For he's a jolly good fellow', &c (Chorus by the whole of the company, amid which the right hon. orator tumbled down.)" "The After Dinner Speech at the Improvement Club". The Times, (London, England) 23 March 1854: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 1 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Review of a piano recital: "As a finale he performed for the first time, a burlesque on the French air, 'Marlbrook', better known to the American student of harmony as 'He's a jolly good fellow'." The New York Times, 4 October 1862
  9. ↑ An 1859 version quoted in The Times, however, has some "red-faced" English officers at an Indian entertainment dancing before their host: "...declaring that he was 'a right good fellow; he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody dare deny hip, hip, hip, hoorah!' &c." The Times (London, England), 24 March 1859, p. 9
  10. ↑ Dickens, Charles (1857). Household Words. Vol. 15. p. 142.
  11. ↑ Brown, Hugh Stowell (1860). Lectures to the Men of Liverpool. p. 73.
  12. ↑ Joyce, James (2006). Finnegans Wake. p. 569. ISBN 9780801883828.
  13. ↑ Originally the song was associated with after-dinner drinking by all-male groups and not used for females. In 1856, British officers in the Crimea mistakenly sang it after a toast had been made, in Russian, to the Empress of Russia: "...peals of laughter followed when they all learned the subject of the toast, which was afterwards drunk again with due honour and respect." Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 80, October 1856
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