Yankee Doodle

Origin: USA

Lyrics

Yankee Doodle went to townA-riding on a pony,Stuck a feather in his capAnd called it macaroni.

[Chorus]Yankee Doodle keep it up,Yankee Doodle dandy,Mind the music and the step,And with the girls be handy.

Father and I went down to camp,Along with Captain Gooding,And there we saw the men and boysAs thick as hasty pudding.

[Chorus]

And there we saw a thousand menAs rich as Squire David,And what they wasted every day,I wish it could be savèd.

[Chorus]

The 'lasses they eat every day,Would keep a house a winter;They have so much, that I'll be bound,They eat it when they've a mind to.

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And there I see a swamping gunLarge as a log of maple,Upon a deuced little cart,A load for father's cattle.

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And every time they shoot it off,It takes a horn of powder,And makes a noise like father's gun,Only a nation louder.

[Chorus]

I went as nigh to one myselfAs 'Siah's underpinning;And father went as nigh again,I thought the deuce was in him.

[Chorus]

Cousin Simon grew so bold,I thought he would have cocked it;It scared me so I shrinked it offAnd hung by father's pocket.

[Chorus]

And Cap'n Davis had a gun,He kind of clapt his hand on'tAnd stuck a crooked stabbing ironUpon the little end on't

[Chorus]

And there I see a pumpkin shellAs big as mother's basin,And every time they touched it offThey scampered like the nation.

[Chorus]

I see a little barrel too,The heads were made of leather;They knocked on it with little clubsAnd called the folks together.

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And there was Cap'n Washington,And gentle folks about him;They say he's grown so 'tarnal proudHe will not ride without 'em.

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He got him on his meeting clothes,Upon a slapping stallion;He sat the world along in rows,In hundreds and in millions.

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The flaming ribbons in his hat,They looked so tearing fine, ah,I wanted dreadfully to getTo give to my Jemima.

[Chorus]

I see another snarl of menA-digging graves, they told me,So 'tarnal long, so 'tarnal deep,They 'tended they should hold me.

[Chorus]

It scared me so, I hooked it off,Nor stopped, as I remember,Nor turned about till I got home,Locked up in mother's chamber.

[Chorus]

"Yankee Doodle" started as a British insult. Officers sang it to mock the ragged American colonial militia as country bumpkins; the "macaroni" line jeers at a yokel who thinks a feather makes him a fashion-plate. The colonists took the song, wore it as a badge of pride, and played it back at the British when they surrendered. It is now Connecticut's state song.

Why did British soldiers sing Yankee Doodle?

British officers and soldiers originally sang the song during the French and Indian War to mock the disheveled, poorly disciplined American colonial militia. By portraying the American colonist as a simpleton ("doodle") riding a pony, the British sought to reinforce their own military superiority.

What does "macaroni" mean in Yankee Doodle?

In the 1770s, "macaroni" referred to a subculture of fashionable young men in London who dressed in extreme Italian styles and wore tall, elaborate wigs. The line "stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni" mocked the American colonist as a country bumpkin who foolishly believed that simply putting a feather in his hat would make him equal to the sophisticated, high-fashion gentlemen of London.

Revolutionary War Symbol and Legacy

During the American Revolutionary War, the colonists reclaimed the insulting song and adopted it as a proud patriotic anthem. At the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and later at the British surrender at Yorktown, American troops played the melody back to the retreating British forces, turning the insult into a celebration of their victory. Today, it remains one of the most recognizable patriotic songs in the United States and is the official state song of Connecticut.

Vocabulary and Terms

Doodle: A slang term used in the 18th century meaning a fool or simpleton.
Yankee: A term originally used by the British as a derisive label for New Englanders, later proudly adopted by all Americans.
Hasty Pudding: A thick, simple porridge made from cornmeal and milk, representing plain country food.