The British originally used Yankee Doodle to mock colonial militia during the French and Indian War, especially the line about “sticking a feather in his cap and calling it macaroni,” which made fun of colonists trying to look fashionable. By the time of the American Revolutionary War, American troops had embraced the song and proudly sang it themselves as a marching tune.
Xzentrix86 on
he stuck a feather in his cap, and called it macaroni
SweetHatDisc on
America has a long, proud, and storied tradition of being told what we’re doing is stupid, and responding by doing the stupid thing much more loudly than before.
SouthernStruggle1509 on
British: “bunch of dumbass yankees.”
Americans: “hell yeah you my yankah, waddup yankah”
Jesterhead89 on
This is the 8 Mile school of thought: embrace what your opponent is going to use against you, and you take his ammo away. I love it
ldwtlotpa on
Yankeeee yankeeee yankeeee yankedoodle
Neil118781 on
“And there was general Washington upon a slappin stallion, giving orders to his men I GUESS THERE WAS A MILLION!”
HelpfulPug on
“Let’s write a song to mock -”
lemme stop you right there kid, it’s *going to slap* and they are *going to love the fuck out of it*.
TheMightyMisanthrope on
Yankee doodle posting is back!
Zlecu on
Interestingly enough the part about sticking a feather in the hat and calling it macaroni doesn’t appear until the 1842. Though the song itself was definitely used in the revolution.
Here are the 1775 lyrics according to George Washington’s Mt. Vernon.
The Farmer and his Son’s return from a visit to the CAMP.
Father and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we see the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Yankey doodle keep it up,
Yankey doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy
And there we see a thousand men,
As rich as ‘Squire David,
And what they wasted every day,
I wish it had been saved.
Yankey doodle, &c.
The ‘lasses they eat every day,
Would keep an house a winter;
They have as much that I’ll be bound,
They eat it when they’re mind to.
Yankey doodle, &c.
And there we see a swamping gun,
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a ducid little cart,
A load for father’s cattle.
Yankey doodle, &c.
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.
Yankey doodle, &c.
I went as nigh to one myself,
As ‘Siah’s underpinning;
And father when as nigh again,
I thought the duce was in him.
Yankey doodle, &c.
Cousin Simon grew so bold,
I thought he would have cock’d it;
It scar’d me so I shriek’d it off,
And hung by father’s pocket.
Yankey doodle, &c.
And captain Davis had a gun,
He kind of clapt his hand on’t,
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on’t.
Yankey doodle, &c.
And there I see a pumpkin shell,
As big as mother’s bason,
And every time they touch’d it off,
They scamper’d like the nation.
Yankey doodle, &c.
I see a little barrel too,
The heads were made of leather,
They knock upon with little clubs,
And call’d the folks together.
Yankey 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.
Yankey doodle, &c.
He got him on his meeting clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion,
He set the world along in rows,
In hundreds and in millions.
Yankey doodle, &c.
The flaming ribbons in his hat,
They look’d so taring fine ah,
I wanted pockily to get,
To give to my Jemimah.
Yankey doodle, &c.
I see another snarl of men,
A digging graves they told me,
So tarnal long, so tarnal deep,
They ‘tended they should hold me.
Yankey doodle, &c.
If scar’d me so I hook’d it off,
Nor stopt as I remember,
Nor turn’d about ’till I got home,
Lock’d up in mother’s chamber.
11 Comments
The British originally used Yankee Doodle to mock colonial militia during the French and Indian War, especially the line about “sticking a feather in his cap and calling it macaroni,” which made fun of colonists trying to look fashionable. By the time of the American Revolutionary War, American troops had embraced the song and proudly sang it themselves as a marching tune.
he stuck a feather in his cap, and called it macaroni
America has a long, proud, and storied tradition of being told what we’re doing is stupid, and responding by doing the stupid thing much more loudly than before.
British: “bunch of dumbass yankees.”
Americans: “hell yeah you my yankah, waddup yankah”
This is the 8 Mile school of thought: embrace what your opponent is going to use against you, and you take his ammo away. I love it
Yankeeee yankeeee yankeeee yankedoodle
“And there was general Washington upon a slappin stallion, giving orders to his men I GUESS THERE WAS A MILLION!”
“Let’s write a song to mock -”
lemme stop you right there kid, it’s *going to slap* and they are *going to love the fuck out of it*.
Yankee doodle posting is back!
Interestingly enough the part about sticking a feather in the hat and calling it macaroni doesn’t appear until the 1842. Though the song itself was definitely used in the revolution.
Here are the 1775 lyrics according to George Washington’s Mt. Vernon.
The Farmer and his Son’s return from a visit to the CAMP.
Father and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we see the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Yankey doodle keep it up,
Yankey doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy
And there we see a thousand men,
As rich as ‘Squire David,
And what they wasted every day,
I wish it had been saved.
Yankey doodle, &c.
The ‘lasses they eat every day,
Would keep an house a winter;
They have as much that I’ll be bound,
They eat it when they’re mind to.
Yankey doodle, &c.
And there we see a swamping gun,
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a ducid little cart,
A load for father’s cattle.
Yankey doodle, &c.
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.
Yankey doodle, &c.
I went as nigh to one myself,
As ‘Siah’s underpinning;
And father when as nigh again,
I thought the duce was in him.
Yankey doodle, &c.
Cousin Simon grew so bold,
I thought he would have cock’d it;
It scar’d me so I shriek’d it off,
And hung by father’s pocket.
Yankey doodle, &c.
And captain Davis had a gun,
He kind of clapt his hand on’t,
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on’t.
Yankey doodle, &c.
And there I see a pumpkin shell,
As big as mother’s bason,
And every time they touch’d it off,
They scamper’d like the nation.
Yankey doodle, &c.
I see a little barrel too,
The heads were made of leather,
They knock upon with little clubs,
And call’d the folks together.
Yankey 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.
Yankey doodle, &c.
He got him on his meeting clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion,
He set the world along in rows,
In hundreds and in millions.
Yankey doodle, &c.
The flaming ribbons in his hat,
They look’d so taring fine ah,
I wanted pockily to get,
To give to my Jemimah.
Yankey doodle, &c.
I see another snarl of men,
A digging graves they told me,
So tarnal long, so tarnal deep,
They ‘tended they should hold me.
Yankey doodle, &c.
If scar’d me so I hook’d it off,
Nor stopt as I remember,
Nor turn’d about ’till I got home,
Lock’d up in mother’s chamber.
Yankey doodle, &c.2
Yankee Doodle Dandy came to town riding on a pony
Now let’s go kill the redcoats.