Happy St George's Day to all who celebrate: "Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'"
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I'm Henery The Eighth, I Am is an old British music hall song written in 1910 by Fred Murray and R.P. Weston. Weston, you may recall, also collaborated on With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm, another music hall ditty featuring ol' Henry VIII which I posted about some time ago. I'm Henery The Eighth was popularized by singer/comedian Harry Champion (see picture; real name William Henry Crump) and became his signature piece. The silly song rather faded into obscurity with the end of the music hall era until it was brought out of retirement by British rocker Joe Brown, who recorded it for his first album in 1962. But it really hit the big time later in the Sixties when it was recorded by Herman's Hermits, the British rock group which had a number of hits in that decade; I'm Henry became one of their biggest. As unlikely as it sounds, the number became the fastest selling song in history up until that time. Unlikely perhaps, but it delights me to no end to know that an old music hall novelty song shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, kicking The Rolling Stones' I Can't Get No Satisfaction out of top position. R.P. Weston from beyond the grave: Of course, Herman's Hermits only sang the chorus through a couple times (connecting it with the now famous bridge: "Second verse, same as the first.") not the actual verses. Which made their version not only the fastest selling song in history, but the shortest as well... which makes me giggle when I think that I Can't Get No Satisfaction is about four minutes long. Hee hee. I know the song from when I was a child because my mother used to sing it to us, when I was so young that I didn't have a sweet clue who Henry VIII was and so didn't even get the joke. But she only sang the Hermit's version so I wasn't aware of the verses until I was considerably older and had developed an interest in music from the period in question. Here they are: (Verse 1) You don't know who you're looking at Now have a look at me I'm a bit of a nob I am Belong to Royaltee I'll tell you how got came about I married widow Burch And I was King of England When I toddled out of church Outside the people started shouting, “Hip hooray” Said I, “Get down upon your knees its Coronation Day (Chorus) I'm Henery the eighth I am Henery the eighth I am, I am I got married to the widow next door She's been married seven times before Everyone was a Henery she wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam I'm her eighth old man named Henery I'm Henery the eighth I am (Verse 2) I left the Duke of Cumberland, a pub up in the town Soon with one or two moochers I was holding up the Crown I sat upon the bucket that the car men think their own Surrounded by my subjects I was sitting on the throne Out came the potman saying, “No get off to the bed” Said I, “Now say another word and off'll go your head (Verse 3) Now at the waxworks exhibition not so long ago I was sitting among the Kings I made a lovely show To good old Queen Elizabeth I shouted, “Wotcha Liz!” While people poked my ribs and said, “I wonder who this is?” One said, “Its Charlie Peace.” and then I got the spike I shouted, “Show your ignorance!” as waxy as you like. I don't feel like this song requires a great deal of explanation. The obvious joke is that King Henry the Eighth (himself married six times) was the eighth English king named Henry, whereas in the song, the chap is the eighth man named Henry to marry Widow Burch. The word "nob" in the first verse is a slang term for an aristocrat. I am admittedly a little less certain about some of the references in verse 2; a "moocher" is someone who sponges off others, and a "potman" is someone who serves liquor in a pub. But I don't really know what the lines about "holding up the crown" or the car men and their bucket refer to, if anything. The third verse references Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which has been a tourist attraction in London since 1835. It contains wax figures of all the British monarchs as well as other famous- and infamous- people. Obviously the Queen Elizabeth mentioned is the First, since the song predates Elizabeth II. The "Charlie Peace" that the singer is mistaken for was one of the infamous types: a well-known career criminal who was hanged for murder in 1879. I'm not sure what "got the spike" means... I presume it has something to do with losing one's temper. And "waxy" is a slang English term for angry or bad-tempered, though of course it has a double meaning here. Here's Harry Champion singing the original song: Joe Brown's take on it: And, of course, Herman's Hermits: You can't really compare Harry Champion's version to the other two- it's a completely different style for a completely different era and audience. But of the later two versions, I have to say that I much prefer Joe Brown's interpretation, though obviously it didn't win over the shrieking teeny bopper crowd.
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