AKA | Yip I addy |
First Published | 1908 |
Writer/composer | Will D Cobb and George Grossmith Jnr / John H Flynn | Roud | RN31109 |
Music Hall Performers | George Grossmith Jnr in "Our Miss Gibbs" |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: US Soldiers and sailors; Europe; 1917-18 Bond, Frank; England : Hampshire; 1965 |
As adapted by George Grossmith, from the British Sheet Music (Chappell and Co) Young Herman Von Bellow, a musical fellow, Played on a big cello each night; At a restaurant where All the gallant and fair Would drop in for a chat and a bite He played tunes that you know By Wagner and Gounod To give the gay building a tone But the place began swaying When he started playing A wonderful waltz of his own Yip I Addy I Ay , I Ay! E Yip I Addy I Ay! I don’t care what becomes of me, When he plays me that sweet melody. Yip I Addy I Ay , I Ay! My heart wants to shout “Hooray!” (Hooray) Sing of joy, sing of bliss, Home was never like this, Yip I Addy I Ay! [chorus x2] Now, some sort of music Makes me sick and you sick, And some kind is noble and grand; But the kind that our hero Was fiddling like Nero Was of a quite different brand. And sweet Sally Frampton Who lived down at Hampton Her train home was trying to decide But when Herr Von Bellow Began on his cello She tore up her ticket and cried: This fellow von Bellow With cello so mellow Proposed to Sally who said "I'll be yours on condition Your sweet composition You'll play me each day when we are wed" Such excitement he was in He bought some more rosin The morning the wedding bells rang, And when they'd addressed 'em And joined 'em and blessed 'em She kissed all the curates and sang:
A song which originated in the musical theatre rather than the Music Hall, it was originally written for an American audience by Will Cobb and John H Flynn to be performed in a burlesque of The Merry Widow . The lyrics were adapted by George Grossmith and he performed the adapted version at The Gaiety Theatre in the 2 act musical play Our Miss Gibbs. The song does not appear in the original list of songs associated with Our Miss Gibbs when it opened in Jan 1909, but it seems have been introduced later that year. Several commercial recordings were released in 1909 both in America and Britain. There have subsequently been a multitude of recordings – it became something of a pop/trad jazz standard.
The song seems to have been popular amongst American and British troops in the latter years of World War I and was later collected from singing of Frank Bond in 1965
As recorded by George Grossmith:
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A31109
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics Sheet Music and cover image: TROVE and personal collection
- Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, British Musical Theatre: Our Miss Gibbs
Last Updated on May 4, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: May 4, 2023