Listen
Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
From old school to preschool,
Then back again.
It's the Nursery Rhyme Collection,
Run go tell your friends,
Blends of beats, singers and instruments,
Come on everybody, now let's get into this.
Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony,
He stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.
Yankee Doodle, doodle dee,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
All the lasses are so smart
And sweet as sugar candy.
Clap your hands, stomp your feet,
We're doing this together,
We can all dig it like it's buried treasure.
X marks the spot, stop, look and listen
To the sound of nursery rhymes
Played by real musicians.
Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.
Yankee Doodle, doodle dee,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
All the lasses are so smart
And sweet as sugar candy.
Can I kick it? Yes I can.
Explain the plans behind the jams,
To entertain all and help
The young minds expand.
Understand the feeling of real music,
That special sound that makes you want to choose it.
I got moves kid, I know you're dancing,
The track's so funky, it just demands it.
Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it;
But ne'er a penny was there in it,
Except the binding round it.
Yankee Doodle, doodle dee,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
All the lasses are so smart
And sweet as sugar candy.
We made nursery rhymes
Cool for young and old to enjoy,
Who wants to listen most?
Grown ups or girls and boys?
Volume three and four,
Go get the first if you missed it,
Together we can make
Humpty Dumpty a chart hit!
Father and I went down to camp
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Yankee Doodle, doodle dee,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
All the lasses are so smart,
As sweet as sugar candy.
Yankee Doodle, doodle dee,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Yankee Doodle, doodle dee,
They call it macaroni.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Yankee Doodle" is one of the most famous American songs, with a melody that predates the American Revolution by some years. The original words are thought to have been written by a British Army surgeon, Dr Richard Shuckburgh, as a satirical commentary on the poorly dressed colonial troops — the "Yankee Doodle" who calls a feather in his cap "macaroni" is a figure of mockery. The colonists adopted the song with pride, and it became an anthem of the Revolution.
The melody was already old when Shuckburgh wrote his words; it appears in various forms in Dutch and British sources dating from the 1750s. Many traditional verses exist, of which the most famous are those heard here: the pony ride to town, the feather in the cap, Captain Gooding, Father and the army camp.
This recording takes those traditional verses and frames them within a hip-hop arrangement by Duke01, with rap verses that speak directly about the Nursery Rhymes Collections project itself. The "Lucy Locket" verse, another traditional rhyme, appears as an interlude. The result is one of the most unusual recordings in the collection — traditional material refracted through a genuinely contemporary sound.
