![]() They stopped the streets of London when they were walking around and they had a very strong influence on fashion, much beyond their original numbers. For those of you old enough to remember The Romantics of the 1980s, that's probably the closest analogy you'll get to the macaroni's incredibly dandified youth-huge wigs, tight jackets, winklepicker shoes. But in this rhyme what the macaroni is referring to is an English youth cult from the 1760s and '70s. The key to this is the last word, `macaroni.' Now we all know macaroni as an Italian dish, as a very tasty Italian dish, in fact. The key.ĮLLIOTT: Besides not knowing how to dance properly. ![]() He stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni." Now the British were essentially using this to taunt the Americans for not being very wealthy, not being very well dressed and, generally, criticizing their deportment. But anyway, this version goes: "Yankee Doodle, came to town riding on a pony. And rather nicely at Bunker Hill, I believe, where the British surrendered-the Americans started singing it, ironically, which I think's rather nice, because I think people in Britain don't appreciate that Americans have a very fine, ironic sense of humor, a very finely tuned sense of humor, and this is a very early example of that. And it's a reminder to check you doing the steps right and that you're holding the girl in the correct way, which is-so that's one variation of-apparently, there are hundreds and the book could have been devoted entirely to that.īut the other better known version which was used-the British used to sing it during the War of Independence. Mind the music and the step and with the girls be handy." And this particular version was sung by predominantly the British as a reminder to our American friends that dance steps in Europe and in America, the colonies as it was, were different. And "Yankee Doodle" was actually a dance tune popular with reels and jigs and various maneuvers. I mean, it's a very, very good analogy in many ways. It was getting remixed back and forth between the different countries and a bit like dance music is today. The line-there are many, many versions of "Yankee Doodle." It's a very interesting early example of Britain and America singing the same tune, not necessarily with the same words. CHRIS ROBERTS (Author, "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown"): Well, we needn't all out about it. He's the author of "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown." It's a collection of nursery rhyme history, something he started collecting while giving walking tours of London.Ĭhris, today you have come prepared I understand to talk about a touchy subject for a Brit and an American, "Yankee Doodle." Joining us now from our London bureau with another reason behind the rhyme is librarian Chris Roberts. This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.
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