"Polly Wolly Doodle" is a song first published in a Harvard student songbook in 1880.

"Polly Wolly Doodle" appears in the existing manuscript for Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...

's These Happy Golden Years

These Happy Golden Years

These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was published in 1943 and is the eighth of nine books written in her Little House series, also known as The Laura Years. This book is based on Laura's adolescence near De Smet, South Dakota, in the late 19th century, and focuses on Laura's short...

exactly as it is used in the published version. It was not mentioned in any of the Pioneer Girl manuscripts. It is sometimes credited to Dan Emmett

Dan Emmett

Daniel Decatur "Dan" Emmett was an American songwriter and entertainer, founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition.-Biography:...

. The melody of this song as it is usually sung formed the basis for Boney M.'s hit Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday

Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday

"Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" is a 1979 single by disco band Boney M. as an adaption of nursery rhyme Polly Wolly Doodle. Despite breaking their row of 7 consecutive German #1 singles, peaking at #4, the single was a big hit all over Europe, peaking at #3 in the UK. The song and its B-side...

in 1979, and is common in children's music

Children's music

Children's music is used here to refer to music composed and performed for children by adults. In European influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment...

, appearing in a Sunday school

Sunday school

Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

 song called "O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E", the German group die Lollipops

Die Lollipops

Die Lollipops is a children's band which formed in Germany in the summer of 2000 under the Edelkids label, a subsidiary of Edel Music. - Music :Their music can be divided into three basic types:...

' Radio Lollipop, and is the tune of the Barney & Friends

Barney & Friends

Barney and Friends, also referred to by HiT Entertainment as Barney the Friendly Dinosaur, is an independent children's television show produced in the United States, aimed at children from ages 1-8...

song Alphabet Soup (though only using the first verse's tune). Popular early 20th century child actor Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...

 also sang "Polly Wolly Doodle" in the 1935 film, "The Littlest Rebel". The song is also featured prominently in the 1938 Best Picture winning film You Can't Take It With You

You Can't Take It with You (film)

You Can't Take It With You Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The cast includes James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold....

directed by Frank Capra

Frank Capra

Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...

 and S.O.B. (1981) directed by Blake Edwards

Blake Edwards

Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...

.

Lyrics

Oh, I went down South for to see my Sal

singing Polly wolly doodle all the day

my Sal, she am a spunky gal

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Chorus:

Fare thee well, fare thee well,

fare thee well my fairy Fay

for I'm off to Lou'siana for to see my Susyanna

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Oh, my Sal, she is a maiden fair

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

with curly eyes and laughing hair

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Chorus:

Oh I like watermelon and I have for years

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

I eat watermelon because it gets upon my ears

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Chorus:

Oh, a grasshopper sittin' on a railroad track

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

a pickin' his teeth with a carpet tack

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Chorus:

Behind the barn, down on my knees

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

I thought I heard a chicken sneeze

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Oh he sneezed so hard with the whooping cough

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

he sneezed his head and his tail right off

sing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Fare thee well, fare thee well,

fare thee well my fairy Fay

for I'm off to Lou'siana for to see my Susyanna

sing Polly Wolly Doodle

sing Polly Wolly Doodle

sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day

(Traditional / De Sylva)

Parody

Allan Sherman

Allan Sherman

Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...

 sang a parody of this song, on the subject of his being overweight: "Fare thee well / Metrecal

Metrecal

Metrecal was a brand of diet foods introduced in the early 1960s. Though its products were criticized for their taste, which newer varieties of flavor tried to improve upon later, it attained a niche in the popular culture of the time. Created and marketed initially by C...

 / And all others of that ilk / Though my diet starts tomorrow / Today I'll drown my sorrow / In a double malted milk."

There was a song written to that tune called "If I Had One Wish" on Barney and Friends about how B.J. wanted to go fishing, but had to stay home because it was raining and it was also used in "Barney's Magical Musical Adventure" when Barney and the gang go to visit a king in a castle and the king sings about how he wants to go fishing, but has to stay and take care of the castle and rule the kingdom.

Recorded Versions

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...

 recorded the song on their album The Chipmunk Songbook

The Chipmunk Songbook

The Chipmunk Songbook is an album by Alvin and the Chipmunks with David Seville. It was released in January 1, 1962 by Liberty Records.In 1986, a two-record compilation album was released by Capitol-EMI America, also titled The Chipmunk Songbook, and featuring an entirely different track listing,...

in 1962.

Leon Redbone

Leon Redbone

Leon Redbone is a singer and guitarist specializing in interpretations of early 20th-century music, including jazz and blues standards and Tin Pan Alley classics....

 recorded the song on his album On the Track

On the Track

On the Track is Leon Redbone's debut album. It was released on Warner Bros. Records in 1975 and reissued on CD in 1988. It peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.The collection of songs features cover art by Chuck Jones.- Track listing :...

in 1975.

Curiosities

The song appears in an episode of the 4th season of the TV series Monk

Monk (TV series)

Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...

. In the episode, called "Mr. Monk Stays in Bed", Mr.Monk is sick in bed with the flu and the daughter of Natalie Teeger

Natalie Teeger

Natalie J. Teeger is a fictional character on the American crime drama Monk. She becomes Adrian Monk's personal assistant midway through the third season of the show...

, Julie, brings him a musical greetings card which reproduces Polly Wolly Doodle continuously.