Ta ra ra Boom de ay

Background

The song's authorship was disputed for some years. It was originally credited to Sayers, who was the manager of the George Thatcher Minstrels; Sayers used the song in his 1891 production Tuxedo, a minstrel farce variety show in which "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" was sung by Mamie Gilroy. However, Sayers later said that he had not written the song, but had heard it performed in the 1880s by a black singer, Mama Lou, in a well-known St. Louis brothel run by "Babe" Connors.

Stephen Cooney, Lottie Collins' husband, heard the song in Tuxedo and purchased from Sayers rights for Collins to perform the song in England. Collins worked up a dance routine around it, and, with new words by Richard Morton and a new arrangement by Angelo A. Asher, she first sang the song at the Tivoli Music Hall on The Strand in London in 1891 to an enthusiastic reception; it became her signature tune. She performed it to great acclaim in the 1892 adaptation of Edmond Audran's opérette, Miss Helyett. According to reviews at the time, Collins delivered the suggestive verses with deceptive demureness, before launching into the lusty refrain and her celebrated "kick dance", a kind of cancan in which, according to one reviewer, "she turns, twists, contorts, revolutionizes, and disports her lithe and muscular figure into a hundred different poses, all bizarre".

The song was performed in France under the title 'Tha-ma-ra-boum-di-hé', first by Mlle. Duclerc at Aux Ambassadeurs in 1891, but the following year as a major hit for Polaire at the Folies Bergère. In 1892 The New York Times reported that a French version of the song had appeared under the title 'Boom-allez'.

Later editions of the music credited its authorship to various persons, including Alfred Moor-King, Paul Stanley, and Angelo A. Asher. Some claimed that the song was originally used at American revival meetings, while Richard Morton, who wrote the version of the lyric used in Lottie Collins' performances, said that its origin was "Eastern". Around 1914 Joe Hill wrote a version which tells the tale of how poor working conditions can lead workers into "accidentally" causing their machinery to have mishaps. A 1930s lawsuit determined that the tune and the refrain were in the public domain.

The tune is widely recognizable and has been used for numerous other songs, including children's camp songs and military ballads from the early 20th century. It was used for the theme song to the show Howdy Doody ("It's Howdy Doody Time") and by the Mariachi-tuned Dilly Sisters on the 1960s children variety show The Banana Splits. The character Tarara, in the 1893 Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Utopia, Limited, is the "public exploder". A 1945 British film of the same name describes the history of music hall theatre. From 1974 to 1988 the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California USA presented a portion of the song as part of a musical revue show entitled America Sings. Containing four acts in a revolving carousel theater, the song was part of the finale in Act 3: The Gay 90s.

As sung by Lottie Collins

A sweet Tuxedo girl you see A queen of swell society Fond of fun as fond can be When it's on the strict Q.T. I'm not too young, I'm not too old Not too timid, not too bold Just the kind you'd like to hold Just the kind for sport I'm told Chorus: Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-re! (sung eight times) I'm a blushing bud of innocence Papa says at big expense Old maids say I have no sense Boys declare, I'm just immense Before my song I do conclude I want it strictly understood Though fond of fun, I'm never rude Though not too bad I'm not too good Chorus A sweet tuxedo girl you see A queen of swell society Fond of fun as fond can be When it's on the strict Q.T. I'm not too young, I'm not too old Not too timid, not too bold Just the kind you'd like to hold Just the kind for sport I'm told Chorus.

As laundered and published by Henry J. Sayers as sheet music

A smart and stylish girl you see, Belle of good society Not too strict but rather free Yet as right as right can be! Never forward, never bold Not too hot, and not too cold But the very thing, I'm told, That in your arms you'd like to hold. Chorus: Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay! (sung eight times) I'm not extravagantly shy And when a nice young man is nigh For his heart I have a try And faint away with tearful cry! When the good young man in haste Will support me round the waist I don't come to while thus embraced Till of my lips he steals a taste! Chorus I'm a timid flow'r of innocence Pa says that that I have no sense, I'm one eternal big expense But men say that I'm just "immense!" Ere my verses I conclude I'd like it known and understood Though free as air, I'm never rude I'm not too bad and not too good! Chorus You should see me out with Pa, Prim, and most particular; The young men say, "Ah, there you are!" And Pa says, "That's peculiar!" "It's like their cheek!" I say, and so Off again with Pa I go – He's quite satisfied – although, When his back's turned – well, you know – Chorus.

Joe Hill version

I had a job once threshing wheat Worked sixteen hours with hands and feet. And when the moon was shining bright, They kept me working all the night. One moonlight night, I hate to tell, I "accidentally" slipped and fell. My pitchfork went right in between Some cog wheels of that thresh-machine. Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay! It made a noise that way. And wheels and bolts and hay, Went flying every way. That stingy rube said, "Well! A thousand gone to hell. But I did sleep that night, I needed it all right. Next day that stingy rube did say, "I'll bring my eggs to town today; You grease my wagon up, you mutt, And don't forget to screw the nut. I greased his wagon all right, But I plumb forgot to screw the nut, And when he started on that trip, The wheel slipped off and broke his hip. Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay! It made a noise that way, That rube was sure a sight, And mad enough to fight; His whiskers and his legs Were full of scrambled eggs; I told him, "That's too bad – I'm feeling very sad" And then that farmer said, "You turk! I bet you are an "I Won't Work". He paid me off right there, By Gum! So I went home and told my chum. Next day when threshing did commence, My chum was Johnny on the fence; And 'pon my word, that awkward kid, He dropped his pitchfork, like I did. Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay! It made a noise that way, And part of that machine Hit Reuben on the bean. He cried, "Oh me, oh my; I nearly lost my eye" My partner said, "You're right – It's bedtime now, good night" But still that rube was pretty wise, These things did open up his eyes. He said, "There must be something wrong; I think I work my men too long" He cut the hours and raised the pay, Gave ham and eggs for every day, Now gets his men from union hall, And has no "accidents" at all. Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay! That rube is feeling gay; He learned his lesson quick, Just through a simple trick. For fixing rotten jobs And fixing greedy slobs, This is the only way, Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay!