Yon Yonson

Origins of the song

The song is often sung in a Scandinavian accent (e.g. j pronounced as y, w pronounced as v). This accent is revealed by the name "Yon Yonson," which when recited in American English is usually rendered "Jan Jansen" or "John Johnson." The Swedish pronunciation "Yon Yonson" probably dates the origin of the song to soon after the Swedes' arrival in the United States.

A possible origin of the song is the dialect stage comedy Yon Yonson by Gus Heege and W. D. Coxey (1890). The play's setting included a Minnesota lumber camp. However, no evidence shows that the song was actually performed as part of the play.

Lyrics

Numerous versions of the song exist, but all are similar to the following:

My name is Yon Yonson,I live in Wisconsin.I work in a lumber yard there.The people I meet asI walk down the street,They say "Hello!"I say "Hello!"They say "What's your name."I say: My name is Yon Yonson... (repeated again and again).

Another version goes:

My name is Yon Yonson,I come from WisconsinI work in a lumber mill thereAll the people I meetAs I walk down the streetAsk me how in the hell I got thereSo I tell them: My name is Yon Yonson...

Another version goes:

My name is Yon Yonson,I come from WisconsinI work in a lumber mill thereAll the people I meetAs I walk down the streetThey say "Hello, Yon Yonson, hello"

Another version goes:

My name is Yon YonsonI come from WisconsinI work in a lumber yard there, you see.And the people I meet,When I walk down the street.Say 'Hello'.And I say 'Hello'.And they say 'What's your name'?And I say...

Another version goes:

My name is Yon YonsonI come from WisconsinI work in the Lumberyard there:I got hit by a logand I live with a dogand somehow just set fire to my hair.

Another version, according to them, is made by Rafi Lev Colton-Max and his bubby. It goes:

My name is Yon YonsonI live in WisconsinAnd sit on the steeple all day.I sit on the steepleand shit on the peopleand they say, "Hello!"and I say, "Hello!"and they say, "Why are you shitting on me?"and I say, "BecauseMy name..."

Other occurrences of the song

In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, "Yon Yonson" is used as a repeated motif, ultimately serving as a model for the recursive, time-repeating structure of the book.

The novel Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis in Chapter 11

Carl Sandburg included the song in his 1972 folk song collection, Flat Rock Ballads.

The Canadian band The Dave Howard Singers released an industrial/punk version of "Yon Yonson" in 1987.

The Children's Band Ralph's World released a version of this on their 2003 album Peggy's Pie Parlor. The lyrics have been changed slightly from what is quoted in this article.

The phrase was also used in a TV promotion ("Altered States") for Calvin Klein perfume.

In the video game Psychonauts, Sasha Nein will begin to recite this in an injury-induced daze if the battle with the mega-censor continues long enough.

The song has also appeared in numerous children’s song books

The computer game "Baldur's Gate II" has a gnome character who joins the player's party named Jan Jansen. He often bursts into very mundane stories about himself that never seem to end.

The song appears in the novel Coverup by Jay Bennett.