Nonsense song

A nonsense song is a type of song written in fun using nonsense syllables at least in the chorus. Such a song generally has a simple melody and a quick (or fairly quick) tempo.^[1]

History

The roots of this song type can be traced as far back as Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me and Jimmy Crack Corn to the 1890s Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay. This last was a kind of can-can with an obvious accent on the "boom." Mostly it was a way of letting off steam.

Every era has had its own nonsense songs. The turn of the century had Row, Row, Row, with lines like:

And then he'd row, row, row,

A little further he would row,

Oh, oh, oh, oh,

And then he'd drop both his oars,

Take a few more encores

And then he'd row, row, row.

The jazz age created many nonsense songs. Perhaps the one that's the most fun to roll off the tongue is "Ja-Da." Say the words aloud as you read the chorus, and you'll hear the rhythm in them.

Ja-da, ja-da

Ja-da, ja-da, jig, jig, jig

^[2]

Examples

• Sarasponda, a children's folk song
• Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart, written by James F. Hanley in 1934
• Three Little Fishies, written by Saxie Dowel in1939
• Mairzy Doats, composed by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman] and Jerry Livingston in 1943
• Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo, written by Helen Deutsch in 1952
• The Purple People Eater, written by Sheb Wooley in 1958
• Chim Chim Cher-ee, written by the Sherman Brothers in 1964
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, written by the Sherman Brothers in 1968
• Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, written by Paul McCartney in 1968

See also

• Nonsense verse
• Novelty song

References

1. ^ Citron, Stephen (1998). Song Writing. Limelight: New York.
2. ^ Citron, Stephen (1998). Song Writing. Limelight: New York.