Lydia the Tattooed Lady

"Lydia the Tattooed Lady", which became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes, was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, and first appeared in the 1939 Marx Brothers movie "At the Circus". The lyrics make many contemporary references to topical personalities such as Grover Whalen.

Among the items, persons, and scenes tattooed on Lydia's body are the Battle of Waterloo (on her back), "The Wreck of the Hesperus" (beside it), the red, white and blue (above them); the cities of Kankakee and "Paree", "Washington Crossing the Delaware", President Andrew Jackson, Niagara Falls, Alcatraz (on a clear day), Buffalo Bill, a Picasso, Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon, Lady Godiva (with her pajamas on), Grover Whalen, the Trylon, Treasure Island, Nijinsky, a fleet of ships (on her hips), and Lydia's own Social Security number.

Lyrics

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?Lydia The Tattooed Lady.She has eyes that folks adore so,and a torso even more so.Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.Oh Lydia The Queen of Tattoo.On her back is The Battle of Waterloo.Beside it, The Wreck of the Hesperus too.And proudly above, waves the red, white, and blue.You can learn a lot from Lydia!

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

When her robe is unfurled, she will show you the world,if you step up and tell her where.For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree,or Washington crossing The Delaware.

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?Lydia The Tattooed Lady.When her muscles start relaxin',up the hill comes Andrew Jackson.Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.Oh Lydia The Queen of them all.For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz,with a view of Niagara that nobody has.And on a clear day, you can see Alcatraz.You can learn a lot from Lydia!

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Come along and see Buffalo Bill with his lasso.Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso.Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon.Here's Godiva, but with her pajamas on.

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Here is Grover Whelan unveilin' the Trylon.Over on the west coast we have Treasure Isle-on.Here's Nijinsky a-doin' the rhumba.Here's her social security numba.

La-la-la...la-la-la.La-la-la...la-la-la.

Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.Oh Lydia, the champ of them all.She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet.The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat.And now the old boy's in command of the fleet,for he went and married Lydia!

I said Lydia...(He said Lydia...)They said Lydia...We said Lydia, la, la!

Other versions

The song has been performed by many other artists:

*In the 1940 movie "The Philadelphia Story", Dinah Lord (played by Virginia Weidler) sings the song.

*The song has been recorded by Stubby Kaye (1961), Michael Feinstein (album: "Pure Imagination", 1992), and Joan Morris (album: "Bolcom, Morris & Morath sing Yip Harburg", 2003).

*In January 1976, Kermit the Frog sang this song, complete with a Muppet version of Lydia (interestingly enough, a pig), on the second episode of "The Muppet Show", which featured Connie Stevens as the guest star. Muppets creator Jim Henson is said to have considered the song one of his favorites. Henson also drew all the tattoos on the Lydia puppet.

*Maxwell Klinger sang part of this song on "M*A*S*H".
*The song was also sung by Robin Williams in the 1991 film "The Fisher King". In that version, the reference to Andrew Jackson is changed to Michael Jackson.

*As lyricist Harburg explains, the final stanza originally contained the lyrics "When she stands her lap gets lit'ler/When she sits, she sits on Hitler"; the lines were removed because the studio feared the song would sound too dated. On some subsequent radio appearances, Groucho sang the song in its entirety. Feinstein's recording omits a number of other lines, but restores the "Hitler" couplet, while Morris's is essentially as Groucho sang it in "At the Circus".

*In the 1995 Disney comic "The Treasury of Croesus" [cite web
title = The Treasury of Croesus
work = I.N.D.U.C.K.S.
url = http://coa.inducks.org/story.php/x/D+94012
accessdate = 2007-12-16] by Don Rosa, Donald Duck sings the song throughout the comic. This is a pun on the ancient kingdom of Lydia — as Donald asks whether King Croesus really existed, his uncle Scrooge asks him if he has never heard about Lydia, to which Donald replies that he learned all about Lydia on last night's late movie. When asked to share his newfound knowledge, he starts singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady".

* In the situation comedy "It's a Living", pianist Sonny Mann (Paul Kreppel), meeting a woman whose body is covered with tattoos, plays the song until one of the waitresses flips the keyboard cover onto his fingers (a running gag in the series).

References