Harrigan (song)

"Harrigan" is a song written by George M. Cohan for the 1907 Broadway musical, "Fifty Miles From Boston". It celebrates, and to some extent mocks, his own Irish heritage. The song was performed by James Cagney and Joan Leslie in the 1942 film "Yankee Doodle Dandy", a biopic of Cohan's life. Contemporary Irish-American singer Billy Murray made a popular recording of the song.

Lyrics

:Who is the man who will spend or will even lend? :Harrigan, that's me! :Who is your friend when you find that you need a friend? :Harrigan, that's me!:For I'm just as proud of my name, you see :As an Emperor, Czar or a King could be :Who is the man helps a man ev'ry time he can? :Harrigan, that's me! :H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N spells Harrigan :Proud of all the Irish blood that's in me :Divil' a man can say a word agin' me :H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N you see :Is a name that a shame never has been connected with :Harrigan, that's me! :Who is the man never stood for a gadabout? :Harrigan, that's me! :Who is the man that the town's simply mad about? :Harrigan that's me! :They ladies and babies are fond of me :I'm fond of them, too, in return, you see :Who is the gent that's deserving a monument? :Harrigan, that's me! :H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N spells "Harrigan":Proud of all the Irish blood that's in me :Di-vil' a man can say a word agin' me :H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N you see :Is a name that a shame never has been connected with :Harrigan, that's me!

The song was used decades later for a 1960-61 TV series, called "Harrigan and Son", about a father-and-son law firm. Its lead players, Pat O'Brien and Roger Perry, would sing the song, silhouetted behind the closing credits of the show.

The term "divil" is an Irish expression that often found its way into Irish songs of that era. It essentially means "nary" or "hardly".

Allan Sherman's short medley of Cohan song parodies included this tune, reworked to sing about pianist Vladimir Horowitz.