Oh By Jingo!
- See also: By Jingo.
"Oh By Jingo!" (also "Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee You're The Only Girl For Me)", is a 1919 novelty song by Albert Von Tilzer with lyrics by Lew Brown. The song was featured in the Broadway show "Linger Longer Letty", and became one of the biggest Tin Pan Alley hits of the post-World War I era.
While the song lyrics say it is set in "the land of San Domingo", no geographic nor anthropological accuracy is found nor intended in the silly lyrics, set in a generic "exotic" and "primitive" location. The song was much imitated over the next decade.
In the era of its initial popularity, phonograph records of the number were recorded by such popular artists of the era as The All Star Trio, The American Quartet, Nora Bayes, Frank Crumit, Billy Murray, The Premier Quartette, Esther Walker, and Margaret Young.
Later recorded revivals of the number include those by Chet Atkins, Bo Grumpus, Eddie Condon, Stéphane Grappelli, Clancy Hayes, Keith Ingham, Spike Jones, Danny Kaye, Jeannie Carson, Lu Watters, and The Reverend Horton Heat.
The song was performed by Betty Hutton in the film Incendiary Blonde (1945); sung in the I Love Lucy TV show (episode #102, Season 4, ep. 2, "Mertz and Kurtz", October 11, 1954); and sung by Hugh Laurie in P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster.
Lyrics
Verse 1
- In the land of San Domingo,
- Lived a girl called Oh! by Jingo,
- Ja da Ja da da da da da, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a,
- From the fields and from the marshes,
- Came the old and young by goshes,
- Ja da Ja da da da da da da, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a,
- They all spoke with a diff’rent lingo,
- But they all loved Oh by Jingo,
- And ev’ry night they sang in the pale moonlight.
Chorus
- Oh! by Gee! by Gosh, by Gum, by Juv
- Oh by Jingo, won’t you hear our love
- We will build for you a hut
- You will be our fav’rite nut
- We’ll have a lot of little Oh by Gollies,
- Then we’ll put them in the Follies
- By Jingo said, By Gosh, By Gee
- By Jiminy please don’t bother me
- So they all went away singing
- Oh by Gee, by Gosh by Gum, by Juv by Jingo,
- by Gee, you’re the only girl for me.
Verse 2
- Oh by Jingo had a lover,
- He was always undercover,
- Ta da da da da da da da, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a,
- Ev’ry night she used to meet him,
- Oh how nice she used to treat him,
- Ta da da da da da da da, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a, ump-a,
- They eloped but they both were collared,
- And the gang stood there and hollered,
- Don’t raise a fuss, you’ve got to take one of us.[1]
References
- ↑ Von Tilzer, Albert, "Oh By Jingo! Oh By Gee! (You're The Only Girl For Me)", in University of Tennessee Library, Digital Collection, Sheet Music Collection, http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/utsmc/main.php?bid=1207 (accessed August 11, 2014)
- Who Wrote that Song? Dick Jacobs & Harriet Jacobs, published by Writer's Digest Books, 1993