For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is a popular song that is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a promotion, a birthday, a wedding (or playing a major part in a wedding), a retirement, a wedding anniversary, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event. The melody originates from the French song "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" ("Marlborough Has Left for the War").

History

The tune is of French origin and dates at least from the 18th century.^[1] Allegedly it was composed the night after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709.^[2] It became a French folk tune and was popularised by Marie Antoinette after she heard one of her maids singing it.^[3] The melody became so popular in France that it was used to represent the French defeat in Beethoven's composition Wellington's Victory, Op. 91, written in 1813.^[4]

The melody also became widely popular in the United Kingdom.^[5] By the mid-19th century^[6] it was being sung with the words "For he's a jolly good fellow", often at all-male social gatherings,^[7] and "For she's a jolly good fellow", often at all-female social gatherings. By 1862, it was already familiar in the United States.^[8]

The British and the American versions of the lyrics differ. "And so say all of us" is typically British,^[9] while "which nobody can deny" is regarded as the American version,^[4] but the latter has been used by non-American writers, including Charles Dickens in Household Words,^[10] Hugh Stowell Brown in Lectures to the Men of Liverpool^[11] and James Joyce in Finnegans Wake.^[12] (In the short story "The Dead" from Dubliners, Joyce has a version that goes, "For they are jolly gay fellows..." with a refrain between verses of "Unless he tells a lie".) The 1935 American film Ruggles of Red Gap, set in rural Washington State, ends with repeated choruses of the song, with the two variations sung alternately.^{[citation needed]}

Text

As with many songs that use gender-specific pronouns, the song can be altered to match with the gender of the intended recipient.^[13] If the song is being sung to two or more people, it is altered to use plurals.

British version

For he's a jolly good fellow and so say all of us, by Walter Dendy Sadler

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
For he's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us!

American version

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow
For he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny!

Melody

See also

• The Bear Went Over the Mountain