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Transcript: Yankee Doodle Lyrics
- Article from:
- NPR Morning Edition
- Article date:
- July 3, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightProvided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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BOB EDWARDS, HOST: Here's a list of a few the things Americans got
out of the Revolutionary War -- liberty, the pursuit of happiness,
an excuse to take a long weekend in July, and this tune: (BEING AUDIO
CLIP, "YANKEE DOODLE") EDWARDS: Just about every American knows Yankee
Doodle, with its relentless, jaunty melody and those famously rhyming
words "pony" and "macaroni." Scholars have dug up countless versions
of the lyrics, but have squabbled about the origins of the song for
years. Is it American or British? A song about yankee bumpkins or
colonial heroes?
Kate Van Winkle Keller thinks it's about all of those things.