| "Mairzy Doats" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song | |
| Published | 1943 by Miller Music Publishing Co. |
| Genre | Novelty |
| Songwriter(s) | Milton Drake Al Hoffman Jerry Livingston |
| Composer(s) | Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston |
“Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It contains lyrics that make no sense as written, but are near homophones of meaningful phrases. The song's title, for example, is a homophone of "Mares eat oats".
The song was first played on radio station WOR, New York, by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. It made the pop charts several times, with a version by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944. The song was also a number-one sheet music seller, with sales of over 450,000 within the first three weeks of release.[1] The Merry Macs recording was Decca Records' best-selling release in 1944.[2] Twenty-three other performers followed up with their own recordings in a span of only two weeks that year.[3]
- ^ Smith, Kathleen E. R. (28 March 2003). God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 137. ISBN 0-8131-2256-2.
- ^ Popular Music, 1920–1979: A Revised Cumulation, Volume 2, , Nat Shapiro & Bruce Pollock;, Gale Research Company, 1985, ISBN 0810308479; page 190
- ^ Simon, 1981, page 190, referenced in JStore Randall, Dale B. J. preview