| "Makin' Whoopee" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music, 1928 | |
| Song | |
| Published | 1928 by Donaldson, Douglas & Gumble |
| Released | 1928 |
| Genre | pop music, Tin Pan Alley |
| Composer(s) | Walter Donaldson |
| Lyricist(s) | Gus Kahn |
"Makin' Whoopee" is a song first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics and Walter Donaldson composed the music for the song as well as for the entire musical.
The title refers to celebrating a marriage. Eventually "making whoopee" became a euphemism for intimate sexual relations.[1] The song has been called a "dire warning", largely to men, about the "trap" of marriage.[2] "Makin' Whoopee" begins with the celebration of a wedding, honeymoon and marital bliss, but moves on to babies and responsibilities, and ultimately on to affairs and possible divorce, ending with a judge's advice.
The original lyrics and music of the song entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.[3]
- ^ "Whoopee". Merriam-Webster. Webster.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (April 19, 2002). "Crooning About the Woes of Whoopee". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-10-08. A review of a James Naughton cabaret performance. "Mr. Naughton pounces on the dire warning to men lurking beneath the song's playful surface: that once the honeymoon is over, marriage can become a trap from which there is no escape."
- ^ "Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu.