Heigh-Ho

"Heigh-Ho"
Six of the Seven Dwarfs (top center, right to left; Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, and Sneezy; Dopey cannot be seen) walking across a log while singing the song.
Song by Roy Atwell, Otis Harlan, Billy Gilbert, Pinto Colvig, Scotty Mattraw
from the album Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
ReleasedJanuary 1938
Recorded1937
Composer(s)Frank Churchill
Lyricist(s)Larry Morey

"Heigh-Ho" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, written by Frank Churchill (music) and Larry Morey (lyrics). It is sung by the group of Seven Dwarfs as they work at a mine with diamonds and rubies, and is one of the best-known songs in the film. It is also the first appearance of the seven dwarfs. The other Dwarf Chorus songs are "Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum" (the washing-up song) and "The Silly Song".

The expression "heigh-ho" was first recorded in 1553 and is defined as an expression of "yawning, sighing, languor, weariness, disappointment". Eventually, it blended meanings with the similarly spelled "hey-ho". The phrase "hey-ho" first appeared in print in 1471, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which says it has nautical origins, meant to mark the rhythm of movement in heaving or hauling.[1]

The song was recorded by Horace Heidt and his Brigadiers, with vocal chorus sung by The Kings and Glee Club, for Brunswick Records in January, 1938 (Brunswick 8074). The record made it to No. 4 on Your Hit Parade in April 1938 and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks.[2]

  1. ^ "Why has 'hey-ho' made a comeback?". tokyohive.com. September 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  2. ^ Fragias, Leonidas (2017). Your Hit Parade Charts: 1935-1940. Arts & Charts.