"Billy Boy" is a traditional

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

and

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

found in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, in which "Billy Boy" is asked various questions, and the answers all center on his quest to marry a girl who is said to be too young to leave her mother. It has a

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

number of 326. It is a variant of the traditional

English folk song The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

"My Boy Billy", collected by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

and published by him in 1912 as number 232 in ''Novello's School Songs''.

Origins and interpretations

The nursery rhyme, framed in question-and-answer form, is ironic and teasing in tone: The narrative of the song has been related by some to "

Lord Randall "Lord Randall", or "Lord Randal", () is an Anglo- Scottish border ballad consisting of dialogue between a young Lord and his mother. Similar ballads can be found across Europe in many languages, including Danish, German, Magyar, Irish, Swed ...

", a

murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...

from the British Isles, in which the suitor is poisoned by the woman he visits. By contrast,

Robin Fox Robin Fox (born 1934) is an Anglo-American anthropologist who has written on the topics of incest avoidance, marriage systems, human and primate kinship systems, evolutionary anthropology, sociology and the history of ideas in the social scien ...

uses the song to make a point about

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...

and

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

, and observes:

Feeding has always been closely linked with courtship ��With humans this works two ways since we are the only animals who cook: the bride is usually appraised for her cooking ability. (“Can she bake a
cherry pie Cherry pie is a pie baked with a cherry filling. Traditionally, cherry pie is made with sour cherries rather than sweet cherries. Morello cherries are one of the most common kinds of cherry used, but other varieties such as the black cherry may ...
, Billy boy, Billy boy?”) In some cultures this is far more important than her virginity.

In the traditional last verse of the song, Billy Boy is asked how old the girl is. While his answer is convoluted, it reveals an age that is old and not young - adding to the irony and humor of the song. The song was also parodied in 1941 by

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

and Lee Hays in an anti-war protest song of the same name.

In popular culture

A line from the song was used as the title for

Henry Jaglom Henry David Jaglom (born January 26, 1938) is an English-born American actor, film director and playwright. Life and career Jaglom was born to a Jewish family in London, England, the son of Marie (née Stadthagen) and Simon M. Jaglom, who wor ...

's 1983 film ''

Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? ''Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Henry Jaglom. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. The film takes place in and was filmed in the New York City borough of Man ...

'', which concerns a middle-aged

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

musician who, after being dumped by her husband, develops a relationship with a middle-aged divorced social worker. The song "Billy Boy" is also performed in the film. In the 1948 Walt Disney film ''

So Dear to My Heart ''So Dear to My Heart'' is a 1948 American live-action/animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Its world premiere was in Chicago, Illinois, on November 29, 1948. Like 1946's ''Song of the South'', the film comb ...

'',

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

performs snippets of the song throughout the movie. In the 1981 movie ''

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

'', both Bill and Barry play and sing the song.

Recordings

*Further variants have been recorded, some greatly extending the number of verses and the tasks that the wife can perform. An extended version of the song in which the lover performs many tasks besides baking a

cherry pie Cherry pie is a pie baked with a cherry filling. Traditionally, cherry pie is made with sour cherries rather than sweet cherries. Morello cherries are one of the most common kinds of cherry used, but other varieties such as the black cherry may ...

was collected by

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

and

John Avery Lomax John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948) was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist, and a folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk music. He was the father of Alan Lomax, John Lomax Jr. and Bess Lo ...

; it appears in ''American Ballads and Folk Songs''. The Lomax version names the woman being courted Betsy Jane. *A version of the song by

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

was released on the 1975 album ''Rare, Vol. 1''. *Jazz pianist

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Fr ...

arranged and recorded the song in 1951. The recording was later featured on his 1959 album ''

The Piano Scene of Ahmad Jamal ''The Piano Scene of Ahmad Jamal'' is an album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. It contains performances from his earliest recording sessions for Okeh in 1951–52 in Chicago, and an Epic session from October 1955 in New York, NY.

'', as well as on the 2008 ''Poinciana'' compilation album. *Led by pianist

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz ...

, the

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

' band recorded Jamal's arrangement of "Billy Boy" for Davis' album ''

Milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...

'' (1958). It is the only track on the album that does not feature any horns playing. *An anti-war version of the song was released by Australian punk band Black Chrome on the 2018 album ''Age of Rage''.''Age of Rage'' by Black Chrome, Tomorrow Records, 2018, "Billy Boy". * Guitarist

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

included an instrumental version of "Billy Boy" in his 1992 album '' Have a Little Faith''.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billy Boy Jerry Lee Lewis songs American nursery rhymes American children's songs Traditional children's songs American folk songs Jazz standards

Origins and interpretations

In popular culture

Recordings

See also

Notes

References