"Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

written by

Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. He wrote ...

in 1952. Its best-known version was recorded by

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fal ...

in 1952. The song reached number 18 on the '' Cashbox'' chart in August 1952. The song also reached number 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in November 1952, becoming the first number two record in that chart. The narrator of the song is a former lowlife who is reforming so he can set a good example for his newborn son, whom he loves. The title refers to the tradition of spanking a newborn baby just after

birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

, to ensure it draws breath.

References

Songs written by Bob Merrill 1952 songs Guy Mitchell songs {{pop-standard-stub