"I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" is a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wi ...

composed in 1944 (as "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts") by Fred Heatherton, a songwriting pseudonym for a collaboration of English songwriters Harold Elton Box (1903–1981) and Desmond Cox (1903–1966), with Lewis Ilda (itself a pseudonym of American songwriter

Irwin Dash Irwin Louis Dash (December 1, 1892 – March 18, 1984) was an American songwriter, music publisher and pianist, who sometimes used the pseudonym Lewis Ilda. Biography He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and published his first composition, " ...

, 1892–1984). The song was published by Box and Cox Publications (ASCAP). The song celebrates the coconut shy (coconut toss) at

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

s, and the chorus of "Roll-a-bowl-a-ball-a-penny-a-pitch!" is based on the call of the showman "standing underneath the flare" (of gaslight), inviting the public to play. The ball is tossed or bowled (as in cricket) or pitched at the coconuts with the object of knocking one off its stand.

Recording history

In 1950, the song was a top-ten hit in the United States for Freddy Martin And His Orchestra with vocalist

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own t ...

and sold over three million copies. The following year, it was a number-25 hit for

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, an ...

. It was a staple song of the ''

Billy Cotton Band Show The ''Billy Cotton Band Show'' was a Sunday lunchtime radio programme broadcast in the BBC Light Programme from 1949 until 1968. The band leader, Billy Cotton, was a larger-than-life Cockney character who started each show with the cry "Wakey-W ...

'' on British radio and television. The song is still played over the public address at

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

football matches after home wins. The song appeared in '' I Could Go On Singing'' (1963),

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in ''The ...

's last film. A portion of the song appeared in Disney's 1994 ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, ...

'' (sung by the character Zazu, voiced by

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various ac ...

sang part of this song in '' National Treasure: Book of Secrets.''

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

sang an impromptu version of the song in '' Magical Mystery Tour'',

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

' TV special broadcast by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

on 26 December 1967. Actors

Hayden Rorke William Henry Rorke (October 23, 1910 – August 19, 1987), known professionally as Hayden Rorke, was an American actor best known for playing Colonel Alfred E. Bellows on the 1960s American sitcom ''I Dream of Jeannie''. Early life Rorke was ...

and

Bill Daily William Edward Daily (August 30, 1927 – September 4, 2018) was an American actor and comedian known for his sitcom work as Major Roger Healey on '' I Dream of Jeannie'', and Howard Borden on '' The Bob Newhart Show''. Early life and ear ...

performed a few lines of the song on ukulele in the 1969 ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marr ...

'' episode "Uncles a Go-Go". In the first episode of the 1977 sitcom ''

Mind Your Language ''Mind Your Language'' is a British sitcom that premiered on ITV in 1977. It was produced by London Weekend Television and directed by Stuart Allen. Three series were made by the London Weekend Television between 1977 and 1979 and briefly revi ...

'' it is mentioned that a professor went crazy and sang this song. Swedish performer

Povel Ramel Baron Povel Karl Henric Ramel (; 1 June 1922 – 5 June 2007) was a Swedish entertainer. Ramel was a singer, pianist, vaudeville artist, author and a novelty song composer. His style was characterized by imaginative wit, both verbal and musical ...

wrote a Swedish version of the song in 1950. This version, "Far jag kan inte få upp min kokosnöt" ("Dad I can't crack my coconut open"), has little to do with the original. It is sung by a little boy who, in the course of his attempts to open his resilient coconut, demolishes the family's furniture, disfigures his mother, and finally blows their house up. This version also features prominently in the film '' My Life as a Dog'' (1985), as well as in the

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic coun ...

version of ''

''. The song is known in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

from the versions by and

M. A. Numminen Mauri Antero Numminen (born 12 March 1940 in Somero, Southwest Finland) is a Finnish artist who has worked in several different fields of music and culture. Biography In the 1960s, Numminen was known particularly as an avantgarde, underground ...

, ''Kuinka saisin rikki kookospähkinän'', which feature a similar tragicomic story. In 1980, the Muppet Show produced a slight variation of the song for their fourth episode of the show's fifth season. The song was parodied as "I've Got A Liver The Size of Coconuts" on the

animated series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers ...

. The parody is sung by an inebriated

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

(impersonated voice by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in ''Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off ''Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in '' Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

) by his

Arthur (1981 film) ''Arthur ''is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Steve Gordon. It stars Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress but ends up falli ...

character. The 2011 British 3D

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

family film ''

Gnomeo & Juliet ''Gnomeo & Juliet'' is a 2011 computer-animated romantic comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury from a screenplay by Rob Sprackling and John Smith. It is loosely based on the play ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare and features the voic ...

'' also includes a portion of the song.

References

External links

*
Lyrics
at traditionalmusic.co.uk {{authority control 1944 songs Novelty songs Coconuts