"Yon Yonson" is an infinitely recursive

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

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 ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

, perhaps best known from the novel '' Slaughterhouse-Five'' by Kurt Vonnegut, although Vonnegut did not create it.

Origins of the song

The song is often sung in a Scandinavian accent (e.g. ''j'' pronounced as ''y'', ''w'' pronounced as ''v''). This accent is revealed by the name "Yon Yonson", which when recited in American English is usually rendered "Jan Jansen" or "John Johnson". The Swedish pronunciation "Yon Yonson" probably dates the origin of the song to soon after the Swedes' arrival in the United States. A possible origin of the song is the dialect stage comedy ''Yon Yonson'' by

Gus Heege Augustus J. "Gus" Heege (1862 – February 2, 1898) was an American playwright and actor, whose works were popular at the end of the 19th century. Early life A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Gus Heege was the son of a prominent member of the cit ...

and W. D. Coxey (1890). The play's setting included a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

lumber camp. However, no evidence shows that the song was actually performed as part of the play. The song being set in Wisconsin is a satiric reference to Wisconsin's

Scandinavian-American Nordic and Scandinavian Americans are Americans of Scandinavian and/or Nordic ancestry, including Danish Americans (estimate: 1,453,897), Faroese Americans, Finnish Americans (estimate: 653,222), Greenlandic Americans, Icelandic Americans (esti ...

culture and heritage.

Lyrics

Numerous versions of the song exist, but all are similar to the following: :My name is Yon Yonson, :I live in Wisconsin. :I work in a lumber yard there. :The people I meet as :I walk down the street, :They say "Hello!" :I say "Hello!" :They say "What's your name?" :I say: My name is Yon Yonson... (repeated again and again).

Other occurrences of the song

* In the novel '' Slaughterhouse-Five'' by Kurt Vonnegut, "Yon Yonson" is used as a motif, ultimately serving as a model for the recursive, time-repeating structure of the book. * The novel '' Dodsworth'' by Sinclair Lewis in Chapter 11 *

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

included the song in his 1972 folk song collection, ''Flat Rock Ballads''.Paul Friedrich, "Polytropy", in James W. Fernandez, ed., ''Beyond Metaphor: The Theory of Tropes in Anthropology'' (

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...

, 1991), , p. 28.
Excerpts available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. * The Canadian band

The Dave Howard Singers The Dave Howard Singers is a cult Canadian alternative rock band/project originally formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The project is based around the talents of singer-songwriter Dave Howard (the only consistent member) and the signature sound ...

released an industrial/punk version of "Yon Yonson" in 1987. * The Children's Band

Ralph's World {{Portal , Children's literature Ralph's World is a children's music group created by Ralph Covert, previously of Chicago-based indie-rock group the Bad Examples. Covert uses high rock and roll energy with kid-friendly lyrics. Ralph's World's ' ...

released a version of this on their 2003 album ''Peggy's Pie Parlor''. The lyrics were changed slightly from those shown in this article. * The phrase was used in a TV promotion ("Altered States") for

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

perfume. * In the video game ''

Psychonauts ''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platform video game developed by Double Fine Productions. The game was initially published by Majesco Entertainment and THQ for Microsoft Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2. In 2011, Double Fine acquired the rights for t ...

'', Sasha Nein will begin to recite this in an injury-induced daze if the battle with the mega-censor continues long enough. * The computer game "

Baldur's Gate II ''Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment. It is the sequel to ''Baldur's Gate'' (1998) and was released for Microsoft Windows in September 2000. Like ''Bal ...

" has a gnome character who joins the player's party named Jan Jansen. He often bursts into very mundane stories about himself that never seem to end. * The song appears in the novel ''Coverup'' by Jay Bennett.

References

External links

* promotion for CK One and CK Be, based on the phrase. * {{YouTube, id=dwCHi3KbsMQ, title=David Howard Singers "Yon Yonson" American nursery rhymes Songs about fictional male characters Songs about occupations Songs about Wisconsin Kurt Vonnegut Wisconsin in fiction Nursery rhymes of uncertain origin