"Gee, Officer Krupke" is a comedy number from the 1957

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

''. The

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

was composed by

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

(

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

) and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

(

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

), and was featured in the Broadway musical and subsequent

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

films.

Music

The song is sung by members of the street gang the Jets, who poke fun at the gruff Police Sergeant Krupke by singing about the societal forces that led them to join a gang. Following a theme used throughout the musical, the song begins with a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a interval (music), musical interval spanning three adjacent Major second, whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be ...

on the word ''Dear'', held longer to signify its importance. Lyrically, the song features four seven-line verses, each filled with

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

s and wordplay. Each verse culminates with an interjection (e.g., "Golly Moses", "Leapin' lizards"), followed by the final line. The tune was originally composed for an unused song for the Venice scene in ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

'' where the lyrics, by John Latouche, ended with the line, "Where does it get you in the end?"

Censorship

The last line of the song (performed as a "

Shave and a Haircut "Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response "two bits" is a seven-note musical call-and-response couplet, riff or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic effect. It is used melodically or rhythmical ...

" fanfare) is "Gee, Officer Krupke – Krup you!" Lyricist

originally wanted to break a then-existing Broadway taboo by ending the song with "Gee, Officer Krupke – fuck you!", but

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, which owned the rights to the

cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

, told Sondheim that the album could then not be shipped to other states without violating the

obscenity laws An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

of the era. Accordingly, Sondheim changed the ending of the song to "''Krup'' you", and later told an interviewer that the new line was the best in the whole musical.

Other versions

Stage play vs. 1961 film

In the original Broadway version, the song appears in the second act, but in the 1961 film version the song was moved to Act One, performed by the Jets (with Riff singing lead) prior to their imminent rumble with the Sharks. For the film's release, "Krupke" was switched with " Cool" (which was originally performed in the play's first act) on a request from Sondheim, who disliked the sequence of the songs in the play, feeling it was unfitting to watch a street gang perform a comedy number right after having seen both gang leaders get killed in the rumble. Additionally, two stanzas in the film version had their words censored:

Stage play vs. 2021 film

In the 2021 film version, the song—using the lyrics from the 1957 Broadway version—is again moved to the first half, performed prior to the rumble, with "Cool" moved to after " One Hand, One Heart". Additionally, instead of in the streets, the song takes place in the 21st Precinct of the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

In popular culture

The eighth episode of season seven of ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

'' is entitled "Officer Krupke". The episode features a police officer whose name is Krupke, to whom

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...

has to describe the relevance of the name in ''West Side Story'', since Krupke has never seen it. At several points, David sings the song, and ultimately is overheard singing the finale by children, who think he has said "Fuck you". "Gee, Officer Krupke" is also used as the end credits song in that episode. In the second episode of season 4 of ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', Midge ( Rachel Brosnahan) describes a police officer who arrested her based on a misunderstanding as "Officer fucking Krupke". In the fourth season episode of ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', titled "Election Night," White House staffer Charlie Young is asked by a student he's mentoring to help another student out of a legal bind; Charlie brushes off the request by stating, "I'm not Officer Krupke. I have a job." Later in the conversation, the student retorts, "Who's Officer Cupcake?" In the thirty-sixth season episode of ''The Simpsons'', titled " Women in Shorts", the grocery store clerks perform a musical number parodying of "Gee, Officer Krupke", when they remind Homer of all the embarrassing products Marge has bought for him in the past after he attempts to avoid searching for the tampons she asks him to find.

References

{{authority control Songs about crime Songs about police officers Songs about fictional male characters Songs about teenagers Songs about parenthood Songs from West Side Story Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein 1957 songs Songs written by Stephen Sondheim