"Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby" is a popular barbershop song composed in 1924 by Les Applegate. The tune was later adopted by

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

for their

Aggie War Hymn The Aggie War Hymn is the war hymn of Texas A&M University; officially, the school does not have a fight song, but this fills the same role. Lyrics The lyrics and the melodies of the War Hymn are as follows: Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! Hullabalo ...

, the words of which were written in 1918 by J.V. "Pinky" Wilson, while he was serving in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. "Coney Island Baby" is often included in the repertoire of a

barbershop quartet A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella). The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...

. The original lyrics are not related to

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

directly, but are about a man abandoning his lover (whom he apparently met at Coney Island) to avoid marriage, the drudgery of which is lamented in the middle section, often known separately as "We All Fall." An alternative reading can be made by reference to the line "I'm gonna sail upon that ferry boat" which suggests that the song is sung by a man about to take the ferry from Coney Island. Until the subway came to Coney Island in 1920 most visitors would have arrived (and departed) by ferry. The song is sung by Apu,

Chief Wiggum Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sa ...

(later replaced by Barney),

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, and

Principal Skinner Principal Seymour Skinner is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, and is constantly enga ...

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

episode "

Homer's Barbershop Quartet "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 1993. It features the Be Sharps, a ...

". It also appears in season 6 episode 2 of ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...

'' (titled " Frasier's Curse") when the title character begrudgingly reconnects with his high school Barbershop quartet at the end of a miserable reunion party.

References

External links

* , one-man multitrack performance
Chord charts and verses
arrangements by Jim Bottorff Songs about parting Songs about islands 1924 songs Barbershop music Songs about New York City {{1920s-song-stub