Yankee Doodle came to town,
A-ridin' on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his hat
And called it macaroni.

Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle Dandy;
Mind the music and the steps
And with the girls be handy.

Father and I went down to camp,
Along with Cap'n Goodwin;
The men and boys all stood around
As thick as hasty puddin'.

Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle Dandy;
Mind the music and the steps
And with the girls be handy

Brother Ephraim sold his Cow
And bought him a Commission;
And then he went to Canada
To fight for the Nation;

But when Ephraim he came home
He proved an arrant Coward,
He wouldn't fight the Frenchmen there
For fear of being devour'd.

The seventeen of June, at Break of Day,
The Rebels they supriz'd us,
With their strong Works, which they'd thrown up,
To burn the Town and drive us.

Father and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.

Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.

There was Captain Washington
Upon a slapping stallion,
A-giving orders to his men,
I guess there was a million.

Yankee Doodle &c.

And then the feathers on his hat,
They looked so 'tarnal fine, sir,
I wanted pockily to get
To give to my Jemima.

Yankee Doodle &c.

And then we saw a swamping gun,
Large as a log of maple;
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father's cattle.

Yankee Doodle &c.

And every time they shoot it off,
It takes a horn of powder;
It makes a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.

Yankee Doodle &c.

Yankee Doodle had a mind
To whip the Southern traitors,
Because they did not choose to live
On codfish and potatoes.

Yankee Doodle, fa, so la,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
And so to keep his courage up,
He took a drink of brandy.

Dixie whipped old Yankee Doodle
Early in the morning.
Yankeedom had best look out
And take a timely warning.

Hurrah! for our Dixie land,
Hurrah! for our borders!
Southern boys to arms will stand
And whip the dark marauders.

Yankee Doodle went to town
Riding in a rocket
It flew so high, he lost an eye
And corked out his eye socket.

Yankee Doodle went to town
Riding on a chicken
Stuck his finger up his butt
and called it finger lickin'

Yankee Doodle sing it up.
Yankee Doodle dandy.
Mind the music and the words
and with the songs be handy...

Yankee Doodle travelled south,
a-riding on a riverboat,
played a tune and sang it out;
it sounded like a billygoat.

Yankee Doodle liked the South
and sang their songs so dear.
Thought they were most elegant
for everyone to hear.

Yankee Doodle headed west
a-workin' on the railroad;
Crossin' them rivers, over hills,
and moving with a big load.

Onward west the trains rolled.
where cattle were a-grazin'.
The tales and songs that people sang
were really quite amazin'

The "Gay 90s" were upon us now;
the country was in full swing.
People headin' for the cities;
had to do their own thing.

Each time the people sang a song,
the tunesmiths wrote another
'bout love, marriage, moon in June,
and always one about Mother.

Next came ragtime, blues and jazz.
The nation was a-jumpin'!
Fox trots and the bunny hug
had everyone a-stompin'

Then swing and big bands were the rage.
The songs they were most pleasin'.
Rock and roll soon took its toll;
the dancers stopped a-squeezin'.

Yankee Doodle remembers when,
to make these songs ring true,
people came from every land
to mix these tunes for you.

So we should all remember,
as hist'ry moves along,
that everything is better now
'cause someone wrote a song

Yankee Doodle always said
the past is just a start;
Tomorrow will bring songs to you
that come straight from the heart.

Another thing he had to say
is life is just a song.
So, everybody get in tune,
and let's all sing along