The Banana Blues

I was playing a rousing game of Balderdash on Friday night when I was asked to explain why Frank Silver was famous. I felt certain that he invented the slinky. It turns out that he did not invent the slinky, but was responsible for the smash single, "Yes! We Have No Bananas." I thought the makers of Balderdash were, like the participants, making this stuff up. It turns out I was wrong.

"'Yes! We Have No Bananas' is the title of a novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn that was a major hit in 1923, and one of the top songs of the 20th century. The song was recorded by Billy Jones, Arthur Hall, Irving Kaufman and others that year, and covered later by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Spike Jones & His City Slickers and many more. It also inspired a follow-up, 'I've Got the Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues,' recorded by Jones and others in 1923."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_We_Have_No_Bananas

Please enjoy some lyrics from "Yes! We Have No Bananas:"

He,he,he,he, ha, ha, ha whatta you laugh at?
You gotta soup or pie?
Yes, I don’t think we got soup or pie
You gotta coconut pie?
Yes, I don’t think we got coconut pie
Well I’ll have one cup a coffee
We gotta no coffee
Then watta you got?
I got a banana!
Oh you’ve got a banana!
Yes, we gotta no banana, No banana, No banana, I tell you we gotta no banana today
I sella you no banana

It is only fitting to follow up the success of "Yes! We Have No Bananas" with "I've Got the Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues."

I would think that the blues would have set in upon first learning that there were no bananas, but, alas, I would be wrong because the melancholy that one experiences from a lack of bananas only happens during the sequel.