"K-K-K-Katy" is a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

-era song written by

Canadian American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

composer

Geoffrey O'Hara Geoffrey O'Hara (February 2, 1882 – January 31, 1967) was a Canadian American composer, singer and music professor. Early life O'Hara was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He initially planned a military career. O'Hara entered the Royal Milit ...

in 1917 and published in 1918. The sheet music advertised it as "The Sensational

Stammering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors", as well as "The Sensational New Stammering Song" The song was first played at a garden party fund-raiser for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

in Collins Bay on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. O'Hara was from Chatham, Ontario, and taught music at several universities. The lyrics tell of a brave but stuttering soldier called Jimmy who is lovesick over the beautiful Katy. He buys a wedding ring before going to fight in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inspiration for the "Katy" of the song was Katherine Craig Richardson of

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Tor ...

. She was a friend of O'Hara's sister, and her parents recall O'Hara writing the song in their living room.

Chorus

:K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy :You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore :When the M-M-M-Moon shines over the cowshed :I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door.

Early performances and commercial success

"K-K-K-Katy" was a top 20 song from May 1918 to January 1919 and was number 1 from July to September.Paas, John Roger 2014. America Sings of War: American Sheet Music from World War I. Harrassowitz Verlag. pg 218, # It was recorded by Billy Murray on March 8, 1918 and released on Victor 18455. Eugene Buckley also recorded a version of the song. The sheet music was heavily reprinted. A version titled "K-K-K-Klanswoman," with altered lyrics, was published in a "Song Book For Women of the Ku Klux Klan," 1924. The song made a comeback during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when songs from World War I became popular at military training camps. "K-K-K-Katy" was one of many songs brought to the front by officers who had heard this song while on leave in England. Older songs such as "K-K-K-Katy" were often preferred over modern songs. The song was covered by

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy r ...

in his Porky Pig voice in 1949, with some vocalists backing him. The song can be heard on the compilation album ''Mel Blanc: The Man of 1000 Voices'' 2007.

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

included the song in a medley on his album '' Join Bing and Sing Along '' (1959)

Later performances and parodies

The song was the basis of a parody which ridiculed the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

, a white supremacist organization in the United States often referred to by its acronym, KKK. Additionally, the political-humor group

Capitol Steps The Capitol Steps was an American political-satire group that performed from 1981 to 2020. Most of the Capitol Steps' material parodied well-known contemporary songs, usually introduced with a short skit. The songs were interspersed with other ro ...

performed a parody of this song entitled "K-K-Kuwaitis", about the 1990

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

which began the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The song was released on their 1990 album ''Sheik, Rattle & Roll!'' The "Yriekay" movement of

P.D.Q. Bach P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer invented by the American musical satirist Peter Schickele, who developed a five-decade-long career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines ...

's ''Missa Hilarious'' includes a section with the text "K-K-K-Kyrie eleison", in reference to this song.

Bradford Dillman Bradford Dillman (April 14, 1930 – January 16, 2018) was an American actor and author. Early life Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930, in San Francisco, the son of Dean Dillman, a stockbroker, and Josephine (née Moore). Bradford's pa ...

's character in ''

The Way We Were ''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote both the novel and screenplay based on his college days at Cornell University and his ...

'' heckles

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

's character, Young Communist League member Katie Morosky, with "K-K-K-Katie, be my K-K-K-Comrade" in a pre-World War II campus peace rally during the 1973 film.

References

* ''Who Wrote that Song''

Dick Jacobs Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988) was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels ( Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He h ...

& Harriet Jacobs, published by Writer's Digest Books, 1993

External links

Billy Murray's solo recordingsheet music and music MP3 found at the Illinois Digital ArchiveK-K-K-Katy Sheet Music at the Library of Congress
{{authority control 1917 songs Songs of World War I Billy Murray (singer) songs Stuttering

Chorus

Early performances and commercial success

Later performances and parodies

References

Further reading

External links