"A Guy Is a Guy" is a popular song written by

Oscar Brand Oscar Brand (February 7, 1920 – September 30, 2016) was a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Can ...

. It was published in 1952. The song is reputed to have originated in a British song, "I Went to the Alehouse (A Knave Is a Knave)," dating from 1719. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, soldiers sang a bawdy song based on "A Knave Is a Knave," entitled "A Gob Is a Slob," a seduced-and-abandoned lyric recorded in Vol.2 of

's "Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads" collections released in the 1940s and '50s. "A Guy Is a Guy," a hit for

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

in 1952, is less bedroom-explicit. It was recorded on February 7, 1952, and released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

as catalog number 39673. The song quotes Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" and Mendelssohn's "Wedding March", both played on a pipe organ. The flip side was "Who Who Who". The song first entered the Billboard Best-Selling Records chart on March 7, 1952, and lasted 19 weeks, peaking at #4 on the chart. (According to some sources, the song reached #1 on the chart "Most Played in Juke Box".) The song was also recorded by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

in 1951, and by Australian singer June Miller, with Les Welch and his orchestra, in May 1952, although Doris Day's version was actually #1 on the Australian charts.

Yvette Giraud Yvette Giraud (16 September 1916 – 3 August 2014) was a French traditional pop singer. Career Giraud began singing in 1946 with "Mademoiselle Hortensia", or ''La Danseuse est Créole''. With her husband, former ''Compagnon de la Chanson'' Ma ...

recorded a French version called “Un homme est un homme”.

External links

Songs written by Oscar Brand 1952 songs Doris Day songs 1952 singles Columbia Records singles {{pop-standard-stub