"History Repeats Itself" is a 1966 narrated song written and recorded by

Buddy Starcher Oby Edgar "Buddy" Starcher (March 16, 1906 – November 2, 2001) was an American country singer whose first record releases were in 1946, although he had been performing since his teens, often billed as "The Boy from Down Home". Born in Ripley, ...

. It became his greatest hit, reaching number 39 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the Country singles chart. The lyrics recount the

Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences urban legend Claimed coincidences connecting U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are a piece of American folklore of unknown origin. The list of coincidences appeared in the mainstream American press in 1964, a year after the assassination ...

, set to the tune of The Battle-Hymn of the Republic.

Lyrical content

The song begins with the conclusion of the chorus of ''

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her ...

''. The lyrics recount curious coincidences and parallels (several of them false) between the careers and deaths of Presidents

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. These had begun attracting attention in the US mainstream press in 1964 (the year after Kennedy's assassination). Starcher also recorded a "Part 2," as there are too many similarities to be recounted in just one song. Just a few of the noted similarities shared by both presidents include: Being elected in years ending in '60, both concerned with civil rights issues. Both first ladies lost a child while in the White House. Both presidents were shot in the back of the head on a Friday, in the presence of their wives. Their assassins were born in years ending '39, and both espousing radical ideologies. Their successors were both southern senators named Johnson, both born in years ending in '08. Several of these similarities are false, for example Booth was born in 1838, while Lee Oswald was born in 1939.

Cover version

"History Repeats Itself" was covered by

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocali ...

, charting concurrently with Starcher's version and debuting on the charts one week later. In 1967 it was also covered in Dutch by

Gerard de Vries Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

as ''De Geschiedenis Herhaalt Zich''.

Chart history

;Buddy Starcher original ;Cab Calloway cover

Parody

A parody of this recording, "Great Men Repeat Themselves", described purported coincidental similarities between President Lyndon Johnson and the superhero

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

. Both

Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical version ...

and

Ben Colder Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, � ...

recorded versions of the parody.

References

External links