A corn-fed novelty song from 1926.
Words by Jack Yellen.
Music by Phil Boutelje.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Reuben, Reuben, was a fiddler
Out in I-o-way
I’m a-tellin’ ye folks by heck
He could certainly play
Reuben, Reuben had ’em hoppin’
When he drew his bow
He played one zippy tune
Let’s see how did it go?
Chorus
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Ain’t it the goldarn tune, by gosh
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
How do you like it, Josh?
Sound your G and sound your A
Tune her up and start to play
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee-dee
- Ev’ry time there was a party
On a neighbor’s farm
Rube was sure to be there, by heck
Fiddle under his arm
Young folks came around and wanted
One-step, waltz or trot
No matter what they’d ask
Here’s what they always got
Chorus
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Ain’t it the goldarn tune, by gosh
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
How do you like it, Josh?
No new fangled tunes for me
I’ve played this since “sixty-three”
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee-dee
- Hezekiah Perkins’ widow
She got stuck on Rube
She was seventy-one, by heck
Just a silly old boob
When I asked her why she loved him
She said blushingly
“I simply can’t resist
His Fiddle-dee-dee-dee!”
Chorus
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Ain’t it the goldarn tune, by gosh
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
How do you like it, Josh?
When he plays, I do declare
I could run and bob my hair
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee-dee
- Reuben, Reuben, he’s got whiskers
Got ’em on his chin
Does he sleep with ’em stickin’ out?
Or does he tuck ’em in?
One day I made up my mind
To ask him on the street
“D’ye keep ’em underneath
Or outside of the sheet?”
Chorus
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Ain’t it the goldarn tune, by gosh
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
How do you like it, Josh?
He said, “I ain’t found out yet
When I sleep my eyes are shet”
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee, Fiddle-dee-dee
Fiddle-dee-dee-dee-dee
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: