"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is a song that is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a promotion, a birthday, a wedding (or playing a major part in a wedding), a wedding anniversary, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event or in general being a good mate who always pays his debts. The melody originates from the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre (Marlborough Has Left for the War). The traditional children's song The Bear Went Over the Mountain is sung to the same tune.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is the second-most popular song in the English language, following "Happy Birthday to You" and followed by "Auld Lang Syne." It is frequently used instead of "Happy Birthday to You" in films and television to avoid possible copyright issues.
Read more about For He's A Jolly Good Fellow: History, Lyrics, Variations
Famous quotes containing the words jolly good fellow, jolly and/or fellow:
“A black pall, you know, with a silver cross on it, or R.I.P.—requiescat in pace—you know. That seems to me the most beautiful expression—I like it much better than ‘He is a jolly good fellow,’ which is simply rowdy.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“A black pall, you know, with a silver cross on it, or R.I.P.—requiescat in pace—you know. That seems to me the most beautiful expression—I like it much better than ‘He is a jolly good fellow,’ which is simply rowdy.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“There is a sort of veteran women of condition, who, having lived always in the grand mode, and having possibly had some gallantries, together with the experience of five and twenty or thirty years, form a young fellow better than all the rules that can be given him.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)