Oh Du Lieber Augustin - Use in Popular Culture

Use in Popular Culture

Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) uses a moderated form of its refrain in his fairy tale The Swineherd from 1841. It goes as this: "Ach, du lieber Augustin/Alles ist weg, weg, weg!"

The Johns Hopkins University band plays the song whenever the Blue Jays lacrosse team scores a twentieth goal against an opponent. The tradition was started by the school's longtime Bavarian-born band leader, Conrad "Gebby" Gebelein. Scoring at least twenty goals was a regular occurrence for the Blue Jays during the 1950s and 1960s.

The song has been adapted as a Scouting campfire song with the title "Fish and chips and vinegar". Fish and chips and vinegar.

In Dutch-speaking countries the melody is used for the Sinterklaas song: "Daar wordt aan de deur geklopt." (http://kristinhall.org/songbook/ForeignSongs/AchDuLieberAugustin.html)

The tune is often used as background music in animated cartoons whenever a German character is introduced. It can be heard in a comedic, almost taunting version to mark the appearance of Hitler in 1940s World War II propaganda cartoons like The Blitz Wolf, The Ducktators, Tokio Jokio,...

This song is featured during "Disorder in the Court," a Three Stooges short subject, Moe swallows a harmonica, and emits different notes depending on where Larry and Curly touch him. They use this to their advantage and begin playing the song.

In the animated show Animaniacs the song is also often played in the background when German, Swiss or Austrian characters are introduced. In a similar way, Alouette would be used when introducing French persons or places.

In The Simpsons episode The Otto Show, the children sing the traditional American children's song Hail To the Bus Driver to the tune of Oh du lieber Augustin.

The song also occurs in the Bob Hope movie My Favorite Spy where one of the characters is named Augustine. When Bob Hope's character finds him lifeless, he says: "Ach, du Lieber! Augustine!"

The melody appears, somewhat deconstructed, in the song "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat and Tears.

In the TV series War and Remembrance, it was song by German soldiers on the trains on their way to Auschwitz.

The English children's song The More We Get Together is also sung to the same tune.

In the 1960 John Wayne film "North To Alaska", directed by Henry Hathaway and Wayne, the song is heard instrumentally during the logger's picnic being attended by Wayne's character "Sam McCord", and Capucine's character "Angel".