Origins of The Song
The song is often sung in a Scandinavian accent (e.g. j pronounced as y, w pronounced as v). This accent is revealed by the name "Yon Yonson," which when recited in American English is usually rendered "Jan Jansen" or "John Johnson." The Swedish pronunciation "Yon Yonson" probably dates the origin of the song to soon after the Swedes' arrival in the United States.
The earliest known appearance of the song has been credited to Jan Sophus Jansen (1870–1953). Jan Jansen (pronounced "Yon Yonson) was born in Amager Denmark. At age 23 (1893), he immigrated to the United States. Jan settled in Berlin, Wisconsin, where he first worked in a lumberyard and later worked as a carpenter, cabinet maker, and wood pattern maker. Jan was known to sing his namesake song while playing the concertina as he walked the streets of Berlin.
Another possible origin of the song is the Swedish play "Yon Yonson" (1899). The play's setting was a Minnesota lumber camp (Minnesota is a neighbor of Wisconsin). However, no evidence shows that the song was actually performed as part of the play.
Read more about this topic: Yon Yonson
Famous quotes containing the words origins of, origins and/or song:
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)