Talk:Sweet Betsy from Pike
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Don't forget about Jimmy Driftwood's version, one that sounds about as real American as you can get. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.152.235.216 (talk) 20:13, 6 April 2009 (UTC)
Other uses of the tune[edit]
The Ray Stevens song "It's Me Again, Margaret" uses the same tune.
As does "Hinges." ref
What about[edit]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aosDwhwOSLE ? --213.225.34.180 (talk) 17:06, 15 December 2018 (UTC)
Origin of tune?[edit]
The tune of 'Sweet Betsy from Pike' comes from the hit comedy song published in London in 1853, Villikins and his Dinah. This parodies an existing English street ballad, William and Diana, the lyrics of which were certainly in circulation in the UK by 1842 and perhaps earlier. (See http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/?query=william+and+diana) What no-one seems able to say is where the influential tune came from. Was it the original melody of William and Diana but with the comedy singalong chorus added from another source? Apparently versions of the original non-comedy ballad William and Diana were still being collected in England in the early 19th c. You'd think somebody who could read music could check what the tune was it was being sung to. If it was the same as Villikins then that makes a good case for the tune being an early 19th c original. And unfortunately anonymous. ~~ RLamb (talk) 14:21, 29 June 2023 (UTC)