And the song my dad used to sing to my sisters and I that drove us crazy was:
Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy,
A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
I don't know the rest of it or where it comes from.
“Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It was first played on radio station WOR, New York, by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. The song made the pop charts several times, with a version by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944. The song was also a number-one sheet music seller, with sales of over 450,000 within the first three weeks of release.
The song's refrain, as written on the sheet music, seems meaningless:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
However, the lyrics of the bridge provide a clue:
If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy."
This hint allows the ear to translate the final line as "a kid'll eat ivy, too; wouldn't you?"
The Merry Macs recording was Decca records best selling release in 1944 . Twenty three other performers tried to follow up with their own recordings in a span of only 2 weeks in that same year.
Full lyrics:
I know a ditty nutty as a fruitcake
Goofy as a goon and silly as a loon
Some call it pretty, others call it crazy
But they all sing this tune:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy"
Oh! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you-oo?
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
Merry Macs version: