Georgie Porgie

"Georgie Porgie" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19532.

Lyrics

The most common modern lyrics are:

Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.[1]

Origins and meaning

The first recorded version of the rhyme was collected by James Orchard Halliwell in the mid-19th century with the lyrics:

Rowley Powley, pumpkin pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry;
When the girls began to cry,
Rowley Powley runs away.[1]

However, the version with Georgie Porgie was known to George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) in his childhood and so may be at least as old.

There are various theories that link the character Georgie Porgie to historical figures including George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628), Charles II (1630–1685, reigned from 1660) and George I (1660–1727, reigned from 1714), but there is no evidence to corroborate such claims.[1]

There is a further theory, equally unsubstantiated, but traditional in families which supported the Stuart line to the throne, that this is an old Jacobite rhyme that relates to the 1745 rebellion of mainly Scots. In this account the rhyme relates to King George II. It incorrectly implies that as the Jacobite army headed further and further south ("When the boys came out to play"), King George fled England for the safety of mainland Europe ("Georgie Porgie ran away"). Similarly, the convention of using "ie" instead of "y" or "ey" at the end of words is prevalent in Scotland.

Also, the Great Fire of London started in Pudding Lane and is reported to have finished at Pye Corner. In this hypothesis, "The Boys" may refer to the firefighters of the time and Georgie Porgie was the arsonist running away at the prospect of the firefighters catching him at work. See "The Golden Boy of Pye Corner."

Other Media

In 1924, Billy Mayerl and Gee Paul adapted the rhyme into a song. The lyrics reflect a girl's lament:

Georgie Porgie, Pudding and Pie,
Consists of vamps with wicked eyes
That makes up his dish, I only wish
That he would just kiss me

In 1927, it was recorded as a vocal test for Rudy Vallée and was not published. The song was recorded by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra in 1928 (Columbia 1491-D). The song is performed by four young girls in the film The Vagabond Lover.

In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World the words are changed to "Orgy-Porgy, Ford and fun/ Kiss the girls and make them one."

Georgie Porgie was made a character in the Fables-based video game, The Wolf Among Us.

Georgy Porgy is the title of a song originally recorded by Toto, with the rhyme performed by Cheryl Lynn. Eric Benét later covered the song with Faith Evans for the album A Day in the Life.

The rhyme was also referenced in the controversial 2 Live Crew song "Me So Horny", with Brother Marquis rapping the lyrics, "I'm just like that man they call Georgie Puddin' Pie. I fuck all the girls and I make 'em cry."[2]

An early episode of the long-running NBC crime drama Law & Order was titled "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die."

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 I. Opie and P.,,, . Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 185–6.
  2. ↑ "Me So Horny lyrics by the 2 Live Crew". Lyrics On Demand.


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