Everybody Works but Father
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"Everybody Works but Father" is a popular song published in 1905, with words and music by Jean Havez[1]. It is sung from the point of view of the son, lamenting that he, his sister and his mother all work, while his father lounges all day: "Everybody works at our house but my old man." The song was introduced and recorded by blackface performer Lew Dockstader.[2]
The song was sufficiently popular that it inspired a "sequel" titled "Uncle Quit Work Too", about a mooching relative who "sits around the house with about a half a souse and he never does a doggone thing."
Another inspired sequel was "Father's Got a Job", recorded by Maidie Scott.[3]
It was recorded by artists of the day including Billy Murray. It was in the repertoire of Groucho Marx, who would include the song with a segment he performed about fathers.
In his 1922 memoir, The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Garrard recalled that some of the men on the Terra Nova expedition would sing it as a joke about Victor L. A. Campbell, the only father aboard, who was generally found hard at work.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Everybody Works but Father / words by Jean Havez". eGrove. University of Mississippi. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Cohen-Stratyner, Barbara, ed. (1988). Popular Music, 1900-1919: An Annotated Index to American Popular Songs. Gale Research Inc. p. 87. ISBN 0-8103-2595-0. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ↑ "Nellie Wallace & Maidie Scott: Mother's Advice", Windyridge CD liner notes. Retrieved 13 April 2021
External links
[edit]- One of Billy Murray's recordings of the song
- Groucho Marx singing the song on the Dick Cavett Show on YouTube
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