For he's a jolly good fellow

American version

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow

For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny

Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow

For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny!

     It’s a popular song widespread in many countries.

     According to the Guinness World Records, is the second-most popular song in the English language, following "Happy Birthday to You" and followed by "Auld Lang Syne".

     The melody originates from the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" ("Marlborough Has Left for the War"). It was composed the night after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, during the War of Spanish Succession. The battle was a Pyrrhic victory for the Austrians under the British General John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the French began to laugh at this song. The British then composed of new words to exalt him and in fact the "good guy" (the "jolly good fellow") was originally the Duke. The air origins date back, according to Chateaubriand, an Arab song of the times of the Crusades.

     It became a French folk tune and was popularized by Marie Antoinette after she heard one of her maids singing it. 

     The melody became so popular in France that it was used to represent the French defeat in Beethoven's composition "Wellington's Victory" Opus 91 written in 1813.

     The melody also became widely popular in the United Kingdom. By the mid-19th century it was being sung with the words "For he's a jolly good fellow", often at all-male social gatherings. By 1862, it was already familiar in America.

     Today "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is a popular song that is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a promotion, a birthday, a wedding (or playing a major part in a wedding), a wedding anniversary, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event. The traditional children's song The Bear Went Over the Mountain is sung to the same tune.

British version

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow

For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us

And so say all of us, and so say all of us

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow 

For he's a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us!