Shave and a Haircut
In music, the call "Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response "two bits" is a simple, 7-note musical couplet or riff popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comic effect. It is used both melodically and rhythmically, for example as a door knock. 
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"Two bits" is an archaism in the United States for 25 cents, a quarter. "Six bits" is often found. The final words may also be "get lost" or some other facetious expression. In England, it was often said as "five bob" (slang for five shillings), although words are now rarely used to accompany the rhythm of the tune.
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History [edit]
In 1888 Arthur Sullivan included the riff as a sort of "mocking" orchestral comment behind verses of Jack Point's Act 2 song "Oh a Private Buffoon" in The Yeoman of The Guard.[citation needed] Another early occurrence of the tune is from an 1899 Charles Hale song, "At a Darktown Cakewalk".[2] Other songs from the same period also used the tune. The same notes form the bridge in the "Hot Scotch Rag", written by H.A. Fischler in 1911.
An early recording used the 7-note tune at both the beginning and the ending of a humorous 1915 song, by Billy Murray and the American Quartet, called "On the 5:15".
In 1939, Dan Shapiro, Lestor Lee and Milton Berle released "Shave and a Haircut – Shampoo"[3] which used the tune in the closing bars, and is thought to be the origin of the lyric.
In Mexico, the tune is highly offensive,[4][5] as it is associated with the seven-syllable insult in Spanish: «¡Chinga [a] tu madre, cabrón!», essentially meaning "Fuck your mother, asshole!".[6][7]
The tune can be heard on customized car horns,[7][4] while the rhythm may be tapped as a door knock.[8][9][10][11][5][12][13][14][15]
Popularity [edit]
The tune has been used innumerable times as a coda or ending in musical pieces. It is strongly associated with the stringed instruments of bluegrass music, particularly the 5-string banjo. Earl Scruggs often ended a song with this phrase or a variation of it. On the television show The Beverly Hillbillies, musical cues signifying the coming of a commercial break (cues which were in bluegrass style) frequently ended with "Shave and a Haircut". It is the most popular bluegrass run, after the G run.[1]
The phrase has been incorporated into countless recordings and performances. Some notable examples include:
- Dave Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance" incorporates the phrase into the song's unorthodox 7/4 time signature, and includes a musical twist by inserting it twice in rapid succession, taking advantage of the fact that it begins and ends on the same note.[citation needed]
- Les Paul and Mary Ford's Capitol recording of "Magic Melody" concluded with the phrase minus the last two notes ("two bits"). Responding to complaints from disc jockeys, Capitol in 1955 released "Magic Melody Part 2"—consisting solely of the missing notes—on a 45, said to be the shortest tune on record.[16]
- The Bo Diddley beat is derived from "Shave and a Haircut".[15][17]
- "Shave and a Haircut" was used in many early cartoons, particularly Looney Tunes cartoons, played on things varying from car horns to window shutters banging in the wind. It was also used as an ending to many cartoon shows, just after the credits. Decades later, the couplet became a plot device used by the chief antagonist Judge Doom in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the idea being that Toons cannot resist finishing with the "two bits" when they hear the opening rhythm.[18]
- During Johnny Carson's tenure as host of The Tonight Show, Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra almost always ended the opening theme with "Shave and a Haircut".
- The phrase appear in West Side Story at the end of the song Gee, Officer Krupke.
- The former prisoner of war and U.S. Naval Seaman Doug Hegdahl reports fellow American captives in the Vietnam war would authenticate a new prisoner's American identity by tapping the first five notes of "Shave and a Haircut", against a cell wall, waiting for the appropriate response. American POWs were then able to communicate securely with one another via the quadratic alphabet code.[19]
- P. D. Q. Bach ends his "Blaues Gras" ("bluegrass") aria with "Shave and a Haircut", sung in Denglisch (mangled German and English): "Rasur and und Haarschnitten, zwei bitte" ("Shave and and haircuts, two please", ungrammatical in either language). "Zwei bitte" is a Denglisch pun, sounding like "two bits" to a speaker of both languages.[20] The melody is also used in The Short-Tempered Clavier.[21]
- In Muppets Tonight episode 107, when Sandra Bullock says "Shave and a haircut", Doglion responds with "Two bits".[citation needed]
- The melody is heard at the end of Tom Lehrer's "Elements Song".
- In the book Genellan: Planetfall by Scott Gier a character uses the tune to establish contact with an alien race.
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See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b Traum, Happy (1974). Bluegrass Guitar, p.26. ISBN 0-8256-0153-3.
- ^ Much of this article is taken from James Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. 5th ed., revised and enlarged (New York: Dover Publications, 2000), p. 495.
- ^ "Catchy Tune Central", Members.MultiMania.NL.
- ^ a b Franz, Carl; Havens, Lorena (2006). The People's Guide to Mexico. Avalon Travel Publishing. p. 319. ISBN 1-56691-711-5.
- ^ a b Thompson, Chuck (2009). To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism. Holt Paperbacks. p. 220. ISBN 0-8050-8788-5.
- ^ Gerrard, Arthur Bryson (ed.) (1980). Cassell's Colloquial Spanish, 3rd revised ed. London: Cassell Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 0-304-07943-X (UK).
- ^ a b Arellano, Gustavo (2008). Ask a Mexican. Scribner. p. 26. ISBN 1-4165-4003-2.
- ^ Stanton, John (September 20, 1948). "In Mexico City Traffic is Terrific". LIFE (Time, Inc.).
- ^ Keenan, Joseph John (2004). Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-74322-X.
- ^ Axtell, Roger E.; Fornwald, Mike (1998). Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World. Wiley. p. 101. ISBN 0-471-18342-3.
- ^ Axtell, Roger E. (1998). Do's and Taboos of Humor Around the World. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-25403-7.
- ^ King, Thomas W. (1999). Modern Morse Code in Rehabilitation and Education. Allyn & Bacon. p. 77. ISBN 0-205-28751-4.
- ^ Ruiz Fornells, Enrique; Ruiz-Fornells, Cynthia Y. (1979). The United States and the Spanish World. Sociedad General Española de Librería. ISBN 84-7143-192-0.
- ^ Wilder, Cora Sarjeant; Sherrier, James (1992). Celebrating Diversity. Ginn Press. ISBN 0-536-58133-9.
- ^ a b Partridge, Eric; Dalzell, Tom; and Victor, Terry (2007). The concise new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English, p.571. ISBN 978-0-415-21259-5.
- ^ Cleveland, Barry (Sep 1, 2002). "It Happened This Month". OnStageMag.com. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ^ a b Hicks, Michaël (2000). Sixties Rock, p.36. ISBN 978-0-252-06915-4.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096438/quotes?qt=qt0406091
- ^ Brace, Ernest C. (May 2, 2008). "Messages From John". JohnMcCain.com. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ^ "Cantata 'Blaus Gras'". The Peter Schickele/P.D.Q. Bach Web Site. July 3, 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
- ^ http://www.mcgath.com/pdq.html#3.14159265
