Talk:Merrily We Roll Along (song)

Does Not Contradict "Mary Had A Little Lamb" Article
This article states that the song "Good Night Ladies", a traditional American folk song, was this inspiration for "Merrily We Roll Along". This claim is supported by the lyrics of the first verse of "Good Night Ladies" (public domain):

"Good night, ladies! Good night, ladies!

Good night, ladies! We're sad to see you go.

Merrily we roll along, roll along, roll along.

Merrily we roll along o'er the deep blue sea."

Although the melody to "Good Night Ladies" is undoubtedly very similar to that of "Mary Had A Little Lamb", no specific claims of a relationship between these two songs are made in either article. Both songs are examples of variations on a traditional American folk tune who's origins are unclear, but probably have their roots in Europe. The "Mary Had A Little Lamb" article claims the melody was taken from Mozart, but this claim is not cited in the article and has been disputed elsewhere. --DoctorSlaw (talk) 21:53, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

"Written ca. 1937"?
The song has been used (sung by "Eddie Camphor") in a Merrie Melodies cartoon (Billboard Frolics) released on November 9th, 1935. —Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signature

Digery doo

s|unsigned]] comment added by 85.130.22.194 (talk) 21:09, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Two songs
I think this article is conflating two different songs. The melody used in the WB cartoons does not at all match "Mary Had a Little Lamb." The first five notes ("Merrily we roll") are the same but that's it. Powers T 15:03, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the two songs being compared are "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Good Night Ladies", which this article claims "Merrily We Roll Along" was "loosely" based upon. This is consistent with your assessment that there are some similarities, but the songs are not exactly the same.-- DoctorSlaw (talk) 21:23, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Lyrics removed.
"Merrily We Roll Along" is a copyrighted song. You cannot reprint the lyrics in their entirety without permission from Alfred Publishing Company, the song's publisher. --FuriousFreddy (talk) 04:20, 30 December 2007 (UTC)


 * It's good that the lyrics were removed, but not for the reason indicated. While the song this article is about is under copyright, the lyrics that were removed were to the other "Merrily We Roll Along": the one sung to the same tune as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" which was written either by W. A. Mozart, E. P. Christy, or someone else (see "Two songs", above). I believe those lyrics are in the public domain. If so, they should be included in an article about that song, if anyone can straighten out the authorship of it. ChasFink (talk) 18:40, 7 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Adding to the above: The owner of this song (the Tobias/Mencher/Cantor one) is not Alfred (who, I believe, put out compilation song books). Rather it belongs to T. B. Harms/Warner Bros., Ched Music Corp, and Eddie Cantor Music... at least according to this site. ChasFink (talk) 20:59, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


 * What other "Merrily We Roll Along" song is there? I'm confused. Captain Quirk (talk) 23:33, 17 September 2010 (UTC)


 * This article is about is the theme for Merrie Melodies cartoons. Then there's the song that has essentially the same melody as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" - and THAT one is, or was used as, a chorus from "Goodnight, Ladies". It seems that many (possibly you included) think this article is about the "Mary Had a Little Lamb"/"Goodnight, Ladies" tune, but it isn't. --ChasFink (talk) 18:27, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

Mary had a Little Lamb
I think the article should at least explain that there's a similarity between the notes often sung/played for Marry had a Little lamb and this song. In fact, I am pretty sure I have seen it listed as both names in song books, right or wrong. Maybe just a few sentences explaining the similarity of the tunes, and how some song books will mention both song titles?

75.71.200.117 (talk) 06:50, 1 December 2010 (UTC)


 * No. As explained several times above, this article is NOT about the song you're thinking of - the one that goes "merrily we roll along o'er the deep blue sea" and sounds like "Mary had a Little Lamb". That tune and those lyrics are addressed in the article about the song "Goodnight, Ladies", where it apparently originated. THIS article is about the theme to Merrie Melodies, which has a superficial similarity in the first few notes (and the words "merrily we roll along") but is a different song altogether. ChasFink (talk) 19:26, 7 July 2017 (UTC)

Requested move 6 July 2023

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) – Material  Works  15:13, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Merrily We Roll Along (song) → Merrily We Roll Along (1935 song) – I'm sure that the chorus of "Goodnight Ladies" is easier to latch onto when this title is said. Georgia guy (talk) 01:49, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Oppose. This doesn't explain your reasoning for this title. However, I see from the rest of this talk page that there is confusion with Goodnight Ladies (1867) (which is not titled Merrily We Roll Along but does include that line in the chorus). I think this would be better addressed with a more descriptive hatnote, since the year is unlikely to tip someone off that they're thinking of the wrong song. &#123;&#123;replyto&#124; SilverLocust &#125;&#125; (talk) 04:53, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Oppose. Agree with above comment. I've expanded the hatnote. Station1 (talk) 19:22, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Oppose per WP:SONGDAB. 162 etc. (talk) 00:34, 7 July 2023 (UTC)