Talk:My Old Man's a Dustman

Stravinsky ?!

 * The melody is borrowed from Stravinsky's Petrushka.

I'm not acquainted with Petrushka, and yet I'm skeptical of this assertion!

I have heard the same tune in a "Spelling Gospel" ("G L O R Y, we are S A V E D, H A P P Y to be F R double E") as recorded by Oak Ash & Thorn. —Tamfang (talk) 02:26, 4 June 2018 (UTC)


 * I was sceptical too, so I listened to it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esD90diWZds - & around about 2:20 there it was. Not identical, I could sing along with it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.189.156.173 (talk) 18:09, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

I've listened to Petrushka a lot, and never been reminded of "My old man's a dustman". This is an assertion that needs justifying. I don't believe it myself. --PaulHammond (talk) 10:54, 20 May 2021 (UTC)


 * You can find it starting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esD90diWZds?t=141. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kirtag Hratiba (talk • contribs) 17:42, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

The second melody from the first tableau does seem close. The Wikipedia article on Petrushka mentions a French music-hall song called "Une jambe de bois". Here's a recording by Les Charlots (words here) that seems to match the fourth line better than the Stravinsky version. (Though I feel we should have a reliable source, like the authors (or at least a musicologist) to cite.)

This article says Stravinsky inadvertently plagiarised the melody, and that since 1911, some of the authors' rights have been paid to Spencer or his heirs.

Alors, je dis, je dis, je dis… Suzanne pourrait-elle faire l'échange d'un billet d'un livre?—dah31 (talk) 08:48, 23 October 2023 (UTC)