# Did Daisy have a retort verse in "Daisy Bell"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 2, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162 "2022-04-02T20:53:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/1 "2022-04-02T20:53:19Z")
I could have _sworn_, in second or third grade, hearing a second verse to “Daisy Bell” in which Daisy tells off her boyfriend, “Jerry” or something like that. > Jerry, Jerry, here is your answer true: > You’re half-crazy if you think I would marry you! > If you cannot afford a carriage, then you can’t afford a marriage. > [Can’t remember the fourth line.] My Google Fu is failing me. Was that actually a thing, or was my grade-school music teacher just a man-hater, or something? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/2 "2022-04-02T21:02:05Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > My Google Fu is failing me. A ton of hits ensue if you google “here is your answer true”. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/3 "2022-04-02T21:07:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > A ton of hits ensue if you google “here is your answer true” Hoo boy, you ain’t lying. Maybe I ought to give that old music teacher a bit more credit than I used to. (Then again, it seemed she always had it out for _me_, specifically.) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/4 "2022-04-02T21:09:09Z")
Apparently, in the original version, the part we all know was just the chorus. Being the chorus, it would usually stay the same. [Youtube link to 1892 version.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uEjBkMsmJs&ab_channel=P.M.Adamson) I’m not surprised that someone wrote funny reply lyrics. Here’s one example, origin unknown. [https://allnurseryrhymes.com/daisy-bell/](https://allnurseryrhymes.com/daisy-bell/) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/5 "2022-04-02T21:40:53Z")
Wikipedia has the verses as well as the chorus: > **[Daisy Bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bell)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a song written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre with the well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy / Give me your answer, do. / I'm half crazy / all for the love of you", ending with the words "a bicycle built for two". The song is said to have been inspired by Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, one of the many mistresses of King Edward VII. It is the earliest song sung using computer speech synthesis by th... ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/6 "2022-04-02T21:44:15Z")
In 1960, our music teacher taught us ``` I'll be damned, if I'll be jammed On a bicycle built for two ``` Dan ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/7 "2022-04-02T22:54:56Z")
I learned it with “crammed” instead of “jammed.” But it wasn’t from a music teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/8 "2022-04-02T23:21:04Z")
“…if I’ll be stuck on a bicycle built for two” ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/9 "2022-04-02T23:28:42Z")
Oh, Slithy…I had to think for an entire eighth of a second: “Now, how would I start that line…?” Dan ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/10 "2022-04-03T05:55:39Z")
I always knew it as “I’ll be switched if I’ll be hitched on a bicycle built for two” ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/11 "2022-04-03T12:21:35Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > ```auto > I'll be damned, if I'll be jammed > On a bicycle built for two > > ``` This was the version my sister’s barbershop quartet sang back to a boy’s group at the high school variety in the mid 1970s. The suitor’s name was Davy in their version. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/12 "2022-04-03T12:41:19Z")
My aunt taught me both the jammed/damned and switched/hitched versions. ---
**Author:** ![TheAnswersAnonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@TheAnswersAnonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheAnswersAnonymous)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-daisy-have-a-retort-verse-in-daisy-bell/962162/13 "2026-06-25T00:31:14Z")
“Chester, Chester, here is my answer true.” “I’m not crazy all for the love of you” “It must be a stylish marriage” “You must afford a carriage” “'Cause I’ll be damned if I get crammed on a bicycle built for two” - Daisy. B. Smith