# I’m her eighth old man called Henry, Or: I was SURE I knew that line! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 7, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377 "2022-01-07T15:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/21 "2022-01-08T00:34:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But I love the song. A minute fifty of pure fun It’s topping my list next time for karaoke. Fun, achievable accent, not too much range required, and short. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/22 "2022-01-08T01:29:56Z")
And if you’re good, it becomes a sing along. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/23 "2022-01-08T04:04:45Z")
According to the (fairly detailed) article in Wikipedia, the song was originally written as “named” in 1910, but Peter Noone sings “I’m”, which is what I’ve heard him as singing for over 50 years now. Frankly, I think “I’m” is better comic construction—makes the joke land just a little better. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/24 "2022-01-08T04:56:46Z")
Ignorance Fought. I’ve always heard “named.” Learn something every day. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/25 "2022-01-08T06:58:11Z")
He’s been playing at the State Fair here for the last 50 years - what does he look like, close up? Because, bitch don’t seem to age. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/26 "2022-01-08T10:07:37Z")
Here’s the Wikipedia entries about the song and about Harry Champion, the first person to sing it: > **[I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Henery_the_Eighth,_I_Am)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (also "I'm Henery the VIII, I Am" or "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"; spelled "Henery" but pronounced "'Enery" in the Cockney style normally used to sing it) is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston. It was a signature song of the music hall star Harry Champion. > Joe Brown included the song on his first album A Picture of You in 1962. But in 1965, it became the fastest-selling song in history to that p... > **[Harry Champion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Champion)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > William Henry Crump (17 April 1865 – 14 January 1942), better known by the stage name Harry Champion, was an English music hall composer, singer and comedian, whose onstage persona appealed chiefly to the working class communities of East London. His best-known recordings include "Boiled Beef and Carrots" (1909), "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (1910), "Any Old Iron" (1911) and "A Little Bit of Cucumber" (1915). > Champion was born in Bethnal Gree... The first line of the chorus used “I’m” and not “named”. However, the seventh line of the chorus includes the word “named”. The line was changed by Peter Noone into “I’m”. So originally the word was “I’m” in any line except the seventh and was “named” in the seventh line, but Noone changed that one to “I’m” also. The original version of the song included more than just this chorus, but Herman’s Hermits sang just the chorus of the song. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/27 "2022-01-08T13:31:36Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > [https://youtu.be/AXD4y3jRf5o](https://youtu.be/AXD4y3jRf5o) Anyone else think he sounds a bit like Johnny Rotten? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/28 "2022-01-08T23:41:07Z")
So let me get this straight. When I listened to the song, I realized that what I thought was the lyric was wrong, and what I thought I heard as the correct lyric was _also_ wrong, but _that_ wrong lyric was actually the _correct_ one way back when the song was written in 1910. I did not expect the truth of this silly ditty to be so convoluted. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/29 "2022-01-09T18:39:21Z")
You can’t handle the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/30 "2022-01-09T19:08:58Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > Practically every time I watch a YouTube video with captions, I find out that I had at least one thing wrong. But you should never trust YouTube videos or online lyric sites to be correct. They might be, but they also might be the product of someone else’s mishearing or confused memory. Listen and trust your own ears, or admit that you don’t care if it’s right or wrong anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/31 "2022-01-09T19:40:36Z")
If the line in a song is “Laurel and Chloe had a brainstorm about the green needle treadmill in their yanny”, you’re going to have a lot of problems understanding what the line actually is: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yDiXQl7grPQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Do You Hear "Yanny" or "Laurel"? (SOLVED with SCIENCE)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDiXQl7grPQ) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qXxV2C1ri2k/maxresdefault.jpg "Brainstorm or green needle? The new Yanny or Laurel") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXxV2C1ri2k) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TSbXOu4m2yg/maxresdefault.jpg "\*NEW\* Do You Hear "Chloe" or "Tredmill"?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSbXOu4m2yg) You could ask the F.B.I. to investigate, but they’ll probably say that it’s unintelligible at any speed: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QXascwDxu6I/hqdefault.jpg "Louie, Louie : The Story Behind the Song & The FBI Investigation (The Kingsmen)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXascwDxu6I) ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377/32 "2022-01-27T12:31:03Z")
I know I’m coming into the discussion way late, but I have to say, there’s something else about the song that I’ve apparently heard different from other people. Leaving aside the “called/named” controversy, I’ve always thought the next-to-last line went “I’m a rich old man named Hennery”, but everyone here is quoting it as “I’m her eighth old man named Hennery”. I just read the thread, and it put a bug in my ear so bad I had to look up and listen to the original. Gawd DAMN! I have been hearing _and singing_ that line totally WRONG ever since I first knew it was a song. I’m…abashed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-m-her-eighth-old-man-called-henry-or-i-was-sure-i-knew-that-line/957377.md?page=1)