# WTF was Popeye always singing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606 "2017-10-23T04:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blisters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Blisters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blisters)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/21 "2017-10-29T07:14:47Z")
this thread has me laughing at the different kid versions of the Popeye song. The way Kid Institutional Knowledge is passed down is an interest of mine…not sure how it works exactly (who decided that the answer to “guess what?” is “chicken butt” rather than monkey butt or donkey butt or anything else!) In my hometown (Northern California in the 70’s) it went thusly: I’m Popeye the Sailor Man (toot) I live in a garbage can I went to my Granny’s And pulled down my panties I’m Popeye the Sailor man ---
**Author:** ![Admonisher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Admonisher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Admonisher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/22 "2021-11-07T23:25:35Z")
I came across this old thread while Googling the same question as the original poster, and I think I found the real answer! I might be mistaken, but I don’t think OP is referring to the classic “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man” song that was the character’s signature tune. In many post-1936 cartoons, we see Popeye walking down the street with a little hop in his step and scat singing to himself – usually the same melody. That particular melody traces to the 1936 cartoon “Brotherly Love,” and the song of that same name by Bob Rothberg & Sammy Timberg, which is originally sung by Olive Oyl. Timberg was the music director for Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios until 1943, so it’s not surprising that he regularly reused some of the same musical themes. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/23 "2021-11-08T00:16:37Z")
Popeye’s cousin? (from _National Lampoon_) _I’m Billy, the garbage man I live in a watering can I’m poverty stricken I eat lots of chicken The bones I make into a fan_ **Admonisher** , welcome to the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/24 "2021-11-08T00:28:07Z")
Bah, there is no Popeye but Segar newspaper Popeye. The rest are poor simulacrums. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/25 "2021-11-08T00:49:28Z")
Popeye and other sailors sang sea shanty. Popeye was a childrens character. I suspect real sailor shantys couldn’t be sung on TV. 😉 > **[Sea shanty](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_shanty)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty (/ˈʃæntiː/) is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term shanty most accurately refers to a specific style of work song belonging to this historical repertoire. However, in recent, popular usage, the scope of its definition is sometimes expanded to admit a wider range of repertoire and characteristics, ... ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/26 "2021-11-08T01:12:12Z")
Popeye was also supposedly inspired by a real person, Rocky Fiegel. There are stories that he would take a nap outside the bar he tended, and local kids would antagonize him awake, since he’d jump up and sort of do the mumbling, ready to fight stance that’s indicative of the Popeye character. > **[Frank "Rocky" Fiegel](https://popeye.fandom.com/wiki/Frank_%22Rocky%22_Fiegel)** > > Frank "Rocky" Fiegel (January 27, 1868 - March 24, 1947) was a real-life person from E. C. Segar's home town of Chester, Illinois who (like J. William Schuchert and Dora Paskel) inspired a Thimble Theatre character. In this case, Popeye. Frank... ---
**Author:** ![the\_art\_of\_rolling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@the\_art\_of\_rolling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_art_of_rolling)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/27 "2021-11-08T10:54:18Z")
Cochrane, unless you were living in Bristol , England in the late fifties this gets about. I remember singing this version verbatim together with several other, progressively more scatalogical renderings at primary (elementary) school. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/28 "2021-11-09T06:32:00Z")
I find this oddly heart-warming, thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/29 "2021-11-09T07:37:13Z")
I’m Popeye the sailor man, I live in a caravan. I eat bread and butter, And sleep in the gutter. I’m Popeye the sailor man. C1956, Stockton-on-Tees ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/30 "2021-11-09T08:08:50Z")
Popeye has also been known to dance the hornpipe; no idea if he ever sings any words though. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/31 "2021-11-09T09:27:11Z")
I think they should make a new live-action Popeye movie with Bill Hader and Lauren Lapkus. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/32 "2021-11-09T13:30:41Z")
Popeye has also been known to live in a frying pan; unfortunately, they turned on the heater and he burned off his peter. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/33 "2021-11-11T15:45:24Z")
What I love about the oldest Fleischer Popeye cartoons is that Popeye’s singing frequently didn’t match the animated movements of his mouth. He’d also toss off random _sotto voce_ comments that weren’t animated, either. Jack Mercer voiced most of the Popeye cartoons (and arguably the best of them), but he wasn’t the first, or the only one, even during the Fleischer/Famous Studios era: Even Mae Questel (the best-known of the Olive Oyl voices) took turns as Popeye! From the Wikipedia page > [@](#): > > - [William “Billy” Costello](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_%22Billy%22_Costello), [Jack Mercer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Mercer) as [Popeye the Sailor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_the_Sailor) (substitutes: [Floyd Buckley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Buckley), [Harry Foster Welch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Foster_Welch), [Mae Questel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Questel)). Costello had a gruff, gravelly quality in voicing the character. It is generally thought that Costello became difficult to work with after becoming overly confident from the success of the first few cartoons.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_the_Sailor_(film_series)#cite_note-yam-2) Jack Mercer was working in the in-between department of Fleischer Studios doing imitations of Costello, and, after practicing at home for a week, replaced Costello as the voice of Popeye beginning with _King of the Mardi Gras_ (1935).[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_the_Sailor_(film_series)#cite_note-3) Historians believe the character came into his own when Mercer became the voice artist, employing acting and emotion into the character. Mercer voiced the character until his death in 1984. Mae Questel, Floyd Buckley and Harry Welch[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_the_Sailor_(film_series)#cite_note-popvoice-4) substituted in several wartime cartoons, when Mercer left to serve in World War II. > **[Popeye the Sailor (film series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_the_Sailor_(film_series))** > > Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of short films based on the Popeye comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios, based in New York City, adapted Segar's characters into a series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "swee... ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606/34 "2021-11-16T06:02:44Z")
Unlike most cartoons, Fleischer studios animated first and recorded voices after. At least at first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-was-popeye-always-singing/799606.md?page=1)