Billy Boy


"Billy Boy" is a traditional folk song and nursery rhyme found in the United States, in which "Billy Boy" is asked various questions, and the answers all center around his quest to marry a girl who is said to be too young to leave her mother.
It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 326. It is a variant of the traditional English folk song "My Boy Billy", collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams and published by him in 1912 as number 232 in Novello's School Songs.

Origins and interpretations

The tone of the nursery rhyme is ironic and teasing, both the question and answer form:
The narrative of the song have been related by some to "Lord Randall", a murder ballad from the British Isles, in which the suitor is poisoned by the woman he visits.
By contrast, Robin Fox uses the song to make a point about cooking and courtship, and observes that:
Feeding has always been closely linked with courtship With humans this works two ways since we are the only animals who cook: the bride is usually appraised for her cooking ability. In some cultures this is far more important than her virginity.

The song was also parodied in 1941 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in an anti-war protest song of the same name.

In popular culture

A line from the song was adapted as the title for Henry Jaglom's 1983 film Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, which concerns a middle-aged New York City musician who, after being dumped by her husband, develops a relationship with a middle-aged divorced social worker. The song "Billy Boy" is also performed in the film.

Recordings