(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
Herman's Hermits - "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"
Hit Number 1: August 7, 1965
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
"I'm Henry VIII, I Am" was 55 years old when Herman's Hermits got a hold of it. Written in 1910, it's a British music hall song (British novelty) that is compromised of a play on words. If you pay close attention to the lyrics, you'd realize that the song is not really about the infamous King Henry VIII of England and Ireland, but it's really about a guy who marries a woman, who's been married A LOT of different times. Here's where the play on words comes in. A guy, named Henry, marries a widowed woman. She's been married seven times before her marriage to the singer, and each of her former husbands' names were Henry. This makes the singer the eighth Henry to be married to this woman.
Herman's Hermits were obviously not the first ones to record the song, as it was a signature song for British hall star Harry Champion, which he released in 1911. The Hermits do have the most SUCCESSFUL version though, as it became their second #1 hit on the Hot 100 after "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter". Champion's version is comprised of actual verses and a chorus, while the Hermits' version just repeats the chorus over and over, with a little guitar solo thrown in there. It's very easy to see they were running away with it and having lots of fun, as lead singer Peter Noone says things like "second verse, same as the first" and spelling out the name Henry like a cheerleader would towards the end of the song. (Champion's version is over 100 years old, but if I had to grade it, I'd give it a 5)
The song is also noted for it's pronouncing of the name Henry, like "En-er-y" instead, just adding more comical sense to the song. And that's pretty much all there is to it. The Hermits took a British Hall song, sped it up, took out the verses, and made it even more silly. To me, it's a song that's pretty hard to dislike. It's pretty fun and catchy, albeit ridiculously stupid, but you almost have to admire its stupidity a little bit. I kind of like stupid novelty music; maybe it's just the sense of humor I have, or I like the lightheartedness of them, but songs like "I'm Henry VIII, I Am", I've always had a soft spot for. Even though the song is pretty dumb.
GRADE: 6/10
MY INSPIRATION / MORE INFORMATION:
SONGS REFERENCED:
"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" - https://rmparis12.wixsite.com/website/post/the-hit-hammer-herman-s-hermits-mrs-brown-you-ve-got-a-lovely-daughter
"I'm Henry VIII, I Am" (Harry Champion's version) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkbE4URVcKY
@ewueagles1 That's exactly how I feel about it. You've got to save room for the fun ones too! Some people don't appreciate silly novelty songs, probably because they don't have much of a sense of humor. Plenty more novelty songs to come in the future!
I personally love this song. Grew up listening to my dad play this tune all the time. If you are looking for deep meaning behind a song, not gonna find it here. It's just a fun silly song that dares you not to sing along. I saw what was left of the group perform this in Las Vegas and they were absolutely bouncing around the stage and the crowd ate it up.