Makin' Whoopee Explained

"Makin' Whoopee" is a song first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics and Walter Donaldson composed the music for the song as well as for the entire musical.

The title refers to celebrating a marriage. Eventually "making whoopee" became a euphemism for intimate sexual relations.^[1] The song has been called a "dire warning", largely to men, about the "trap" of marriage.^[2] "Makin' Whoopee" begins with the celebration of a wedding, honeymoon and marital bliss, but moves on to babies and responsibilities, and ultimately on to affairs and possible divorce, ending with a judge's advice.

The original lyrics and music of the song entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.^[3]

Other versions

• 1928 Bing Crosby recorded the song on December 22, 1928 with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.^{[4] [5]} It made #8 on the Billboard charts.
• 1980 Yoko Ono under the title "Yes, I'm Your Angel" and with altered lyrics,^[6] Double Fantasy
• 1989 Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones performed "Makin' Whoopee" on Dr. John's album In a Sentimental Mood. It was released by Warner Bros. Records, earning a Grammy Award in 1989.
• 1989 Branford Marsalis performed a cover in 1989 for his album Trio Jeepy. It would later be the first song that was ever played on VH1 Smooth on August 1, 1998.^[7]

In advertising

• Pepsi used the melody of "Makin' Whoopee" with new lyrics, sung by Joanie Sommers, for its advertising campaign "Now It's Pepsi -- For Those Who Think Young" starting in 1961.^[8]
• Heinz created a 1993 commercial in which a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of salsa "make whoopee" in a refrigerator, resulting in a salsa-style ketchup.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Whoopee . Merriam-Webster . Webster.com . 2006-10-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195427/http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?hdwd=whoopee&listword=whoopee&book=Dictionary&jump=whoopee%5B2%2Cnoun%5D&list=whoopee%5B2%2Cnoun%5D%3D1325756 . 2007-09-27.
2. News: Stephen . Holden . Crooning About the Woes of Whoopee . The New York Times . April 19, 2002 . 2006-10-08. A review of a James Naughton cabaret performance. "Mr. Naughton pounces on the dire warning to men lurking beneath the song's playful surface: that once the honeymoon is over, marriage can become a trap from which there is no escape."
3. Web site: Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law. web.law.duke.edu.
4. Web site: A Bing Crosby Discography. BING magazine. International Club Crosby. April 30, 2017.
5. 10CD-set Bing Crosby, CD 1 Early Bing Vol. 1, Mebran Music Ltd. (2008),
6. Web site: Gilbert . Garcia . The Ballad of Paul and Yoko . . 27 January 2003 . November 29, 2023.
7. News: Hay. Carla. MuchMusic Readies Awards, Spinoff Channel; MTV's Suite Set. March 12, 2017. 110. 34. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. August 22, 1998. 85. en.
8. Pepsi-Cola Uses Old 'Whoopee' Hit as Jingle Theme . 2016-11-17 . . 1961-02-13 . 36.
9. Book: Gurwitch, Annabelle.. I see you made an effort : compliments, indignities, and survival stories from the edge of 50. 9780142181874. 881869606. 2015. Penguin .