Johny Johny Yes Papa

"Johnny Johnny Yes Papa" is an English-language nursery rhyme. The song is about a child, Johnny, who is caught by his father eating sugar. Versions of this song comprising more than one verse usually continue with variations on this theme.[1][2]

"Johnny Johnny Yes Papa" redirects here. For the 2018 film, see Johnny Johnny Yes Papa (film).

History

A 1989 book by the American scholar and professor Jessica Wilson records the nursery rhyme being told in Kenya in 1980.[3] According to Vinoth Chandar, the CEO of ChuChu TV, it was already old enough to have been in the public domain in India by 2018, indicating that it would have been at least 60 years old (per Indian copyright law); Chandar wrote in 2018 that he "used to hear it" as a child, and that elderly people would also have listened to it as children.[4]

Lyrics

The lyrics to the song are in a call and response format, and typically sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".[4] The original and most well-known version of the song is:[3]

Johny, Johny,
Yes papa?
Eating sugar?
No papa.
Telling lies?
No papa.
Open your mouth
Ha ha ha!

Music videos

According to Polygon, it was first published on YouTube as a nursery rhyme in 2009 by the channel Shemrock Nursery Rhymes.[5] However, the song was first featured on YouTube in 2007, where it was used in an Indian 5 Star commercial.[4] The nursery rhyme has been recreated by many other edutainment YouTube channels targeting young children.[6] As of 20 August 2020, a video containing the song, uploaded to YouTube by Loo Loo Kids in 2016,[1] has more than 3.7 billion views, making it the eighth-most-viewed video on the site, as well as the second-most-viewed nursery rhyme video and one of the top 10 most-disliked YouTube videos. Another video of the song, uploaded by ChuChu TV in 2014, has more than 1.7 billion views, another uploaded by CVS 3D Rhymes in 2017 has over 1.2 billion views, and a further video in Spanish uploaded by FAMA JAMA has over 1.0 billion views. Another video was listed in 2015 by The Daily Dot as one of eleven "unintentionally disturbing" YouTube videos for children.[7]

Internet meme

The song became an internet meme in August 2018, with one version by Billion Surprise Toys—a company with 16 million subscribers to its YouTube channel—going particularly viral on Twitter.[6][8] This version prominently features Johny and his father doing popular dance moves such as the "Gangnam Style" dance,[6][8] and intertwines the original lyrics with a repeated "doo-doo-doo-da-doo" to the melody of "Baby Shark".[1][8] The various videos by edutainment channels were subsequently described as "terrifying", "disturbing", "nonsensical" and "a godforsaken nightmare".[1][5][6] The song's popularity has been attributed to the Elsagate phenomenon of potentially disturbing or absurd YouTube videos being algorithmically shown to children through the YouTube website and the YouTube Kids app.[1][9] The Verge, Mashable and New York Magazine found "remixes" by Billion Surprise Toys, one featuring an anthropomorphic refrigerator (as the liar), to be particularly absurd, even when compared to other "Johny Johny Yes Papa" videos.[1][6][9]

Shortly after the song went viral, Billion Surprise Toys began to issue aggressive DMCA takedown requests for videos and images derived from its own videos published on social media. This move was considered controversial for various reasons. Firstly, because of the unclear copyright status of the song itself, secondly because American copyright law permits parodies as a form of fair use, and thirdly, because the UAE (Billion Surprise Toys' native country[10]) allows for "The reproduction of the work for the purpose of personal, non-profit and non-professional use" under their fair use laws.[11][8][12]

In 2017, BBC's UK kids series Teletubbies did an impersonation of the song on their YouTube channel.

In May 2019, Nick Jr.'s official YouTube channel parodied the song as "Villains Nursery Rhyme Remix".

The song was referenced in the first episode of the Animaniacs (2020) series.

References
  1. Hagi, Sarah (1 September 2018). "The viral 'Johnny, Johnny' kids' videos are a godforsaken nightmare". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  2. Vincent, Brittany (28 August 2018). "'Johnny Johnny Yes Papa' is a terrifyingly catchy YouTube kids' abomination". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  3. Butler, Francelia (1989). Skipping around the World: The Ritual Nature of Folk Rhymes. University of Michigan: Library Professional Publications. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-0-208-02194-6. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  4. Shamsian, Jacob (27 September 2018). "The bizarrely catchy 'Johny Johny Yes Papa' meme is freaking people out". Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  5. Alexander, Julia (30 August 2018). "'Johnny Johnny Yes Papa': Top memesters try to understand the bizarre video's rise". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  6. Sung, Morgan (28 August 2018). "'Johny Johny Yes Papa' is just one of many terrifying YouTube videos made for kids". Mashable. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  7. Crede, Phaea (7 April 2015). "The 11 most unintentionally disturbing YouTube videos for kids". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  8. Romano, Aja (31 August 2018). ""Johny Johny Yes Papa": the meme born from YouTube's myriad of kids' videos, explained". Vox. Vox Media. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  9. Feldman, Brian (28 August 2018). "The New Meme Is Eating Sugar and Telling Lies". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  10. "Billion Surprise Toys | Nursery Rhymes and Kids Apps". Billion Surprise Toys. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  11. "Fair Use – An Exception to Copyright". Dubailawyers.ae. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  12. Sung, Morgan (30 August 2018). "Someone is trying to stop Johny Johny Yes Papa memes". Mashable. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
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