The six notes have remained the same, but over the years the phrase has become known as “shave and a haircut, two bits” (which would amount to 25 cents). It is used melodically or rhythmically, for example as a door knock. Somewhere along the line the phrase permutated into “shave and a haircut, bay rum.” What is the song Shave and a Haircut two bits Shave and a Haircut and the associated response two bits is a seven-note musical call-and-response couplet, riff or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic effect. In 1939, the same musical phrase was used in a tune called “Shave and a Haircut – Shampoo” by Dan Shapiro, Lester Lee, and Milton Berle. My boyfriend usually gets his haircut from the owner but he left early today and so decided to let the new guy do it. The first recorded occurrence of the tune (with no lyrics) is in an 1899 song by Charles Hale, called “At a Darktown Cakewalk.” In 1914, Jimmie Monaco and Joe McCarthy released a song called “Bum-Diddle-De-Um-Bum, That’s It!” in which that line was featured in the last two bars of the song. I’m not positive it’s correct, but it sounded good enough to satisfy my curiosity. I found a site that explained the origin to my satisfaction, and which I’ve included below. Shave and a Haircut 'Shave and a Haircut' and the associated response 'two bits' is a seven-note musical call-and-response couplet, riff or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic effect. I had been told the words were “shave and a haircut, two bits,” but that was the extent of my knowledge on the subject. its the classic known tune the knock or tap most people do think when your beeping a horn in a car, whats the first tune to usually come to your hear shave. My father-in-law did it once, with the old, “Beep, be be beep beep” and then to our surprise, another car in the tunnel finished it off with a resounding “Beep beep!” In addition to wondering who came up with the idea of honking when driving through tunnels, I was curious about the origin of the familiar tune and rhythm that countless people use when they knock on doors, honk their horns, or end a song. ![]() In Utah (and maybe in other places, but I’ve only seen it here) it’s a tradition of sorts to honk your car horn when driving through a tunnel.
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