Changes: The Phony King of England

Revision as of 00:40, 19 November 2019

"The Phony King of England" is the third song of Disney's 1973 animated feature film, Robin Hood. It was written by Johnny Mercer and sung by Phil Harris as Little John.

Summary

The song was sung by Little John at a private celebration honoring Robin Hood and Maid Marian's engagement, with a lot of Robin's friends dancing along to it.

The subject matter of the song centers on the singers' disapproval of Prince John's taxation, hails Robin Hood as a hero and swears that with Robin's help, they will overcome their financial crisis.

Later, the song apparently catches on so much, even Sir Hiss and the Sheriff of Nottingham start humming it. When Prince John overhears them, he is furious and increases the villagers' taxes when the Sheriff tells him that all of Nottingham's singing it, or if they lack the amount of money expected to be paid, gives them a jail sentence.

Lyrics

Oh the world will sing of an English King
A thousand years from now
And not because he passed some laws
Or had that lofty brow
While bonny good King Richard leads
The great crusade he's on
We'll all have to slave away
For that good-for-nothin' John

Incredible as he is inept
Whenever the history books are kept
They'll call him the phony king of England!
A pox on the phony king of England!

He sits alone on a giant throne
Pretendin' he's the king
A little tyke who's rather like
A puppet on a string
And he throws an angry tantrum
If he cannot have his way
And then he calls for his Mum
While he's suckin' his thumb
You see, he doesn't want to play

Too late to be known as John the First
He's sure to be known as John the worst
A pox on that phony king of England!

While he taxes us to pieces
And he robs us of our bread
King Richard's crown keeps slippin' down
Around that pointed head
Ah! But while there is a merry man
In Robin's wily pack
We'll find a way to make him pay
And steal our money back
A minute before he knows we're there
Ol' Rob'll snatch his underwear!

The breezy and uneasy king of England!
The snivellin' grovellin',
Measly weasly,
Blabberin' jabberin',
Gibberin' jabberin',
Blunderin' plunderin',
Wheelin' dealin'
Prince John, that phony King of England!
Yeah!

Trivia

Throughout the song, several of the characters' movements are recycled from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats, owing to financial issues following Phase One construction of Walt Disney World.

v - e - d

Media
Robin Hood (Video) • CGI remake film • The Legacy Collection

Disney Parks
Garden of the Twelve Friends Fireworks: Wonderful World of Animation • Wondrous Journeys Restaurants: The Friar's Nook Halloween: Frightfully Fun Parade • Kooky Spooky Halloween Night

Characters
Robin Hood • Little John • Alan-A-Dale • Prince John • Sir Hiss • Sheriff of Nottingham • Trigger and Nutsy • Rhino Guards • Captain Crocodile • Wolf Arrowmen • Otto • Friar Tuck • Skippy Bunny • Sis Bunny • Tagalong Bunny • Mrs. Bunny • Skippy's Siblings • Toby • Maid Marian • Lady Kluck • Sexton Mouse • Little Sister • King Richard

Songs
Whistle Stop • Oo-De-Lally • Love • The Phony King of England • Not in Nottingham

Locations
Sherwood Forest • Nottingham • Castle of Nottingham

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Template:Infobox song
+{{Infobox Song
+|image = Robinhood489.jpg
-|name =The Phony King of England
+|singer = [[Little John]] ([[Phil Harris]])
-|image =Robinhood489.jpg
-|singer =[[Little John]] ([[Phil Harris]])
+with a line in unison by [[Friar Tuck]] ([[Andy Devine]])
-|films =[[Robin Hood]]
-|lyrics_by =Johnny Mercer
-|preceded_by =[[Love]]
-|followed_by =Not in Nottingham
-|video =[[File:Classic Disney's Robin Hood - A Phony King of England|thumb|right|240 px]]}}"'''The Phony King of England'''" is a song featured in ''[[Robin Hood]]''. It was written by Johnny Mercer and is sung by [[Phil Harris]] as [[Little John]].
+[[Louis Prima]] (Disneyland Records)
+|films = [[Robin Hood (film)|Robin Hood]]
+|lyrics_by = Johnny Mercer
+|preceded_by = [[Love]]
+|followed_by = [[Not In Nottingham]]
+|video = }}"'''The Phony King of England'''" is the third song of [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney]]'s [[1973]] animated feature film, ''[[Robin Hood (film)|Robin Hood]]''. It was written by Johnny Mercer and sung by [[Phil Harris]] as [[Little John]].
+==Summary==
 The song was sung by Little John at a private celebration honoring [[Robin Hood (character)|Robin Hood]] and [[Maid Marian]]'s engagement, with a lot of Robin's friends dancing along to it.
 The subject matter of the song centers on the singers' disapproval of Prince John's taxation, hails Robin Hood as a hero and swears that with Robin's help, they will overcome their financial crisis.
-Later, the song apparently catches on so much, even [[Sir Hiss]] and [[the Sheriff of Nottingham]] start humming it. When [[Prince John (Disney)|Prince John]] overhears them, he is furious and increases the villagers' taxes when the Sheriff tells him that everyone's singing it, or if they lack the amount of money expected to be paid, gives them a jail sentence.
+Later, the song apparently catches on so much, even [[Sir Hiss]] and [[the Sheriff of Nottingham]] start humming it. When [[Prince John]] overhears them, he is furious and increases the villagers' taxes when the Sheriff tells him that all of Nottingham's singing it, or if they lack the amount of money expected to be paid, gives them a jail sentence.
 ==Lyrics==
+<poem>
-:Oh the world will sing of an English King
+Oh the world will sing of an English King
-:A thousand years from now
+A thousand years from now
-:And not because he passed some laws
+And not because he passed some laws
-:Or had that lofty brow
+Or had that lofty brow
-:While bonny good King Richard leads
+While bonny good King Richard leads
-:The great crusade he's on
+The great crusade he's on
-:We'll all have to slave away
+We'll all have to slave away
-:For that good-for-nothin' John
+For that good-for-nothin' John
-:Incredible as he is inept
+Incredible as he is inept
-:Whenever the history books are kept
+Whenever the history books are kept
-:They'll call him the phony king of England!
+They'll call him the phony king of England!
-:A pox on the phony king of England!
+A pox on the phony king of England!
-:He sits alone on a giant throne
+He sits alone on a giant throne
-:Pretendin' he's the king
+Pretendin' he's the king
-:A little tyke who's rather like
+A little tyke who's rather like
-:A puppet on a string
+A puppet on a string
-:And he throws an angry tantrum
+And he throws an angry tantrum
-:If he cannot have his way
+If he cannot have his way
-:And then he calls for Mum
+And then he calls for his Mum
-:While he's suckin' his thumb
+While he's suckin' his thumb
-:You see, he doesn't want to play
+You see, he doesn't want to play
-:Too late to be known as John the First
+Too late to be known as John the First
-:He's sure to be known as John the worst
+He's sure to be known as John the worst
-:A pox on that phony king of England!
+A pox on that phony king of England!
-:While he taxes us to pieces
+While he taxes us to pieces
-:And he robs us of our bread
+And he robs us of our bread
-:King Richard's crown keeps slippin' down
+King Richard's crown keeps slippin' down
-:Around that pointed head
+Around that pointed head
-:Ah! But while there is a merry man
+Ah! But while there is a merry man
-:in Robin's wily pack
+In Robin's wily pack
-:We'll find a way to make him pay
+We'll find a way to make him pay
-:And steal our money back
+And steal our money back
-:A while before he knows we're there
+A minute before he knows we're there
-:Ol' Rob'll snatch his underwear!
+Ol' Rob'll snatch his underwear!
+The breezy and uneasy king of England!
+The snivellin' grovellin',
+Measly weasly,
+Blabberin' jabberin',
+Gibberin' jabberin',
+Blunderin' plunderin',
+Wheelin' dealin'
+Prince John, that phony King of England!
+Yeah!
+</poem>
-:The breezy and uneasy king of England!
-:The snivellin' grovellin',
-:Measly weasly,
-:Blabberin' jabberin',
-:Gibberin' jabberin',
-:Blunderin' plunderin',
-:Wheelin' dealin'
-:Prince John, that phony king of England
-:Yeah!
 ==Trivia==
-* Throughout the song, several of the characters' movements are recycled from ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'', ''[[The Jungle Book]]'' and ''[[The Aristocats]]''. Curiously enough, [[Scat Cat]] from ''The Aristocats'' makes a cameo appearance in one scene during the song.
+*Throughout the song, several of the characters' movements are recycled from ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'', ''[[The Jungle Book]]'', and ''[[The Aristocats]]'', owing to financial issues following Phase One construction of [[Walt Disney World]].
-* The song was a family-friendly version of an actual song sung during the time of the events of Robin Hood relating to mocking Prince John, called "The ******* King of England."
+{{Robin Hood}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Phony King of England, The}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Phony King of England}}
-{{Template:Robin Hood}}
+[[fr:Messire le roi de mauvais aloi]]
 [[Category:Songs]]
-[[Category:Villain Songs]]
-[[Category:Silly songs]]
 [[Category:Robin Hood songs]]
-[[Category:Hero/Heroine Songs]]
+[[Category:Hero/Heroine songs]]
+[[Category:Featured songs]]