Yes ! We Have No Bananas - wikipedia Yes ! We Have No Bananas For the Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys episode, see Yes, We Have No Bananas ( Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys ). `` Yes ! We Have No Bananas '' Song Published July 19, 1923 Songwriter ( s ) Frank Silver Irving Cohn `` Yes ! We Have No Bananas '' is a novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn published July 19, 1923. It became a major hit in 1923 ( placing No. 1 for five weeks ) when it was recorded by Billy Jones, Arthur Hall, Irving Kaufman, and others. It was covered later by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Spike Jones & His City Slickers, and many more. It also inspired a follow - up song, `` I 've Got the Yes ! We Have No Bananas Blues '', recorded by Billy Jones and others in 1923. Contents 1 History 2 In popular culture 2.1 Comics 2.2 Literature 2.3 Films 2.4 Music 2.5 Television 2.6 Weather report 3 References 4 External links History Frank Silver explained the origin of the song to TIME Magazine : `` I am an American, of Jewish ancestry, with a wife and a young son. About a year ago my little orchestra was playing at a Long Island hotel. To and from the hotel I was wont to stop at a fruit stand owned by a Greek, who began every sentence with ' Yess. ' The jingle of his idiom haunted me and my friend Cohn. Finally I wrote this verse and Cohn fitted it with a tune. '' The song was the theme of the outdoor relief protests in Belfast in 1932. These were a unique example of Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland protesting together, and the song was used because it was one of the few non-sectarian songs that both communities knew. The song lent its title to a book about the depression in Belfast. The term has been resurrected on many occasions, including during rationing in the United Kingdom in World War II, when the British government banned imports of bananas for five years. Shop owners put signs stating `` Yes, we have no bananas '' in their shop windows in keeping with the war spirit. The song was the subject of a column by Sigmund Spaeth, who suggested that the melody could have been derived from a combination of parts of other songs, including the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah by Handel, `` My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean '', `` I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls '', `` Aunt Dinah 's Quilting Party '', and Cole Porter 's `` An Old - Fashioned Garden ''. Replacing the original lyrics with the appropriate melodic phrases, you get : Hallelujah, Bananas ! Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls -- the kind that you seldom see I was seeing Nellie home, to an old - fashioned garden : but, Hallelujah, Bananas ! Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me ! Spaeth subsequently repeated his argument as an expert witness. In popular culture This section indiscriminately collects miscellaneous information. Please compress this material to remove any irrelevant or unimportant information. ( June 2017 ) Comics The song appeared in the popular Archie Comics. Literature The song is referenced several times in Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Films The song was mentioned in the film Only Angels Have Wings ( 1939 ) and played on a wind - up record player by Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina ( 1954 ). In the musical film Luxury Liner ( 1948 ), the Pied Pipers performed the song. A German version, `` Ausgerechnet Bananen '', was featured in Billy Wilder 's slapstick comedy One, Two, Three ( 1961 ), played by an over-the - hill dance band at a drab East Berlin hotel bar. The song was used as a leitmotif in The Comic ( 1969 ), often to underscore serious moments in the life of the film 's protagonist ( played by Dick Van Dyke ). In The English Patient ( 1996 ), a few verses are sung as a joke. In the Mel Brooks film Dracula : Dead and Loving It ( 1995 ), comic homage is paid to the song when Harvey Korman responds to a question from Mel Brooks saying, `` Yes, we have Nosferatu ! We have Nosferatu today ! '' A snippet is also sung by Craig Sheffer 's character in A River Runs Through It ( 1992 ) Music In the 1970s, Harry Chapin used this phrase in the chorus to his song `` 30,000 Pounds of Bananas ''. Television The song was often used by singer and comedian Jimmy Durante on The Jimmy Durante Show in the 1950s and 1960s. The song was parodied more than once on The Muppet Show, sung by various anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables and at one point The Swedish Chef. In The Simpsons episode `` Bart 's Girlfriend '' ( November 6, 1994 ), Homer briefly sings, and then laments, the song. In The Brady Bunch episode `` Never Too Young '', Greg, Marcia and Jan are looking through a record collection as they prep for a Roaring Twenties party. Jan reads the title of the record, finding it groovy and far out. She remarks, `` Today that sounds more like a group instead of a song ''. Weather report More recently, the phrase was used in 2006, when Cyclone Larry destroyed a large portion of Australia 's banana crop, leading to a shortage for most of the year. References Jump up ^ CD liner notes : Chart - Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd. Jump up ^ `` No Bananas, '' Time Magazine, July 02, 1923 Jump up ^ Devlin, Paddy. Yes, We Have No Bananas : Outdoor Relief in Belfast, 1920 - 39. Jump up ^ Reader 's Digest, Treasury of Best Loved Songs ( 1972 ), The Reader 's Digest Association, Inc., LCCN 71 - 183858 Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0969928/ External links Sheet music Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yes!_We_Have_No_Bananas&oldid=813794497 '' Categories : 1923 songs American songs Bananas in popular culture Belle Baker songs Benny Goodman songs Novelty songs Songs about plants Songs about food Hidden categories : All articles lacking reliable references Articles lacking reliable references from March 2016 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from August 2015 Articles with trivia sections from June 2017 All articles with trivia sections All articles with vague or ambiguous time Vague or ambiguous time from March 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from September 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch 日本 語 Norsk Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 5 December 2017, at 07 : 37. 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Question: who wrote the song yes we have no bananas
Answer: Frank Silver