Posted on 11/19/2005 4:06:24 PM PST by bnelson44
Can someone tell me the history of the term 'not over until the fat lady sings'? Somehow I keep associating it with the song "God Bless America"
Isn't it from operas where the diva is always fat?
I've always associated that expression with opera. It seems that no opera is complete until a fat soprano, preferably in a Viking helmet, sings an aria.
Google tells me:
It’s usually taken to be a reference to opera, so many performances of which seem to end with a set-piece aria by a well-built soprano, but its recent links are mainly with sport, so much so that some people think that is the origin.
Commentators do often say the phrase to remind people that it’s the final result that matters, often in a spirit of reassurance to the supporters of the losing team. It has been suggested that it was the brainchild of the San Antonio TV sports editor Dan Cook. It’s probably not one of Yogi Berra’s phrases, though it has the same sense and much of the style of his “It ain’t over till it’s over”, which he is said to have coined in 1973.
These comparatively recent sports’ associations disguise the fact that it is actually a rather older expression, which occurs in several forms: “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”, “The opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings”, or “Church ain’t out ’till the fat lady sings”.
This last version appears in a 1976 booklet entitled Southern Words and Sayings. Ralph Keyes wrote a book with the title Nice Guys Finish Seventh in which he says that several informants recalled hearing the expression for decades before it suddenly became nationally known in 1978. The use of church here suggests that its origin wasn’t tied to opera, either, but to church-going.
It's the punch line of a very old joke about some "low brows" attending an opera. They aren't sure when to leave and one says..."I think it ain't over till the fat lady sings."
The joke itself faded away but the punch line lingers on.
Regards,
GtG
That particular phrase was first coined by a sports writer by the name of Dan Cook. He used to be the sports writer for the San Antonio Express-News.
I think it came from Dick Mota, when he was coaching the Bal. Bullets NBA team. After the home games, a large lady would belt out some song. The Bullets had just come from way back to win a close one, and in a post game interview Mota said his famous line.
You're probably making that association from 50's TV shows where a rather hefty Kate Smith frequently sang "God bless America"
I think it's in the Bible somewhere.
Good grieve. Hey look. We have a MOAB (mother of all bombs) on the stage..............run for your lives.
Click the pic for more info
Though in La Traviata, the female lead usually isn't very fat in the last act.
I too think it was NBA coach Dick Motta who popularized the phrase in the late '70s.
By god she sure could sing it though!
NOBODY does it as good today.
That she could!
Ever hear of "Kate Smith"?
Kate Smith was a great entertainer[singer]in the 30's and 40's. From 1937 to 1943 she had the top rated radio variety show which aired weekly. At the same time she also had the top rated daytime radio show, "Kate Smith Speaks", a news and commentary program.
She recorded many old favorites; The Woodpecker Song, 1940; The White Cliffs of Dover, 1941, etc. Her theme song was "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" which she helped to write.
Irving Berlin regarded the song she helped to make famous "God Bless America" as his most important composition. Kate Smith predicted in 1938 that the song would still be sung long after all of us were gone. Kate Smith always closed out her program with the singing of "God Bless America" and many folks joined in, both at home and in the live radio audience.....every week.
If you ever want to hear that song sung the way it should be sung....try to find an old recording of "Kate" doing just that.
A young fellow in the audience one night, when asked by a small friend, "When will the program be over?", answered. "Not until the fat lady sings"!
Kate Smith was a very large woman.
I hope I can get to sleep now...
5.56mm
Is that a diet "Pepsi"?
Diego1618, I doubt it...
5.56mm
Thank you for allowing me to redeem myself!!
And her version of God Bless AMerica lives on at Yankee games. Unfortuntely, they have a really bad version of it, where the sound quality sounds like a scratchy 78 record.
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