History Repeats Itself
{{Distinguish|Historic recurrence}}{{Infobox song
| name = History Repeats Itself
| cover = History_Repeats_Itself_-_Buddy_Starcher.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Buddy Starcher
| album = History Repeats Itself
| B-side = Sniper's Hill
| released = March 1966
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = * Country
| length =
| label = Boone Records
| writer = Buddy Starcher, Minnie Pearl
| producer = Chuck Glaser{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Buddy-Starcher-History-Repeats-Itself/release/8916125|title = Buddy Starcher – History Repeats Itself (1966, Orange Vinyl, Vinyl)| website=Discogs | year=1966 }}
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{Extra album cover
| header = Orange vinyl issue
| type = single
| cover = History_Repeats_Itself_-_Buddy_Starcher_orange_vinyl.jpg
| border =
| alt =
| caption = Special disc jockey record
}}
}}
{{Infobox song
| name = History Repeats Itself
| cover = History_Repeats_Itself_-_Cab_Calloway.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cab Calloway
| album =
| B-side = After Taxes
| released = March 1966
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop
| length =
| label = Boom Records
| writer = Buddy Starcher, Minnie Pearl
| producer = Bob Thiele
| chronology = Cab Calloway
| prev_title = Little Child
| prev_year = 1956
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
"History Repeats Itself" is a 1966 narrated song written and recorded by Buddy Starcher. It became his greatest hit, reaching number 39 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}} and number two on the Country singles chart.
The lyrics recount the Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences urban legend, set to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in the beginning, and "America the Beautiful" during the lyrical portion.
Lyrical content
The song begins with the conclusion of the chorus of "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The lyrics recount curious coincidences and parallels (several of them false) between the careers and deaths of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. These had begun attracting attention in the US mainstream press in 1964 (the year after Kennedy's assassination).{{Cite magazine |date=1964-08-21 |title=Historical Notes: A Compendium of Curious Coincidences |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,876021,00.html |access-date=2022-06-14 |issn=0040-781X}}
Starcher also recorded a "Part 2," as there are too many similarities to be recounted in just one song.
Just a few of the noted similarities shared by both presidents include: Being elected in years ending in '60, both concerned with civil rights issues. Both first ladies lost a child while in the White House. Both presidents were shot in the back of the head on a Friday, in the presence of their wives. Their assassins were born in years ending '39, and both espousing radical ideologies. Their successors were both southern senators named Johnson, both born in years ending in '08.
Several of these similarities are false, for example Booth was born in 1838, while Lee Oswald was born in 1939.
Cover version
"History Repeats Itself" was covered by Cab Calloway, charting concurrently with Starcher's version and debuting on the charts one week later. In 1967 it was also covered in Dutch by Gerard de Vries as De Geschiedenis Herhaalt Zich.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/song/13f293/Gerard-De-Vries-De-geschiedenis-herhaalt-zich|title=Gerard de Vries - de geschiedenis herhaalt zich - ultratop.be|website=Ultratop }}
Chart history
;Buddy Starcher original
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1966)
!align="left"|Peak |
|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|39 |
| U.S. Hot Country Singles{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=329}}
| style="text-align:center;"|2 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19660514.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 14, 1966 |access-date=June 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530053318/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19660514.html |archive-date=May 30, 2015 |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|40 |
;Cab Calloway cover
| class="wikitable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1966)
!align="left"|Peak |
|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|89 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19660430.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 30, 1966]
| style="text-align:center;"|82 |
Parody
A parody of this recording, "Great Men Repeat Themselves", described purported coincidental similarities between President Lyndon Johnson and the superhero Batman. Both Homer and Jethro{{cite web |title=History Repeats Itself (mp3s) |url=https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/01/history-repeats.html |website=WFMU's Beware of the Blog |accessdate=2020-06-24 |date=2008-01-03}} and Ben Colder{{cite magazine |title=Spotlight Singles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCkEAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+%22great+men+repeat+themselves%22&pg=PA16 |accessdate=2020-06-24 |magazine=Billboard |date=1967-02-11 |page=16}} recorded versions of the parody.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.songlyrics.com/buddy-starcher/history-repeats-itself-lyrics/ Lyrics of this song]
- {{YouTube|FO-WJrCH-mg|Listen to "History Repeats Itself" (Starcher, Part 1)}}
- {{YouTube|qJ_wE2N6FPU|Listen to "History Repeats Itself" (Starcher, Part 2)}}
- {{YouTube|uNNuWzFSK4w|Listen to "History Repeats Itself" (Calloway)}}
{{Cab Calloway}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Repeats Itself}}
Category:Songs about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
Category:Songs about Abraham Lincoln
{{1960s-song-stub}}