Noel Coward "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (1955)

Now THAT'S a lyric.

Noel has bars

I prefer it slower but it's amazing at this speed.

What a legend 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

This is a certified empire classic

Bit eerie actually

cool!

Noël Coward

Mad Dogs And Englishmen Lyrics

In tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire
To take their clothes off and perspire
It's one of those rules the greatest fools obey
Because the sun is far too sultry
And one must avoid its ultry-violet ray

The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts
Because they're obviously, definitely nuts!

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The Japanese don't care to
The Chinese wouldn't dare to
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve 'til one
But Englishmen detest a siesta

In the Philippines they have lovely screens
To protect you from the glare
In the Malay States there are hats like plates
Which the Britishers won't wear
At twelve noon the natives swoon
And no further work is done
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun

It's such a surprise
For the Eastern eyes to see
That though the English are effete
They're quite impervious to heat
When the white man rides
Every native hides in glee
Because the simple creatures hope he will impale his sola topee
On a tree

It seems such a shame
When the English claim the Earth
That they give rise to such hilarity and mirth

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
He-he-he-he-he-he-he
Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The toughest Burmese bandit can never understand it
In Rangoon, the heat of noon
Is just what the natives shun
They put their Scotch or rye down and lie down

In a jungle town where the sun beats down
To the rage of man and beast
The English garb of the English sahib
Merely gets a bit more creased
In Bangkok at twelve o'clock
They foam at the mouth and run
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
The smallest Malay rabbit deplores this foolish habit
In Hong Kong they strike a gong
And fire off a Noonday Gun
To reprimand each inmate who's in late

In the mangrove swamps where the python romps
There is peace from twelve to two
Even caribous lie around and snooze
For there's nothing else to do
In Bengal to move at all
Is seldom if ever done
But mad dogs and Englishmen go
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday sun


What have the artists said about the song?

Genius Answer1 contributor

In a written introduction to the book Noel Coward: His Words and Music, Coward writes,

Oddly enough one of the few songs I ever wrote that came to me in a setting appropriate to its content was ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen.’ This was conceived and executed during a 2000-mile car drive from Hanoi in Tonkin to the Siamese border.

© 2023 ML Genius Holdings, LLC

How on earth The Master can remember all the words singing live is extraordinary. From an old Rangoon dog.

‘Isn’t it awfully nice to have a penis?’

Genius ☕️ H 2 The Yes 🇬🇧

It’s still true

bars

Behold! The inventor of Rap !

Noel Coward was the key to the age of glamour . Pure genuis and class !

Certified hood classic 🔥

I remember at school our music master began every lesson singing and playing either a Noel Coward or Tom Lehrer song, fun times.

Noel Coward along with Peter Sellers and Benny hill pure comedy genius arguably the three finest comic character men that the UK has ever produced.

I slowed it down to .75 and it was much better. I think this clip is sped up. And the sound and picture are not synced.

The greatest rapper of all time.

The piano player deserves an award for sticking with him through those deliberate out of time changes, that's talent.

...it's the same Natives....pay no attention....

A genius.

Absolutely tremendous, as you would expect from ‘the master’.

Sounds speed up.

But it's ultrAviolet Rays
That get you!
Yet everywhere everyone is petrified
Of 5G
And before 5G twas Microwaves
In dozens of Ovens.

These days a genius.
Is meaningless.
As the Woke amongst us insist.
Equality is something
No-one can resist.

Brings Back Wonderful memories of the Great Man.
Thank You. Will just have to Improve My English Pronunciation.
Bit Challenging, Ha! Ha!

excellent rapping. he needs a cooler name tho - like "MaDdz DogGz"

It’s complete true even today.

A genius. What he would have made of today's world I can easily imagine. He represents a time when to become a star one needed talent, and he certainly had it in spades. Probably the wittiest man ever, he certainly made the world a better place for many years.

A witful talent extraordinaire ...

a genius lost to history...who in 2022 has 1/20th the talent?

Perfect. Fab!

BBC doesn't like this song!

Imagine this dude growling a muff!

Absolutely brilliant, I’m surprised no politically correct type has demanded videos of his songs be removed because they might insult somebody.

How did he do it? If you slow it down to .75 it is still impossible to keep up!

So true!

He has never been surpassed as a comic songwriter in English. How remarkable that he should have mastered the performance of the songs, too, as here --- and could focus his performance so effectively within the narrow frame of the close-up camera lens.
Also remarkable that he had so much lung power after forty years of smoking. He never looks tired; never steals a breath.

One rapper Eminem doesn’t diss….

I’m sure that there was some miscommunication with the band as this is far faster than the recorded version

That said, The Master doesn’t even break a sweat as he shreds his way through his signature tune

He’s like Eminem on steroids. Then again?????????

500th like

❤️

Brilliant. Noel Coward was a rare genuine genus

If one looks closely, it appears to be post-synced by Coward himself--not that that makes the performance any less fantastic.

Always the Master!

Rap before rap was a thing.