Whiffenpoof Song
We're poor little lambs who have lost their way, Baa, baa, baa
We're little black sheep who have gone astray, Baa, baa, baa
Gentlemen songsters off on a spree, Damned from here to eternity;
God have mercy on such as we: Baa, baa, baa.
The song originated with a branch of the Yale University
Glee Club who called themselves "The Whiffenpoof Society." The name was derived
from an imaginary character in Victor Herbert's "Little Nemo." The lyrics
of the song are from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Gentlemen Bankers." Rudy Vallee,
who attended Yale and the Class of '27, performed the song on radio and records
in 1936 and it became a major hit. It was sung in the Air Force film "Winged
Victory" 1944.