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From: glo2gn
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  • God, this was hilarious!

  • Its funny now that WWII is over. Poor Nagasaki.

  • @MegaDratsab It's interesting when you consider that Woodehouse purposely set his stories in a time where the war wasn't happening (WWI or WWII) - it's been a while since I read them, but I think they were purposely not mentioned.

  • lol at jeeves just casually walking past the door XD idk y that cracked me up so much XD

  • This is too funny! Strangely invigorating! Gee, I miss PG Wodehouse stories. Also wish Hugh would take time off from House and do some absolutely barmy British stuff with Fry again. Sigh...

  • "extremely invigorating" lolol

  • Although I prefer Fry & Laurie's version of Jeeves and Wooster, I would like to be able to see the earlier version with Ian Carmichael. Do you know if it is available? I have had a look but didn't see any sign of it.

  • @1938gwen Have you heard the gypsy jazz gents Django Reinhardt & Spephane Grapelli's version with Freddy Taylor on vocals? I find it extremely... Invigorating sir. It's my favorite version of Nagasaki by lightyears! Perhaps you'll like it too.

  • Sunny Disposish all, it's a comedy remember we're meant to laugh! The books are hilarious too check'em out!

  • @666deadman1988 No, just no. Nobody else could do Jeeves and Wooster but Fry and Laurie;)

  • I think Mitchell and Webb could do a great 'Jeeves and Wooster'.

  • Most disturbing.

  • @CatAtomic99

    How?

  • extreamly...(think)... invigurating sir. <3 the little head tip to the side thing :) you just have to love hugh and stephen!!!!

  • 4 people don't understand English humour

  • @TheArtemZ English humor is the best. Either laugh or fuck off. And if you don't fuck off, then put up, or shut up. Stop complaining. It's FUNNY.

    The best kind of humor in the world.

  • That's dissapointing... I thought he was gonna sing it real fast, this version's got nothin on cab calloway or whoever sang it for django

  • Nagasaki now sadly famous for something a little bit different.

  • hahahaha, i love jeeves shaking his head at 1:19 :D i adore jeeves & wooster!!

  • It is just fun!

    All of the books by Wodehouse are whimsical, they don't actually amount to anything. They are not trying to 'say' anything.

    They are just fun to read, and are so beautifully written.

    So, to use a modern expression the Wodehouse would have deplored, get over yourself.

  • How is this racist? He's singing a goofy song about life in an exotic port town.

  • poor old jeeves " extremely invigorating sir!!"

  • @2504marcus If I remember right, he adds something like: "it makes one want to take a walk in the park."

  • Not to say that Niven didnt do a good Bertie Wooster but, the old films kinda destroyed the Wodehouse stories...

  • I read all the PG Wodehouse stories back in the 90s. It brings to mind the golden age between wars when Britain was worry free and people like Bertie could be forever children... Don't read too much into it. It's a fairy tale for FUCKS sake. Enjoy the stories for what they are.

  • comedy perfection.

  • I love Jeeves moving backwards and forwards in the background, and he's so sweet when he gives that little shake of his head. Love both Jeeves and Wooster.

  • I have the sheet music for Nagasaki. If anyone wants it just send me a message with your email address :-)

  • @crazypianolady

    'd love it.

  • I wish he'd done the whole song. I've heard a couple of other recordings of this tune and this little piece was the most fun of the bunch. :D

  • i love woosters eye when he try to read the teks :D

  • Cute, cute clip! I just loved Jeeves' head-shaking - one can just hear him thinking, 'what am I gonna do with you, kid?'. ;) The astoundingly talented Hugh Laurie does a wonderful job playiing Bertie, really letting us see how the character is 'so much sunshine to the square inch'.

  • @oceandawn26 Kid!!??Jeeves does not use "Kid"

  • Haha, I wish I could sight-read like Bertie. XD

    Goodness, these two are hilarious. One of the best comedy duos around.

  • love Jeeves's looks while Bertie is singing))

  • Me too haha :] @ 0:28

  • I wonder if the "earth shakes, milk shakes, ten cents a piece," was a reference to the 1923 Tokyo earthquake?

    I know the song was written for tin pan alley in the 20s.

  • a bit strange to hear this song after 1945...

  • they kissie and huggie nice

    xD

  • Most invigorating, Sir.

  • Anyone else familiar with the Ian Carmichael(Bertie) Dennis Price(Jeeves) older version?

  • "Extremely, invigorating, sir." lol. Great scene.

  • Not like that atall atall over here. Still looking for a girl to 'Wicky Wacky Woo' with! As for chewing 'tobaccy' well ...

    Hugh Laurie. What can I say? The perfect Bertie Wooster for ever. Why is he slumming it in the US? Come on England! Don't you recognise a national treasure when you see one? Come to think of it you treated PG Wodehouse in much the same way.

  • @olearysgrave There was a reason for that; he lived in occupied France, where all his expenses were found by the Gestapo for the duration of WW2. He seems to have been "a-political", but he made some ambiguous radio broadcasts at the request of the Nazis, yet refused to use his position to aid the allies in any way. In fact what he wanted was to be kept nicely and left alone - which doesn't go down well when a country has spent six years half-starved and bombed, fighting for it's survival;

  • Does anyone know where I could get this sheet music from for Nagasaki? I just love it :)

  • you better act you age

    or wind up in a cage

    back in nagasaki

    men chew tobbaci a

    and women were wacky woo

    1:09-1:12 was jeeves singing lol .

  • I've never seen anyone as multi-talented as Hugh Laurie. Love to watch him singing, playing the piano and guitar, acting in comedies and dramas alike. He's got an amazing range of singing styles too: English music hall, Blues, jazz, rock. When you add that he's a writer, well...damn. I'm in awe. And jealous too, lol.

  • Rowing blue, too.

  • Stephen Fry has Jeeves so perfectly spot on, precisely how Wodehouse writes him. The look he gives Bertie suggests that it is only staunch feudal propriety which is preventing him from substituting the words "Wooster you're an utter fool." (Although he'd say it with fondness of course.)

    I LOVE this!

  • Jeeves (Stephen) looks so cute!

    =]...yep i'm attracted to him!

  • you missed the best part!! Wooster says,"Makes you wanna go for a run in the park!" And , with a classic "look," Jeeves repies,"I quite agree, sir."

    Gosh it's so English, so Hilarious! ARGH! POst that next 5 seconds!

  • Oh my gosh! Look at 1:20 - Jeeves walking by, shaking his head in dismay. Best part ever.

  • This truncated version is from the song "Nagasaki" by Harry Warren.He literally wrote dozens of hits, but few know his name.

    From "42nd Street" to "I only Have Eyes For You" to "That's Amore"!

    Get to know this great American song writer. You'll be amazed at his output.

  • HOW did they get that to look like 1952 Technicolor?

  • Yknow, maybe I'm totally naive but I always just figured that this song's from an era when people loved to write very light, silly "nonsense" type songs. I just figured the writing process went something like "huh, Nagasaki, that's an awesome word! Let's write a song about it!" Yknow, similar to "San Domingo... rhymes with... hmmmm... aha! Oh By Jingo!" ;) It always struck me as more of a silly wordplay song than anything else. Most songs, even nowadays, are about getting girls, no?

  • You've written the only intelligent comment on either side of this silly debate. Thank you.

  • aw thanks :D sheet music from the early part of the century is equally silly, esp those written btwn c1905 and c1920, largely bc they were originally from music-hall comedies. Theres one about Mary Queen of Scots that's hilarious, and another about a French girl called "And She'd Sing Oo-La-La-Wee-Wee." Given these & others, it's kind of hard to take Nagasaki seriously. Orientalism is def lurking about there somewhere, but they seem to be experimenting with words and sound more than concepts.

  • Remember, the Interbellum Era was one of trying to forget the horrors of the Great War, trying to avoid the effects of the Depression, and trying to ignore creeping Totalitarianism (e.g., Fascism, Socialism, etc.).

    The point of most British Music Hall tunes (and Tin Pan Alley tunes) was to shock and delight, and to capitalise on ever-widening distribution networks for sheet music and 78s.

    To apply modern standards to the period is to betray a bewildering naivete, if not an outright ignorance.

  • The producers of this series nicely integrated period music hall tunes into the episodes. I cannot think of more than a few instances of real-life tunes being mentioned in Wodehouse's novels and short stories. (There were a number of invented titles, however.)

    To even bother with discussions of the (marginal, at best) Capitalist/Western-centric/exp­loitative/racist aspects of this tune, in light of what's passed for music, post-WWII, is to misdirect one's considerable talent for over-reaction.

  • Not bad song. Funny!!!

  • Thank u=) my english is awful. But I wanted to say exactly the same=))

  • I absolutely adore this scene. So funny, especially Jeeves shaking his head in exasperation.

  • @LadyAryun yea, Hugh Laurie as Bertie is great. Much better than the old 1930s version with David Niven

  • @Surfbat45

    Ian Carmichael and Dennis Price were very good too.

  • @avril2 They were very good, but their performances don't seem to be available. 

  • I had this song stuck in my head for days.

    Love Hugh Laurie's jazzy style when he sings this! Very catchy. Very sweet.

  • i love how while i normal person would have been rolling their eyes jeeves just wanders around the kitchen obviously trying to be patient, jeeves undercurrents of emotion are great compared to berties sort of gentle little kid cheerfulness

  • So true.

  • grow up its just a song

  • extremely invigorative! ))

  • I wish I could play the piano as brilliant as Berty does! :)))

  • It isnt about the sex trade at all, it is not even really about Japan, it is about Americans perceptions of the exotic and 'olden times'.

  • Love it, I need to get my Jeeves and Wooster DVDs back.

    (Not meaning to start another argument but just getting my tuppence'orth in. Surely this song is simply about the sex trade in general. Just because it happens to be a sex trade which isn't in your country doesn't make it racist...surely!?)

  • wicky wacky woo - ;p

  • I say, if you don't like it, Don't watch it.

  • Hugh has a really smoothing and sexy voice. Sing, Hugh, sing! You should sing more!

  • Years (centuries, really) before it was known as a site of the second use of atomic weapons, Nagasaki was best known as the most outward-tolerant part of Japan---they even allowed Dutch foreigners to live close by on an island! It was where Edo-period merchants got 'hold of eye-glass lenses, Western ("Dutch") books, and the odd illegal gun.

    All a long-winded way of saying that up until the 'Forties, Nagasaki was exactly the sort of place a Western sailor might have been to and known about.

  • Back in Nagasaki where the fellows chew tobacci and the women wicky wacky woo!

  • Why?

  • Why?

  • get over it! it's P. G Wodehouse

  • Get over yourself!. I live PG Wodehouse.

    you might want to read 'In Defence of PG Wodehouse' by George Orwell. He was a boyish, naive product of the Edwardian Era. One of the very few such creatures who survived the Great War.

    I book my HOLIDAYS in Britain, thank you very much.

  • Jeeves was disgusted by a lot of things in the books and the TV series, I don't think Wodehouse ever intended to portray him as the perfect human being or for his reaction to Bertie singing Nagasaki to be mimicked by any Canadians, clever or stupid.

  • This may sound stupid, but what do the Canadians have to do with this?

  • User I was arguing with is called ThisCanadian

  • Oh I see, well he does sound like an ass.

  • Jeeves was never disgusted, he wouldn't have allowed that.

    He did, however, strongly disapprove of the lowering of standards. A quite different thing altogether.

    Quite rightly.

    Pip pip

  • T/Canadian, you do realise that the song "Nagasaki" is nearly 90 years old, right? Things were very different back then. I wouldn't be complaining. And I think it's a wonderful song.

  • "Extremely invigorating..." Hahahaha!  X-D

  • hahah they're both so cute

  • Oh JEEVES!........

  • Stephen is DEVASTATING in that outfit! *sigh*

  • oh yes, OH YES !!! I think he is insanely cute when he does Jeeves

  • "You have to act your own age"

    The message is lost on Bertie.

  • Agreed!

  • why don't you stop spamming up this lovely video with your self righteous priggery and go obssess over race and racism somewhere else.

  • How am I racist?

    I'm waiting....

  • a: I don't give a monkeys for 'good christian values'

    b: I don't give a monkeys about the song. Written by a North American was'nt it? The charachter of Bertie was enamoured by modern (then) American things, Jazz and 'pop'culture. But he was an innocent. And PG Wodehouse was an innocent. You are not!

    C: don't be so disgusting!

  • freak! Some old Candian man obsessed with the sex trade posting anonymously on the internet does not scare me! As if!

    p.s I don't care about North America. It (mostly) sucks balls.

  • What a tirade! I love the works of PG wodehouse. I love Hugh Grant and Stephen Fry. I love English things. Thats it!

    I don't care about the flipping 'sex trade'. You seem more than a little obsessed with it!

    I think you need to see someone.

  • Well this GIRL does not wish to engage with old pervs like you.

  • You really are an idiot aren't you ThisCanadian?

    You probably also think the show should be burned and taken off you tube for having an episode with black minstrels.

    God forbid a show be historically accurate.

    Christ, have you ever noticed that in life, no one likes being around you?

    Well I'll tell you why, it's because all you do is spew forth self righteous nonsense.

  • wow such arguments! i agree with trisiti and paperclip2000.

    1 this was set when?come on it is historical. know your history

    2 it's just a show and the characters are not racist and probably neither was the song's writer

    3 i rather hope you are not one of those people who scream when the "n" word is used but is alright with rap songs that are racist against whites

    4 come on! u gotta love this clip! look at jeeves' face!

    PS i am not a racist.

  • For gods sake, shut your hole.

    It's not racist, it's from the book, at a time where this was not considered racist!

    Stop looking back on the entire history with your jaded liberal glasses. Life is not how it is now, and especially not as how you see it.

  • I thought Jeeves doesn't like any of the music, not just this song. And what have the Canadians ever done to get rid of racism? Ever fight a war? Destroy slave empires? Write any convincing material on the subject? Ever deal with it? Your country is as homogeneous as 2% milk.

  • What do you know about what this scene means? You evidently have very little understanding of P.G.Wodehouse, or culture in general. Racism doesn't even come into it. It's people like you that help to spread REAL racism by obsessing over every little possible insensitive remark. Pathetic, pretentious, posturing fool.

  • Thankyou! =)

  • I absolutely agree; well said. People need to get over this "victim" stance and stop looking for things that "offend" them. Indeed the right to be offensive is a right vigourously to be defended. For an even better version of this song, look into the 1933 recording made by Henry Red Allen & Coleman Hawkins.

  • Comment removed

  • "Bitch bitch bitch..."

    I suppose thats your opinion when anybody tries giving you some sense.

    I hope you are aware, that you are viewing the world through a very heavy and jaded lens, a lens which was created only recently. You now attempt to use this lens to disrupt and entire history of happenings.

    The Greeks? Fuck them, they were racist.

    Romans? Same,

    Germans? Scrap everything, Wagner too.

    French?

    Goes on forever.

    Stop crying over nonsense.

  • To ThisCanadian,

    You really shouldnt call everyone who disagrees with you a racist or sexist. Spewing out words like that with illogical reasoning (how does disagreeing with your arguments imply racist or sexist sentiments?) undermines the actual, serious implications of the accusations, as well as the terrible and irrational intent and mindset of real racists.

  • Now this is really quite amusing! Your calling me ignorant without knowing anything at all about me just about brought a smile on my face. Firstly, I rather like having my opinions under close scrutiny because it often prompts debate, which I am rather fond of because it promotes freedom of speech. To paraphrase the opinions of François Voltaire: I might not agree with what youre saying, but Ill fight to death for your right to say it.

    Secondly, racism is never cute! Dont ever say that!

  • Just calm down and enjoy Hugh singing.

  • Without really understandning why I would need to calm down -- I rather thought myself to be fairly calm and collected (but please correct me if I'm wrong) -- I applaud you! Finally a voice of reason ... and I rather think I will take your advice to heart! =)

  • I meant everyone needed to calm down and just enjoy the music! :D

  • I know that -- which is why I did... (Enjoy the music.) =)

  • Darling, please stop putting words in my mouth. I never said I was amusing, nor did I profess any love for the song "Nagasaki". I do, however, massively enjoy "Jeeves and Wooster", and Hugh Laurie's and Stephen Fry's performances are hilarious. I assume you think so too, or else you probably wouldn't have watched the clip in the first place.

    And, while I fear I may be repeating myself; racism is never - never - cute. Please don't say that, even in jest.

  • Play nice

  • This song is from the 20's. If you intended to make a political point by playing it, I can only say that it mustn't have been a very topical point.

  • "let me reiterate: the other dimwits can go play this little ditty their Asian friends & see how 'funny' & 'charming' they think it is."

    Speaking AS an ASIAN, I must say that I'm not the least bit offended by this song. No, I'm not Japanese, but no, I'm not upset, disgusted or angered by this song. In fact I'd be pretty damn happy if I could play it as good as Bertie there can. I think it's cute, but not offensive. Just ignorant. "Nagasaki" reflected white views of Japan in the 20s.

  • "you'd better hope there aren't any asians in your RETIREMENT HOME CARE "

    Why? They steal from non-racists too you know.

    As for the rest of what you say, Pure blithering rot.

  • @ThisCanadian

    Well, I have an Asian in my house, my wife of ten years, and she finds this song amusing. She likes the melody very much, and, well, the lyrics are just purely cartoonish. They don't represent much except some Tin Pan Alley wit. It's like a 1920s Sunday funny cartoon, and, if something so innocuous offends you, then you must be a truly fragile little creature who's unsuited for much of the cruelties of life.

    Besides, Harry Warren was a hell of a song writer.

  • Point one: this song was written in the 20s, when things were different. Do you think shows set in that era should be altered to be historically innaccurate because you're not smart enough to accept things that happened before your time?

    Secondly, people like you totally devalue the word racism by using it constantly, thusly watering it down for when REAL racism is shown.

    You clearly need a real problem in your life.

  • Hot ginger and dynamite There's nothing but that at night. Back in Nagasaki where the fellers chew tobaccy And the women wicky wacky woo. The way they can entertain Would hurry a hurricane.

    In Fujiyama you get a mommer And your troubles increase. In some pagoda she orders soda The earth shakes milk shakes ten cents a piece. They kissee and huggee nice By jingo it's worth the price.

  • Hugh was always a wonderfully talented pianist and singer, but Stephen's nuances make him all the more adorable! It's impossible to choose one over the other, so why try... They're both *gorgeous*, especially in this video!

  • I almost spat my drink at the way Stephen glides past the doorway at 0:27, especially when he walks backwards. The head-shaking is a classic too. Aww, you gotta love Jeeves, how could anyone have argued against Stephen playing him? He's perfect

  • I agree! It's just that in the books Jeeves is older.

  • I know but it's a shame that people get so hung up on details, isn't it?

    Damnn, this song is stuck in my head now. Just like Oh By Jingo was yesterday.

  • Amen. When I first saw Jeeves shake his head in exasperation, I almost fell in the floor. It's classic.

  • They should use this as an advert for Youtube Youtube - hmm. Bingo says it's ok - i'll just go a bit further and see...Ha ha!!

  • The best song in all of the Jeeves and Woosters' series. Brilliant lyrics.

  • Ooh! One of my all-time favourites. This and Minnie the Moocher.

    I love Laurie's version much better than the full fast tempo one but that's a given. :D

  • Love this song. So nice to see a real cutie playing the piano!! x

  • and he can make noises with his mouth that sound precisely like a trumpet (or trombone tc... i'm not great with sounds of instruments)

  • I played this so much until my sister, not a HL fan could sing it in her sleep. Luuuv it! Thanks.

  • Now this lyric is stuck in my head!!!!

  • Hugh Laurie plays guitar, keyboards, sings, acts and writes! He is a total renaissance man.

  • Stephen Fry is so handsome *swoons*

  • he's so charming... can't resist!

  • I Love Hugh he has such a beautiful voice !!

  • I agree .. classic English voice from the '20s and '30s

  • Ive yet to see him sing a song not involving the words "oh by jingo"

  • There is nothing more appealing to me than a man who can play the piano and sing well. oh and he's a cutie, too, i guess that helps :P

  • and electric guitar

    and acoustic guitar

    and slide guitar

    and harmonica

    and possibly a stick with a rubberband tied to it

  • LOL!

  • he has a great voice...

  • ^ i know. he's great! thanks for uploading :D

  • I love listening to Hugh sing. He is so awesome.

  • I agree ! ..Total English talent !!!

  • Bertie's such a cutie and Jeeves is so wonderfully dissapproving of his choice of music. :)