Mairzy Doats
Introduction


**“Mairzy Doats”** is a [novelty song](/wiki/Novelty_song "Novelty song") written and composed in 1943 by [Milton Drake](/wiki/Milton_Drake "Milton Drake"), [Al Hoffman](/wiki/Al_Hoffman "Al Hoffman"), and [Jerry Livingston](/wiki/Jerry_Livingston "Jerry Livingston"). It contains lyrics that make no sense as written, but are near [homophones](/wiki/Homophone "Homophone") of meaningful phrases. The song's title, for example, is a homophone of "Mares eat oats".

The song was first played on radio station [WOR](/wiki/WOR_%28AM%29 "WOR (AM)"), New York, by [Al Trace](/wiki/Al_Trace "Al Trace") and his Silly Symphonists. It made the pop charts several times, with a version by [the Merry Macs](/wiki/The_Merry_Macs "The Merry Macs") reaching No. 1 in March 1944\. The song was also a number\-one sheet music seller, with sales of over 450,000 within the first three weeks of release. The Merry Macs recording was [Decca Records](/wiki/Decca_Records "Decca Records")' best\-selling release in 1944\.Popular Music, 1920–1979: A Revised Cumulation, Volume 2, , Nat Shapiro \& Bruce Pollock;, Gale Research Company, 1985, ; page 190 Twenty\-three other performers followed up with their own recordings in a span of only two weeks that year.Simon, 1981, page 190, referenced in JStore Randall, Dale B. J. preview


What was the number-one spot reached by a version of 'Mairzy Doats'?