The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze

"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"
The subject of the song, Jules Léotard
Song
Published	1867
Composer(s)	Gaston Lyle, Alfred Lee
Lyricist(s)	George Leybourne
Language	English

"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", originally published under the title "The Flying Trapeze" and also known as "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", is a 19th-century popular song about a flying trapeze circus performer, Jules Léotard. The refrain states:

The song was first published in 1867, with words written by the British lyricist and singer, George Leybourne, with music by Gaston Lyle, and arranged by Alfred Lee. The lyrics were based on the phenomenal success of trapeze artist Jules Léotard.

The following century, the song inspired the 1934 short story The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by William Saroyan. The film Man on the Flying Trapeze came out in 1935, starring W. C. Fields and Mary Brian.

This song is sometimes associated with Emmett Kelly, who performed as a trapeze artist before becoming famous as a clown.

Comedian Walter O'Keefe recorded the song in 1934, which became his theme song whenever he appeared on radio or television. It was later recorded by Don Redman & His Orchestra (1936), Eddie Cantor, Burl Ives, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, Spike Jones, Ian Whitcomb, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Bing Crosby, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Crispin Hellion Glover, Graham Parker, and Bruce Springsteen, among others. It also appeared (as "Fying Beat") on the MGM album The Beatles with Tony Sheridan & Guests, performed by The Titans. In 1994, the people at Disney wrote their own lyrics of this song for the Mickey's Fun Songs home video: "Let's Go to the Circus". JibJab also used this song to reflect the events that occurred in the year 2010, dubbed as "So Long To Ya, 2010".