MAIRZY DOATS AND DOZY DOATS AND LIDDLE LAMZY DIVEY A KIDDLEY DIVEY TOO, WOULDN'T YOU? “Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. Inspired by the “infant prattle” of Drake’s daughter, the song contains lyrics that make no sense as written but are near-homophones 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 in New York by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. It made the pop charts several times, with a version by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944. The song was also a number-one sheet music seller, with sales of more than 450,000 copies within the first three weeks of release. The Merry Macs’ recording was Decca Records’ best-selling release of 1944. Twenty-three other performers followed with their own recordings within a span of only two weeks that year. " Wikipedia Meaning The song’s refrain, as written on the sheet music, seems meaningless: MAIRZY DOATS AND DOZY DOATS AND LIDDLE LAMZY DIVEY A KIDDLEY DIVEY TOO, WOULDN’T YOU? However, the lyrics of the bridge provide an explanation: IF THE WORDS SOUND QUEER AND FUNNY TO YOUR EAR, A LITTLE BIT JUMBLED AND JIVEY, SING “MARES EAT OATS AND DOES EAT OATS AND LITTLE LAMBS EAT IVY.” This hint allows the ear to translate the final line as: “A KID’LL EAT IVY, TOO; WOULDN’T YOU?”