“I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” (often referred to as the “Major-General’s Song” or “Modern Major-General’s Song“) is a patter song from Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1879 comic opera, The Pirate of Penzance. It has been called the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan patter song. Sung by Major General Stanley at his first entrance, towards the end of Act I, the character introduces himself by presenting his résumé and admitting to a few shortcomings. The song satirises the idea of the “modern” educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century. It is difficult to perform because of the fast pace and tongue-twisting nature of the lyrics.
The song is replete with historical and cultural references, in which the Major-General describes his impressive and well-rounded education in non-military matters, but he says that his military knowledge has “only been brought down to the beginning of the century”. The stage directions in the libretto state that at the end of each verse the Major-General is “bothered for a rhyme”. Interpolated business occurs here, and in each case he finds a rhyme and finishes the verse with a flourish.
The character of Major-General Stanley was widely taken to be a caricature of the popular general Sir Garnet Wolseley. The biographer Michael Ainger, however, doubts that Gilbert intended a caricature of Wolseley, identifying instead the older General Henry Turner, an uncle of Gilbert’s wife whom Gilbert disliked, as a more likely inspiration for the satire. Nevertheless, in the original London production, George Grossmith imitated Wolseley’s mannerisms and appearance, particularly his large moustache, and the audience recognised the allusion. Wolseley himself, according to his biographer, took no offence at the identification and sometimes sang “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” for the private amusement of his family and friends.
The Pirate Movie a 1982 modern musical parody of The Pirates of Penzance, features many songs from the opera, including this song. Contemporary references were introduced, as when the Major-General adds to the song “Man, I’m older than The Beatles, but I’m younger than The Roling Stones.” A nonsense pastiche of the song in 2017 film Despicable Me 3, sung by Minions, was uploaded to YouTube by Illumination Entertainment as a singalong challenge; the video has been viewed more than 18 million times.
The song, or parts of it, has been sung in numerous television programs. For example, The Muppet Show (season 3, episode 52) staged a duet of the song with guest host Gilda Radner and a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) talking carrot. Radner had requested a seven-foot-tall talking parrot, but Kermit had difficulty reading her handwriting.
The song has been widely parodied and pastiched, including by Tom Lehrer’s “Elements Song”, “The Unix Sysadmin Song”, written for the book The Unix Companion by Harley Hahn, which replaces the military references with Unix trivia. “The Elements” inspired the “Boy Scout Merit Badge Song”, listing all the merit badges that can be earned. In the video games Mass Effect 2 and 3, the character Dr Mordin Solus sings a short pastiche version (“I am the very model of a scientist salarian”).
And finally a very different version for folk group.
