“Billy Boy

“Billy Boy” is a traditional folk song and nursery rhyme found in the United States, in which “Billy Boy” is asked various questions, and the answers all center on his quest to marry a girl who is said to be too young to leave her mother. It is a variant of the traditional English folk song “My Boy Billy”, collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams and published by him in 1912
The narrative of the song has been related by some to “Lord Randall”, a murder ballad from the British Isles, in which the suitor is poisoned by the woman he visits. By contrast, Robin Fox uses the song to make a point about cooking and courtship, and observes: Feeding has always been closely linked with courtship […] With humans this works two ways since we are the only animals who cook: the bride is usually appraised for her cooking ability. (“Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?”) In some cultures this is far more important than her virginity. In the traditional last verse of the song, Billy Boy is asked how old the girl is. While his answer is convoluted, it reveals an age that is old and not young, adding to the irony and humor of the song. The song was also parodied in 1941 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in an anti-war protest song of the same name. A line from the song was used as the title for Henry Jaglom’s 1983 film Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, which concerns a middle-aged New York City musician who, after being dumped by her husband, develops a relationship with a middle-aged divorced social worker. The song “Billy Boy” is also performed in the film. In the 1948 Walt Disney film So Dear to My Heart, Burl Ives performs snippets of the song throughout the movie. In the 1981 movie Bill, both Bill and Barry play and sing the song. The song is used in the Sarah, Plain and Tall movie trilogy.