Yes, We Have No Bananas!

Folk Song written By: Frank Silver and Irving Cohn (1923)

There's a fruit store on our street
It's run by a Greek.
And he keeps good things to eat
But you should hear him speak!

When you ask him anything, he never answers "no".
He just "yes"es you to death,
And as he takes your dough, he tells you...

"Yes! We have no bananas
We have no bananas today!!
We have string beans and onions, cabBAges and scallions
And all kinds of fruit and say
We have an old fashioned toMAHto
A Long Island poTAHto, but

Yes! We have no bananas
We have no bananas today!"

Business got so good for him that he wrote home today,
"Send me Pete and Nick and Jim; I need help right away."
When he got them in the store, there was fun, you bet.
Someone asked for "sparrow grass"
and then the whole quartet
All answered:

"Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today.
Just try those coconuts
Those wall-nuts and doughnuts
There ain't many nuts like they.
We'll sell you two kinds of red herring,
Dark brown, and ball-bearing.
But yes, we have no bananas
We have no bananas today."

For Parents

How many fruits and veggies do you and your family need to eat every day? Use a handy, online calculator from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a guide.

For Kids

Food for people is like fuel for cars and busses. We need it to go! Learn why we need safe, healthy food—like bananas, string beans, and “all kinds of fruit”!

For Teachers

The Food and Nutrition Information Center at the National Agricultural Library provides an annotated list of curricula and lesson plans to teach nutrition as part of other subjects or as a stand-alone topic.