I'm My Own Grandpa

"I'm My Own Grandpa" (sometimes rendered as I'm My Own Grandpaw) is a novelty song written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe, performed by Lonzo and Oscar in 1948, about a man who becomes his own step-grandfather-in-law due to a series of bizarre but legal marriages.

In the song, the narrator marries a widow with an adult daughter. Subsequently, his father marries the widow's daughter. This creates a comic tangle of relationships by a mixture of blood and marriage. The situation is only complicated further when both couples have children.

Ultimately, the narrator realizes that his wife is his father's mother-in-law (i.e., the mother of his father's wife), and therefore his wife is also his grandmother(-in-law). And, given that he is married to his "grandmother", he is, in fact, his own (step-)grandpa.

A version by Guy Lombardo and The Guy Lombardo Trio became a hit in 1948. In the movie The Stupids, Stanley Stupid, portrayed by Tom Arnold, sings "I'm My Own Grandpa" while on a talk show about strange families. The song was performed by American country music singer Ray Stevens, and can be heard on his 1987 album Crackin' Up. Another American country singer, Willie Nelson performed the song on his 2001 album The Rainbow Connection.

While not frequent, situations such as this do occur occasionally in life, the Bill Wyman/Mandy Smith affair (including his son and her mother) being one celebrity example.

References in other media

• "All You Zombies—" - the bartender, who is his/her own father and mother demands that the song playing on the jukebox be stopped.

See also

• "Roswell That Ends Well", an episode of Futurama in which Fry becomes his own grandfather by traveling back in time and impregnating his grandmother. Professor Farnsworth calls him "Mr. I'm My Own Grandpa".
• Grandfather paradox

External links

• Lyrics with linked interactive genealogy chart graphic
• DeadDisc list of cover versions