Lydia the Tattooed Lady Lydia the Tattooed Lady "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen. It first appeared in the Marx Brothers movie "At the Circus" (1939) and became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes. The complex lyrics by Harburg – with clever rhymes such as "Lydia/encyclopedia" and "Amazon/pajamas on" – were inspired by W. S. Gilbert. Harburg made many contemporary references to topical personalities such as Grover Whalen, who opened the 1939 New York World's Fair. Among the items, persons, and scenes tattooed on Lydia's body are the Battle of Waterloo (on her back), "The
Hymn tune and John Bacchus Dykes's tune "Nicaea". In other instances a text may be used with a variety of tunes, such as "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" sung to any of "Lyngham", "Oxford New", "Arden", "Lydia", "Richmond", "Azmon", or "University". In yet other instances a tune may partner several texts, such as "Dix" for "As with Gladness Men of Old", "Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies", "God of Mercy, God of Grace", "Lord, to You Immortal Praise", and "For the Beauty of the Earth". By contrast, in Germany and Scandinavia, tune names were not typically used even when a