"Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen.
It subsequently appeared in the movie The Philadelphia Story (1940), sung by Virginia Weidler as Dinah Lord.
[1] 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 Wreck of the Hesperus (beside it), the red, white and blue (above them); the cities of Kankakee and "Paree", Washington Crossing the Delaware, President Andrew Jackson, Niagara, Alcatraz, Buffalo Bill, Captain Spaulding (Groucho's character in Animal Crackers) exploring the Amazon, Lady Godiva (but with her pajamas on), Grover Whalen, the Trylon, Treasure Island, Nijinsky, Social Security Number (behind her earlobe) and a fleet of ships (on her hips).
[2] Alternative lyrics suggest that Lydia's buttocks have tattoos of a map and a caricature of Hitler: "When she stands, the world grows littler.