Songfacts®:

• While some say the best things in life are free, others take a more cynical view. The former is affirmed in this song, but when "It's Illegal, It's Immoral, Or It Makes You Fat" was written, recording artists - those who wanted to get airplay - had to rely on innuendo rather than the anything goes ethos of the 21^st Century.
• Credited to Wally Griffin, Ken Hecht and Gary Bruce, this post-World War II novelty song was published in 1957. Widely recorded including by Edmundo Ros, the best known version is probably that of the Beverley Sisters. The title may not have quite become a cliché, but it is both a phrase and a sentiment many people will recognize. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2