Lyr. Add: TINGA LAYO (Donkey Song)
Patterson and Belasco, 1943

Tinga Lay - o
Marré bourriq ba moen;
Tinga lay - o
Marré bourriq ba moen.
Bourriq parlé,
Bourriq marché,
Bourriq mangé avec un fourchet;
Tinga lay - o

Marré bourriq ba moen;
Tinga lay - o
Marré bourriq ba moen.
Bourriq parlé,
Bourriq marché,
Bourriq mangé avec un fourchet.
Tinga Lay - o

Marré bourriq ba moen.-
(Music diminuendo)

Tinga lay - o
Come, little donkey, come;
Tinga lay - o
Come little donkey come.
Me donkey walk,
me donkey talk,
Me donkey eat with a knife and fork;
Tinga lay - o
(Repeat)

A calypso of the Lesser Antilles, by Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco, free transcription by Maurice Baron, copyright 1943 by M. Baron Co., NY. "Calypso Songs of the West Indies," by Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco, pp. 4-5, full sheet music.

Many re-writes and later copyrights on this old Lionel Belasco calypso in French patois of the Lesser Antilles (Guadaloupe, Martinique and to some extent on non-French-owned islands). See the performance version for children described here: Tinga Layo

See thread 66111: Rum and Coca Cola about the suit Baron, Belasco and Patterson won in court over "Rum and Coca Cola," plagiarized from "L'Année Passée." I don't know about the rights settlement if any on this one.

Note also similarity to part of "The Banana Boat Song" - "Day - o. Daylight come and me want go home," which Harry Belafonte made famous.