Songs about chickens

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: John C. Bunnell
Date: 12 Apr 21 - 04:28 AM

Surely any compilation of chicken songs must include the iconic introductory number for Super Chicken's animated adventures:

SUPER CHICKEN THEME SONG

When you find yourself in danger,
When you're threatened by a stranger,
When it looks like you will take a lickin', (buk-buk-buk-buk)
There is someone waiting who
Will hurry up and rescue you,
Just squaw-awk for Super Chicken! (buk-ack!)

Fred, if you're afraid you'll have to overlook it,
Besides you knew the job was dangerous when you took it! (buk-ack!)

He will drink his super sauce
And throw the bad guys for a loss
And he will bring them in alive and kickin' (buk-buk-buk-buk)
There is one thing you should learn
When there is no one else to turn to
Squaw-awk for Super Chicken! (buk-buk-buk-buk)

Squaw-awk for Super Chicken! (buk-ack!)


I don't have formal credits to hand, but one assumes that Jay Ward probably wrote these lyrics, together with those for George of the Jungle and Tom Slick (Tom and Super Chicken were the backup segments on George's TV series back in the day).

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 05:38 PM

On our weekly Zoom session, a couple started singing a song about chickens, and it sort of...ah...took flight.

One week, I rewrote a verse to Seven Drunken Nights as follows:

I came home on Saturday night,
Drunk as drunk can be,
I saw a chicken with my wife,
A-cackling with glee,

Well, I called to my wife and I said to her,
Now will you tell to me,
Why you've left me for a chicken?
Now, explain yourself to me.

You're drunk, you're drunk, you silly old fool,
So drunk you cannot see,
He's just the lad from Grub Hub
And he's brought me KFC

Well, I have traveled near and far,
A hundred miles or more...
But, after this I think I'm going vegan,
That's for sure!

Chicken? Nah... Duck and Cover!

Jay

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Apr 21 - 04:42 AM

When you stay up late in online Zoom sessions, people get to talking. So, we got talking about things we'd listen to on the radio Way Back When. I was born in Detroit, but I moved to Southeast Wisconsin when I was nine, and I thought it was cool to listen to Chicago radio stations. My favorite radio personality was Dick Biondi on WLS, but I really liked the Chickenman radio series on WCFL (named after the Chicago Federation of Labor). "He's Everywhere! He's Everywhere!"

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (Happy Johnson)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Mar 19 - 07:16 PM

My transcription from the recording at the Internet Archive:


CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Words and music by Jack Hoffman & Bert Pellish.
As recorded by Happy Johnson and his International Jive Five, ©1947.

[SPOKEN:] Although you may beg,
You've laid your last egg,
'Cause tonight you belong to me.

[SUNG:] Here, chicky, chicky, chicky! Here, chicky, chicky, chicky!
Won't you try some corn today?
Nice chicky, chicky, chicky! Nice chicky, chicky!
We're groomin' you for consommé.

Pick the feathers one by one, boy.
Let me know when you are done, boy.
A feathered friend from a chicken coop
Makes delicious chicken noodle soup.

Do you dig me, what I said, boy?
What a fine dish you'll be fed, boy!
A feathered friend from a chicken coop
Makes delicious chicken noodle soup.

Now, you stir the mixture with precision.
Let the fire warm the pot.
Man! You better get ready for your nutrition,
'Cause chicken soup and noodles always hit the spot.

Need I mention what to do, boy?
Have another plate or two, boy
A feathered friend from a chicken coop
Makes delicious chicken noodle soup.

[SPOKEN:] Oh, shucks, man! You let that bird get away!
Now we can't make no chicken noodle soup!

Subject: Lyr Add: DARS A LOCK ON DE CHICKEN COOP DOOR
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Mar 19 - 10:29 AM

Lyrics below are from the sheet music at the Library of Congress. You can hear a 1920 recording by Harry C. Browne and The Harmonizers at The Internet Archive:

[This is presented for historical interest only; I don't recommend singing it, due to its blatant racism. The tune is nice, though.]

DARS A LOCK ON DE CHICKEN COOP DOOR
Words and music by Sam Lucas, ©1885.

1. Dis kintry's gwine to de dogs at last when de farmer sets a watch
And a big bull dog and a big steel trap in de watermillion patch;
An' wus dan all dat's happened yet dat makes us all feel sore,
Whenebber you trabbel around, you'll find dar's a lock on de chicken coop door.

CHORUS: Oh! Aunt Susan! Did you eber hear ob dat before?
Wharebber you trabbel around, you'll find dar's a lock on de chicken coop door.

2. De pullets dey flop dar wings and crow when a darkey passes by.
Dey seem to say dat dey can't be cotched and it ain't no use to try.
Oh! Gabriel blow de mighty horn! We can't stay here no more,
For if we do, we will starve to death; dar's a lock on de chicken coop door.

3. And when we've a wedding party now, oh! what am we a-gwine to do?
Oh! whar am de pullets a-comin' from for to put dat party froo?
Oh! hang up de banjo on de wall; we'll rattle de bones no more.
Dis kintry's gwine to de dogs at last; dar's a lock on de chicken coop door.

[The following verse is sung in the linked recording, but does not appear in the sheet music:]

4. Oh, what is a darky gwine to do when the parson's asked to eat
And there ain't no fowl to feed him with as he sits there in his seat?
The good Lord knows it isn't right to tease a darky so.
It's just enough to break his heart; there's a lock on the chicken coop door.

Subject: Lyr Add: PICKIN' A CHICKEN (Eve Boswell)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Mar 19 - 12:18 AM

PICKIN' A CHICKEN
Words by Paddy Roberts, music by Derek Bernfield & Garfield De Mortimer.
As recorded by Eve Boswell, 1955.

Come to the barbecue and sit by my side.
We couldn't choose a better night if we tried.
Can't you imagine what a thrill it will be,
Pickin' a chicken with me?

[§] It's so romantic; the moon up above
Is extra bright on a night such as this.
Pulling a wishbone with someone you love
Is almost certain to end with a kiss.

So come to the barbecue, my darling, my dear.
I'm so in love with you and when you are near
I get a feeling that forever you'll be
Pickin' a chicken with me.

REPEAT FROM §.

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: GUEST,Nipper Seaturtle
Date: 28 May 17 - 01:29 PM

I can't believe NON of the songs I know bout chickens are here!
Chicken Farm - Dead Kennedys
Don't Count Your Chickens - Honey Cone
How Funky is Your Chicken? - Jackson 5
Chicken - The Cramps
Chicken Little Was Right - The Turtles
Rooster - Alice in Chains
Drunken Blue Rooster - Todd Rundgren
Chicken Sqwuak - M.D.C.
Chicken - Toad The Wet Sprocket
Little Red Rooster - Cherry Vanilla

Subject: Lyr Add: ROOSTER (The Ravens)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Apr 17 - 06:16 PM

ROOSTER
As recorded by The Ravens, 1947.

I got a great big rooster [that] runs in my back yard. (2x)
I bought that rooster when the times was hard.

Says, during the depression when you couldn't get eggs,
He kept me safer(?); didn't have to beg.

I got a great big rooster that runs in my back yard. (2x)
I bought that rooster when the times was hard.

He's a big red rooster; he's mixed with stripéd green. (2x)
He's a pretty old thing, but he's oh, so doggone mean.

I bought that rooster when the times was hard. (2x)
In fact, I stole him out o' Clem Williams' yard.

[This recording includes lots of patter that I have omitted.]

Subject: Lyr Add: RED ROOSTER BLUES (Sonny Scott)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Apr 17 - 05:48 PM

RED ROOSTER BLUES
As recorded by Sonny Scott, 1933.

I got a rooster in my back yard, been crowin' all day long. (2x)
I believe to my soul in my chicken wants some corn.

I went out last night tryin' to get myself two hens.
Lord, I went out last night; I [de]cide to get myself two hens.
Lord, to put with my rooster, 'cause I wants to hear him crow again.

Lord, he crowed this mornin', crowed 'fore the break o' day. (2x)
And it puts me on the wonder when my rooster crows that way.

I went out in my henhouse; I did not make a sound.
Lord, I went out in my henhouse; did not make a sound.
By that time my rooster is crowin' an' there weren't no hens around.

If my rooster don't stop crowin', baby, I don't what I'd do.
If my rooster don't stop crowin', don't what I'd do.
Because he wants one hen, baby; b'lieve I wants one too.

Subject: Lyr Add: IF YOU SEE MY ROOSTER (Memphis Minnie)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Apr 17 - 04:48 PM

IF YOU SEE MY ROOSTER
As recorded by Memphis Minnie, 1936.

If you see my rooster, please run him on back home. (2x)
I have found no eggs in my basket since my rooster been gone.

I heard my rooster crowin' this mornin' just about the break o' day. (2x)
I guess that was the time he was makin' his getaway.

I just found out how come my hens won't lay. (2x)
Ev'ry time I look around, my rooster have done gone away.

I've got too many hens for not to have no roosters on my yard. (2x)
And I don't know what's the matter; something have done got him barred(?).

Now, Bob, if you see my rooster, please run him on back home. (2x)
I have found no eggs in my basket since my rooster been gone.

[I just realized this seems to be a source for Willie Dixon's LITTLE RED ROOSTER, recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961.]

Subject: Lyr Add: FIGHTIN' LITTLE ROOSTER (Big Bill Broonzy
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Apr 17 - 12:35 PM

FIGHTIN' LITTLE ROOSTER
As recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, 1939.

Folks had a church on a chicken ranch.
The rooster spurred the dog on the mourner's bench.

CHORUS: He was a spurrin' little rooster, don't you know.
Oh, what a spurrin' little rooster, don't you know.
Yes, he was a spurrin' little rooster from that black hen's nest.

Rooster was scratchin corn in a tub.
Bull come out an' tried to take his grub.
Flopped his wings, made a pass,
Spurred that ol' bull in his yas, yas, yas. CHORUS

Barnum an' Bailey had come to town.
My brother taken the rooster to the circus groun'.
The rooster told the monkey: "Doggone your soul!"
Made that monkey climb a eight-foot pole,

CHORUS: He was a fightin' little rooster, don't you know.
Oh, what a fightin' little rooster, don't you know.
Yes, he was a fightin' little rooster from that black hen's nest.

He flopped his wings, started to crow,
Said: "I can whup any animal on this show."
The tiger come out from under the tent.
He spurred that tiger and away he went.

CHORUS: He was a spurrin' little rooster, don't you know.
Oh, what a fightin' little rooster, don't you know.
Yes, he was a fightin' little rooster from that black hen's nest.

Subject: Lyr Add: SINCE WE PUT A RADIO OUT IN THE HENHOUSE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Apr 17 - 06:44 PM

SINCE WE PUT A RADIO OUT IN THE HENHOUSE
Words and music by Chester Finley and Russ Hull, 1940.
As recorded by the Hoosier Hot Shots, 1941.

Since we put a radio out in the henhouse,
There's more cock-a-doodle in the rooster's crow.
Hens all sing like blue canaries,
Fill their nest with cackle-berries,
And they're twice as big as farmer brown's, I know. (I know.)
How the handles off the market basket saw hay(?) and groan,
And the crank has fallen off the telephone,
When the eggs begin to hatchin',
Ev'ry chicken comes out scratchin'
Since our henhouse has got a radio
(Since our henhouse has got a radio).

Now that radio we put out in the henhouse
Was the smartest thing we ever did, by Joe!
When they hear "cock-a-doodle"
Why, the hens all skiddoodle,
Cluckin' "When ya gotta go, ya gotta go!"
We was worried as could be; we had a mortgage due,
And we thought our farmin' days were nearly through (nearly through).
Now are troubles are over,
And we're ridin' in clover
Since the henhouse has got a radio
(Since our henhouse has got a radio).

[Also recorded by the Cass County Boys.]

Subject: Lyr Add: IT TAKES THE OLD HEN TO DELIVER THE GOODS
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Apr 17 - 02:10 PM

IT TAKES THE OLD HEN TO DELIVER THE GOODS
As recorded by Cliff Carlisle, 1936.

My shanghai rooster he's a wonderful chick.
There's never a rooster than he cannot lick.
He struts and he cackles way down in the woods,
But it takes the old hen to deliver the goods.

The old shanghai crows; he does it for fun.
He puts the old dominecker hen on the run.
They go for a walk way down in the woods,
And there the old hen delivers the goods.

The old dominecker delivers the goods
For the old shanghai way down in the woods.
The shanghai can crow while down in the woods,
But it takes the old hen to deliver the goods.

The old rooster crows way down in the woods,
And wishes that he could deliver the goods.
He stands back and watches way down in the woods
While the old dominecker delivers the goods.

[The tune resembles "The Man on the Flying Trapeze."]

Subject: Lyr Add: THERE'S A TRICK IN PICKIN' A ... CHICKEN
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 08:07 AM

THERE'S A TRICK IN PICKIN' A CHICK, CHICK, CHICKEN
Words by Charles Tobias & Coleman Goetz; music by J. Russel Robinson.
As recorded by Wendell Hall, 1927.

INTRO: What's this old world a-comin' to?
Where's this old world a-goin' to?
With this bustlin' hustlin' up today's ways,
Each invention brings a change—
Somethin' new an' somethin' strange;
But what puzzles me are the gals of nowadays.

1. Oh, the way they're a-dressin' an' the things they a-do
Keeps me a-guessin', I'm a- tellin' you.
There's a trick in pickin' a chick-chick-chicken today.
Grey-haired granny an' sister Sue—
I can't tell 'em apart; can you?
There's a trick in pickin' a chick-chick-chicken today.
You must be wise; you must be gifted
To recognize a face that's lifted.
Oh, the way they're a-dressin' an' the things they a-do
Keeps me a-guessin', I'm a-tellin' you.
There's a trick in pickin' a chick-chick-chicken today.

2. Oh, the way they're a-dressin' an' the things they a-do
Keeps me a-guessin', I'm a-tellin' you.
There's a trick pickin' chicken, a chick-chick-chicken today.
My great-grandmother, eighty-three,
Wears a skirt up above the knee.
There's a trick pickin' chicken, a chick-chick-chicken today.
A baby's style would sure delight you.
She'll say: "If I had teeth, I'd bite you."
She bobs her hair an' she shows her ears.
She's been foolin' 'em sixty years.
There's a trick pickin' chicken, a chick-chick-chicken today.

3. Oh, the way they're a-dressin' an' the things they a-do
Keeps me a-guessin', I'm a-tellin' you.
There's a trick pickin' chicken, a chick-chick-chicken today.
Ev'ry moan on a saxophone
Empties out some old ladies' home.
There's a trick in pickin' a chick-chick-chicken today.
A man gets in an awful muddle.
He don't know who he's tryin' to cuddle.
Get a queen outside in the dark alone
Then find out she's a chaperone.
There's a trick in pickin' a chick-chick-chicken today.

[chicken sounds]
There's a trick in pickin' a chick-chick-chicken today.

[There were other early recordings by Benny Meroff & His Orchestra; Irving Kaufman; Nat Shilkret & Victor Orchestra with vocalist Johnny Marvin; Al Handler's Alamo Cafe Orchestra; The Golden Gate Orchestra with vocalist Jack Kaufman; Six Hayseeds; Six Jumping Jacks; California Humming Birds.]

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: eftifino
Date: 13 Apr 17 - 03:26 AM

Neil Diamond Hot August night :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiaY8ONMc4g

Subject: Lyr Add: I LIKE MY CHICKEN FRYIN' SIZE (M Travis)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Apr 17 - 08:25 AM

I LIKE MY CHICKEN FRYIN' SIZE
Written by Merle Travis

[A] As recorded by Johnny Bond, 1947:

1. I like my chicken fryin' size hangin' aroun' my pen:
Young an' tender an' not so wise, like some ol' stewin' hen,
'Cause she's done seen a lot
Of ever' rooster in the flock,
So I like my chickens fryin' size when I get my skillet hot.

2. Well, I like my chickens fryin' size, an' I betcha that you'll agree
That a purty little pullet flyin' by sure looks heavenly.
From the day that I was born
Till Gabri'l blows his horn,
If I don't like my chickens fryin' size, then roastin' ears ain't corn.

3. Well, I like my chickens fryin' size just when they're good an' grown.
I know it would be oh-so nice to have a chicken all my own,
So I'll resist as long as I can,
Not to steal from another man,
But I must have chickens fryin' size when I put 'em in the fryin' pan.

4. REPEAT VERSE 1.

[B] Additional verse recorded by Merle Travis, 1947:

Well, I like my chicken fryin' size; chicken just can't be beat.
Nothin' in the world can satisfy like that good ol' chicken meat.
Now the south has brought the fame
[To] that fryin' chicken's name,
But any little chicken fryin' size is purty well near the same.

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: eftifino
Date: 12 Apr 17 - 04:22 AM

may have been mentioned already, but: The Moron Brothers'The Rooster Song'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvb5NSQ8s7Q

Subject: Lyr Add: I GET THE NECK OF THE CHICKEN
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Apr 17 - 01:44 PM

I GET THE NECK OF THE CHICKEN
Words by Frank Loesser; music by Jimmy McHugh, 1942.
Sung by Marcy McGuire in the film "Seven Days' Leave" (1942).

I suspect Loesser did not actually write all the following lyrics. Several bands have recorded this as a jazz piece with lots of instrumental improvisation and scat singing.

[A] As recorded by Cab Calloway in July, 1942.

I get the neck of the chicken; I get the rumble-seat ride.
I get the leaky umbrella; ev'ryone shoves me aside.
When I jump in my shower each morn,
Sure as fate, I'm too late; all the hot water is gone.
I get the neck of the chicken; I got the hand-me-down shawl,
And when there's company weekend, I get the couch in the hall.
That's why I can't get over this dream comes true:
If it get the neck of the chicken, tell me baby, how did I ever get you?

[B] As sung by Phil Harris in an archived radio program: "The Jack Benny Program: Jack and Phil Go Target Shooting," from Nov. 1, 1942, which you can hear at The Internet Archive. The song begins at 7:46.

I get the neck of that chicken; I get the burnt piece o' toast.
I get the seat in the movies, smack-o in back of a post.
When I jump in my shower each morn,
Sure as fate, I'm too late, and that hot water is gone.
I get the neck of the chicken; I get the plate with the cracks.
I get those ev'nings with Grandma; ev'ryone else can relax.
That's why I can't get over this dream that came true:
If I get the neck of the chicken, well, how did I ever get you?

Yes, I get the neck of that chicken; seems like I'm under a curse.
I get the neck of the chicken; sometimes I get the reverse.
That's why I can't get over this dream that came true:
If I get the neck of that yard-bird, then how did I ever get you?

[C] From Bob Dorough on "Right on My Way Home" (1997):

I get the wing and the tailbone; I get a hair in my plate.
Even these iv'ries [plays a piano glissando] are whalebone; ev'ryone treats me great.
{I wake up early one mornin', rush down to the P.O. to mail a very important package.
I get to the P.O. and the P.O. is closed. It's a holiday. What holiday?}*
I get the liver and the gizzard; I get the fat and the rind.
When I get caught in a blizzard, I've left my rubbers behind.
That's why I can't get over this dream come true:
Now, if it get the neck of the chicken, how did I ever get you?

*These 2 lines are sung or recited very free-form, not matching the rhythm of the tune.

[D] From Paul Cohen & Friends on "I Want You Back" (2011):

I get the neck of the chicken; that's how they give me the bird;
And in the family snapshot, mine is the face that's all blurred.
When the morning paper comes to the door,
Sure as fate, I'm too late, and I don't get it till four.
I get the neck of the chicken; I get the plate with the cracks.
I get those evenin's with Grandma; ev'ryone else can relax.
That's why I can't get over this fine howdy-do:
If I get the neck of the chicken, how did I ever get you?

[E] From Jeff Sanford's Cartoon Jazz Band on "Cartoon Logic" (2013):

I get the neck of the chicken; I get the rumble-seat ride.
I get the leaky umbrella; ev'ryone shoves me aside.
When I jump in my shower each morn,
Sure as fate, I'm too late; all the hot water is gone.
I get the neck of the chicken; I get the hand-me-down tie.
I get the cold mashed potatoes; I get the small piece of pie.
That's why I can't get over this dream that's come true:
If I get the neck of the chicken, well, how did I ever get you?

Yeah, I get the neck of the chicken; I get the worst jobs at work,
And when I go to the cleaners, I get that clerk that's a jerk.
Vacation time down in old Monterrey,
Scalawags stole my bags, and it rained ev'ry day.
I get the neck of the chicken; I get the hand-me-down shawl,
And when there's company weekends, I get the couch in the hall.
That's why I can't get over this bolt from the blue:
If I get the neck of the chicken, baby, how did I ever get you?

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: GUEST,john
Date: 11 Apr 17 - 09:57 AM

blues song I heard on the radio, but cant find online, can you help?

lyrics were the following:

"couple with a chicken in a gunny sack,
walk a mile to the market down an old dirt track,
couple with a chicken in a gunny sack,
the three went out, but only two came back."

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN BLUES (York Brothers)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Apr 17 - 11:20 PM

This is a rockabilly song:


CHICKEN BLUES
As recorded by The York Brothers, 1951.

If you don't like chicken, leave that hen alone.
Well, if you don't like chicken, leave that hen alone.
She'll give you so much chicken, you can't do a thing but moan.
She'll give you chicken with your coffee, chicken with your wine,
Chicken, chicken, chicken till you lose your mind.
If you don't like chicken, leave that hen alone.
She'll give you so much chicken, you can't do a thing but moan.

You're a big red rooster, but that don't mean a thing.
Well, you're a big red rooster, but that don't mean a thing.
If you mess around with her, she surely will clip your wing.
She'll give you chicken in the mornin', chicken after noon,
Chicken, chicken, chicken 'neath the harvest moon.
Well, if you don't like chicken, leave that hen alone.
She'll give you so much chicken, you can't do a thing but moan.

She'll give chicken in the mornin', chicken after noon,
Chicken, chicken, chicken 'neath the harvest moon.
Well, if you don't like chicken, leave that hen alone.
She'll give you so much chicken, you can't do a thing but moan.

Subject: Lyr Add: A CHICKEN CAN WALTZ THE GRAVY AROUND
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Apr 17 - 09:53 AM

A CHICKEN CAN WALTZ THE GRAVY AROUND
As recorded by Stovepipe* on Okeh 8543, 1927.

My wife she called me to breakfast; I walked right to the gate.
She set me down to table to chicken on my plate.
I grabbed my knapsack on my shoulder, said: "Honey, you be too late."
In fifteen minutes by any man's watch, there's a chicken on my plate.

CHORUS: Oh, chicken, oh, chicken, you can fry 'em nice and brown.
Oh, chicken, oh, chicken, you can waltz the gravy around.
Oh, chicken, oh, chicken, I don't mean no fault** to that.
For chicken grow in this town, and their wings can't get too fat.

Oh, when I come to a neighborhood, chickens know just what I mean.
Chickens skippin' and dodgin'; no chickens can't be seen.
The hen she said to the rooster: "Lord, there ain't no use to hide.
Got a shotgun and it hurts to run and our wings can't roost too high."


* Not much is known about this performer. He is not the same person as Daddy Stovepipe. On this recording, when he is not singing, he seems to be blowing into a jug, or something similar, and playing guitar at the same time. The song sounds like a reworking of "Chicken You Can Roost Behind the Moon" recorded by The Beale Street Sheiks.

By the way, I Googled "by any man's watch," thinking it sounded like a folk saying, and the only instance I found, besides this song, is in a Fenimore Cooper novel. Maybe Stovepipe was a literate man!

For more information about Stovepipe, see Going to Cincinnati: A History of the Blues in the Queen City by Steven C. Tracy. My transcription is based on one in that book, but I made some corrections based on my own hearing.

**In the second chorus, he sings "I find no fault."

Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE IS THE CHICKEN IN THE CHICKEN CHOW…
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Apr 17 - 12:27 AM

WHERE IS THE CHICKEN IN THE CHICKEN CHOW MEIN?
As recorded by Al Trace and His Musicians, 1944.

I walked into a restaurant
And told the waiter what I want,
And what I wanted was a dish of chicken chow mein.
The waiter brought it on a tray.
I started eatin' right away,
And right away I started to complain:

Hey! Where is the chicken in the chicken chow mein,
Chick-chicken chow mein, chick-chicken chow mein?
Can't find the chicken in the chicken chow mein.
Chick-chicken, where can you be?

There's oodles of noodles and there's plenty of rice,
Yes plenty of rice, whoa, plenty of rice.
The onions and celery are tasty and nice,
But chicken, where can you be?

I've looked high; I've looked low.
Can't be found, no, no, no.
I've looked here; I've looked there,
But the dog-gone chicken isn't anywhere!

Where is the chicken in the chicken chow mein,
Chick-chicken chow mein, chick-chicken chow mein?
Where is the chicken? I am goin' insane.
Chick-chicken where can you be?

Where is the chicken in the chicken chow mein,
Chick-chicken chow mein, chick-chicken chow mein?
I keep on lookin' all in vain.
Waiter, can't you hear me kickin'?
Don't you serve a little chicken
When a fellow orders chicken chow mein?

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN ROOST BLUES (Cliff Carlisle)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Apr 17 - 03:53 PM

CHICKEN ROOST BLUES
As recorded by Cliff Carlisle, 1934.

Late last night I went down to get me a chicken or two.
When I heard the old shotgun, I sure did skiddoo.
Grabbed my sack and I made for the door but I didn't get away in time.
As I went around the corner of the barn, boy, I sure got mine.
[Yodel] The chicken roost blues.

The guy that shot at me last night must 'a' been a hard-boiled old squirt,
For when the buckshot hit the seat o' my pants, boy, they sure did hurt!
When I got home, I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep at all.
For ev'ry time I would close my eyes, I could hear that rooster squall.
[Yodel] The rooster squall.

I got up; I was sittin' by the fire, and I heard someone outside.
They come in the gate and up on the porch; I like to jumped out o' my hide.
The sheriff come up and he knocked on the door 'long about half-past two.
I said: "Mister Sheriff, what do you want?" He says: "I've come for you.
[Yodel] I've come for you."

Grabbed my pants; I jumped out the window, and I started off to run.
'Bout that time, he grabbed me by the collar, said: "I've got you, son of a gun."
Here in the jail for ninety days and it's home sweet home to me.
I'll get me another sack o' chickens the day that I get free.
[Yodel] The jailhouse blues.

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN GUMBOOGIE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Apr 17 - 01:18 PM

Parts of this song sound like the familiar "Chicken Reel" reworked to have a boogie-woogie beat.


CHICKEN GUMBOOGIE
Written by Leonard Whitney
As recorded by Will Bradley & His Orchestra (with Ray McKinley, vocalist), 1941.

The farmers have a dance that they all like to do.
It really is a killer though it never was new.
They got it in a barnyard away before the Greeks
From the chickens that were grubbin' and a-peckin' with their beaks.

Peck corn! You better loosen up your collar.
Latch on with your tail feathers out.
Dig it till it makes you want to holler.
The chicken gumboogie man'll get you if you don't spread out.

It's a funny little lick with a boogie-woogie base [or "bass"?].
Any hep chick can put fever in your place.
You can strut like a rooster, scratch with your feet,
But whatever you do, don't you lose the beat.

Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T BET YOUR MONEY ON DE SHANGHAI
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 08:44 PM

LadyJean mentioned this back on 12-Aug-2014. I found the sheet music at Johns Hopkins University:


DON'T BET YOUR MONEY ON DE SHANGHAI
Words and music by Stephen C. Foster, 1861.

1. De Shanghai chicken, when you put him in de pit,
He'll eat a loaf of bread up, but he can't fight a bit.
De Shanghai fiddle is a funny little thing,
And ebry time you tune him up he goes "ching-ching."

CHORUS: Oh! de Shanghai! Don't bet your money on de Shanghai.
Take de little chicken in de middle ob the ring,
But don't bet your money on de Shanghai.

2. I go to de fair for to see de funny fowls:
De double-headed pigeon and de one-eyed owls,
De old lame goose wid no web between his toes—
He kills himself a-laughing when de Shanghai crows.

3. De Shanghai's tall but his appetite is small.
He'll only swallow ebrything that he can overhaul:
Four bags of wheat just as certain as you're born,
A bushel of potatoes and a tub full of corn.

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN SONG (I AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT...)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 05:14 PM

A guest quoted from this back on 30-Oct-2009. I found it on YouTube and transcribed it.


THE CHICKEN SONG (I AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT SETTIN' DOWN)
Words & music by Terry Shand & Bob Merrill, ©1951.
As recorded by Red Foley and Ernest Tubb

[1] Cock-a-doodle-do! Bless our old hen.
She lays eggs the best she can:
Sometimes nine and sometimes ten.
Cock-a-doodle-do! Bless our old hen.

[2] Our old red hen was upon her nest.
She tried to sleep but couldn't rest.
The rooster came home baggy-eyed,
And our old hen stood up and cried:

[CHORUS] "I ain't gonna take it settin' down.
I ain't gonna take it settin' down.
While I'm here hatchin' white an' brown,
You're out scratchin' 'round the town,
And I ain't gonna take it settin' down."

[3] She said: "Don't say you've been alone.
Them ain't my feathers in your comb.
If you don't have an alibi,
You're gonna see some feathers fly.

[4] "I've heard it said while on the loose,
You made the spots with Clara Goose.
From all reports of how it looked,
You tell that goose her goose is cooked." [CHORUS]

[5] She said: "If I weren't such a stupe,
I'd have a mink-lined chicken coop.
Why, ev'rything I own's in hock.
I should 'a' went with Plymouth Rock.

[6] "You know one night while you were out,
I met a move talent scout.
He loved my walk; he loved my cluck.
He's starrin' me with Donald Duck." [CHORUS]

[7] You roosters out there don't you laugh.
You just can't fool your better half.
You mark my words; you'll see the day
When your old hen will up and say:

[CHORUS] "I ain't gonna take it settin' down.
I ain't gonna take it settin' down.
You needn't hang around an' plead.
Stop handin' me that chicken feed.
I ain't gonna take it settin' down."

[TAG] Cock-a-doodle-do! Bless our old hen.

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 01:22 AM

Charley Nobel, back on 30-Oct-2005, mentioned a poem about a chicken swept off the deck of a ship. This probably isn't the same poem, but it's the closest I could find.

From The Wanderers by Sea and Land, with Other Tales by Peter Parley (pseud.) (London: James Blackwood, 1850), page 21:


THE BALLAD OF BIDDY AT SEA.

Come, all ye boys and girls
And hear a woful strain,
Of one who went to sea
And never came back again.

Alas! if ye have tears,
Prepare to shed them free;
For poor old Biddy's fate
Was sad as sad can be.

An honest hen she was
As any in the yard,
Yet she was torn away,
Albeit she cackled hard.

They did not heed her cries
For pity and for quarter.
They put her in a coop
And bore her o'er the water.

For many days and nights
Poor Bid in prison sighed;
But she got out one day
And o'er the deck she hied.

But, ah! the cruel Cook
Came forth and sought to catch her:
And Biddy knew, forsooth,
That he would fain dispatch her.

She ran, she cackled shrill,
And then, hard pressed, she flew—
Over the side she went
And fell in the ocean blue!

Cold, cold was the briny flood,
But Biddy's heart was brave—
She did the best she could,
And paddled along the wave.

She rose and fell with the tide.
And wistfully looked about—
Alas! no hand was near,
To help poor Biddy out!

Ah! faint and fainter she grew,
For she struggled now with, pain—
And then her head it sank,
Never to rise again!

She sank in the briny deep,
With one faint dying tone:
The ship passed proudly on
And left her there alone!

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: GUEST,Bobby Lee Cude
Date: 28 Mar 17 - 10:03 PM

Chicken Songs ...is it! O.K. , you want to hear a cleaver, funny and entertaining CHICKEN SONG ? Then go to CD BABY and punch in I LIKE CHICKEN ! Yep! Tis REAL LIVE CHICKENS , singing, well for the high-lights of the NEW song which, I am proud to be the co-writer, publisher & producer of the recording.

Subject: Lyr Add: ALL BIRDS LOOK LIKE CHICKENS TO ME
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Mar 17 - 11:03 PM

From YouTube:


ALL BIRDS LOOK LIKE CHICKENS TO ME
Words and music by Irving Jones, ©1899.
As recorded by Will F. Denny on an Edison cylinder, ca. 1902.

[1] Sam Green's an educated fowlist, well versed in chickenhood.
When he can eat a chicken meal, his appetite is good.
He eats fried chicken ev'ry meal, has chicken salad for lunch.
He never buys a solitary hen, for he gets them by the bunch.
And when he sees a mockingbird, that coon will loud exclaim:
"That bird is a talkin' hen, although she's changed her name."
He also says a canary bird is a chicken that's learned to sing,
And if you contradict him, this argument he'll spring:

[CHORUS] "All birds look like chickens to me.
Crows look like black hens, you see.
Some birds are raised up for a prize,
But a knife and fork make 'em all one size.
People say quails ain't chickens, you see,
But they look like Lilliputian hens to me.
They are eagles and owls and other fowls,
But they look like chickens to me."

[2] Sam Green went over to a bird show; all nations of birds he's seen,
And when he spied a parrot, he said: "That hen's painted green!"
And when he saw a wild duck, that coon's heart loud did beat.
He said: "That hen has got bow legs and a pair of ragtime feet!"
But when he saw a peacock, that coon could hardly talk.
He says: "That is a coon-hen that's learned how to cakewalk."
He also said that an ostrich was a chicken that's overgrown,
And as he started homeward, these words he loud did moan: [CHORUS]


[Another recording, also on YouTube was made by Sweet Papa Stovepipe (real name: McKinley Peebles) in 1926. The chorus is clearly derived from the above, but the verses are quite different. Parts are barely decipherable.]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CHICKEN AND THE HAWK (from Joe Turner
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Mar 17 - 11:34 PM

THE CHICKEN AND THE HAWK (UP, UP, AND AWAY)
Written by Leiber & Stoller.
As recorded by Joe Turner and His Blues Kings, 1955.

1. Well, a curly-head chicken fell in love with a chicken hawk, (2x)
Fell head over heels for that hawk's sweet talk.

2. [She] said: "Take me up, Hawky; take me up in the sky. (2x)
[I'm] just a little bitty chicken and I don't now how to fly."

CHORUS: [He said] up, up, and away.
We gon' fly all day.
Up, up, and away.
We gon' fly all day.
Up, up, up, up, and away.

3. He met a bald-headed eagle flyin' up there in the blue. (2x)
Well, the eagle told the hawk: "I'm gonna steal that chicken from you."

4. Well, the hawk started flyin' like a P-8 single jet. (2x)
He said: "Cool down, chicken; the eagle ain't got us yet." CHORUS

5. "Well, you asked him for the sun; did you ask him for the moon?" (2x)
Said: "Cool down, baby; we're gonna be there soon." CHORUS

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: GUEST,Folked69
Date: 22 Mar 17 - 11:32 AM

If you like a bit of acid folk...

Sunforest - Old Cluck (up on Youtube)

Subject: Lyr Add: GOT TROUBLE IN THE HENHOUSE (T Hambridge)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Mar 17 - 08:13 PM

GOT TROUBLE IN THE HENHOUSE*
Written by Tom Hambridge
As recorded by Tom Hambridge and the Rattlesnakes on "Tom Hambridge and the Rattlesnakes – Live" (2007)

I got trouble down at my henhouse; the rooster left town.
The chicks are goin' crazy; they won't settle down.
They chased me 'round the barnyard so I put 'em in the coop,
But next thing I know, they want the cock-a-doodle-doo.

I got trouble in the henhouse,
Trouble at the henhouse,
Trouble, trouble, trouble, I got chicks all over me.

Trouble in the henhouse; I don't know what to do.
Nothin' but cluckin' since my rooster flew.
Trouble in the barnyard, it's got me so uptight.
The chicks they drive me crazy; they need layin' ev'ry night.

I got trouble in the henhouse,
Trouble in the henhouse.
Trouble, trouble, trouble, I got chicks all over me.

They won't let me be, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Chicks all around me layin' ev'ry night.
Ev'ry time I turn around, I'm breakin' up a fight.
I'm damned if I don't; I'm damned if I do.
Mornin' noon an' night they want the cock-a-doodle-do.


* it appears on the album as "Trouble in the Henhouse" but it's listed at ASCAP as "Got Trouble in the Henhouse." I decided to list it here as "Got..." to help distinguish it from another song called "Trouble in the Henhouse" written by Billy Briggs & Kathering Briggs.

Subject: Lyr Add: DIXIE CHICKEN (from Little Feat)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Mar 17 - 07:16 PM

OK, it has "chicken" in the title but it's not really about a chicken. Suggested by ranger1 back on 30-Oct-2005. He said he hated it, but I don't.


DIXIE CHICKEN
Written by Lowell George and Martin Kibbee (a.k.a. Fred Martin)
As recorded by Little Feat on "Dixie Chicken" (1973)

I seen the bright lights of Memphis and the Commodore Hotel,
And underneath a street lamp, I met a southern belle.
She took me to the river where she cast her spell,
And in that southern moonlight she sang a song so well:

If you'll be my Dixie chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb,
And we can walk together down in Dixie land,
Down in Dixie land.

Well we made all the hot spots; my money flowed like wine,
And that low-down southern whiskey began to fog my mind,
And I don't remember church bells or the money I put down
On the white picket fence and boardwalk, of the house on the edge of town;
But, boy, do I remember the strain of her refrain,
And the nights we spent together and the way she called my name:

If you'll be my Dixie chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb,
And we can walk together down in Dixie land,
Down in Dixie land.

It's been a year since she ran away.
I guess that guitar player sure could play.
She always liked to sing along.
He was always handy with a song.

Then one night in the lobby of the Commodore Hotel,
I chanced to meet a bartender who said he knew her well,
And as he handed me a drink, he began to hum a song,
And all the boys down at the bar began to sing along:

If you'll be my Dixie chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb,
And we can walk together down in Dixie land,
Down in Dixie land.

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Joe_F
Date: 01 Feb 17 - 01:43 PM

Mrs Morales has chickens in her yard.
If you want to get one, it is not very hard.
Smile for the senora, you'll get a chicken free --
If Danny feels like smiling nicely, maybe two or three.

-- Ay, Paisano

Subject: Lyr Add: PICKIN' ON THE CHICKEN (Ray Stevens)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Jan 17 - 07:37 PM

PICKIN' ON THE CHICKEN
As recorded by Ray Stevens on "Here We Go Again" (2015).

You know, if a chicken could talk, he might say somethin' like this:

Why's ev'rybody pickin' on the chicken?
What did a chicken ever do to you?
Why's ev'rybody pickin' on the chicken?
What a crock o' cock-a-doodle-doo!

Now I'm not the kind o' bird to squawk,
But seems like these days folks can't talk
Without somehow slanderin' the chicken's name.
But bigotry and discrimination
Dominate the syntax o' this whole nation.
It's enough to drive a dumb dominicker insane.

Folks say "flew the coop" when the thief's departed,
And if he's lackin' courage, he's chicken-hearted,
And if he messes up, he's got egg on his face.
You work for chicken feed, or had to scheme.
Somethin's stuck in his craw—see what I mean?
The many references to chickens are commonplace.

Bird brain, dumb cluck,
No spring chicken, strut your stuff,
Nest egg, bad egg,
Shake your tail feather, cocky an' such,
Laid an egg, in a stew,
I don't know what a chicken can do.
You know, bein' a chicken in this environment is nothin' to crow about.

I mean, a chicken's life is not all it's cracked up to be.
No, and stop questioning my motives about crossin' the road!
I don't know why I did it. Hey, I'm a chicken!
Yeah! Maybe I did it to show the possum it could be done!
Or sing a duet with Willie Nelson.
What diff'rence does it make?
I crossed the road, okay?
Get over it!

And it's time to stop pickin' on the chicken.
I mean, what did a chicken ever do to you?
It's time to stop pickin' on the chicken.
What a crock of cock-a-doodle-doo!

Don't count your chickens 'fore they hatch.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Dont put up a squawk, or all your chickens might come home to roost.
People get up with the chickens, go to bed with the chickens,
And are concerned about the pecking order.
He's the cock o' the walk; he rules the roost,
Broods over problems like empty nest syndrome.
You know what makes me madder than a wet hen?
What does ev'ry strange thing from frog legs to rattlesnake taste like?
That's right—chicken!

Now some sort o' reference that doesn't include a chicken is rare as hen's teeth.
Now you got me doin' it!
I'll be so upset, before long, I'll be runnin' around like a chi—
A chicken with his head cut off, okay?
Somebody stop me!
What came first: the chicken, or the egg?
Oh, I feel like I'm walkin' on eggs.
I feel henpecked.
Why did the punk rocker cross the road?
He was stapled to the chicken!
You know it ain't over till the fat chicken sings!
And that's me!
Is this any good or did I just lay an egg?

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN SHACK BOOGIE (Amos Milburn)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Jan 17 - 06:43 PM

CHICKEN SHACK BOOGIE
As recorded by Amos Milburn, 1947.

Hello, cat; I just got back,
And I'm lookin' for that place they call the Chicken Shack.
They say it's fine as wine and it's really on the ball.
No windows, no doors, it's just a hole in the wall.

Did you say it was located down by the creek,
Where you can get a whole gob(?) of good things to eat?—
All good parts of the chicken; what's more, it's a cinch
You can even get the last part that went over the fence.

Yes, they say it's the place where all the bad cats meet.
You better be mighty careful where you take a seat.

Oh, there's a place where the light's comin' through the wall.
You better be mighty careful; let's have a ball.
Come on, all you fellas, and take a drink from my pack,
'Cause the party's ready to start down at the Chicken Shack.

[Other early recordings were made by The Five Scamps and The Lionel Hampton Sextet.]

Subject: Lyr Add: STAY AWAY FROM MY CHICKEN HOUSE (G Autry)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 09:04 PM

STAY AWAY FROM MY CHICKEN HOUSE
Words and music by Frankie Marvin
As recorded by Gene Autry, 1929.

1. I don't mind tellin' this whole wide world someone's doin' me wrong.
I ain't been able to catch 'em yet, but they gonna get catched 'fore long.
Now whoever this someone may be,
Take a little tip from me:

CHORUS: Stay away from my chicken house, boy, if you figger your life's worthwhile.
Stay away from my chicken house, boy, or I'll cut you down Mexican style.
I've got a long keen razor, a bulldog too.
You'll never look like nothin' when I get through with you.
Now you're not invisible or still as a mouse,
So stay away from my chicken house. Now I mean it!
Stay away from my chicken house.

2. You stole my horse. [horse sounds] You stole my cow. [cow sounds] You took hay from my barn.
You killed my hog for meat last fall; you even stole my corn.
Now for all this, boys, I won't complain,
But I'm stickin' with them chickens through sunshine an' rain. CHORUS

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Gda Music
Date: 25 Nov 16 - 05:17 PM

Trinidad "old school" - 1961

*Missing Frozen Chicken*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Wa7KnOLBA

One of Lord Melody`s more intriguing titles.
From MONOGRAM 854 LP - "Calypsos for Adam and Eve.

GJ

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: GUEST,Rick Wyman
Date: 24 Nov 16 - 09:31 PM

My wife's second great uncle, Ezra Harrison was a singer and performed around St. Joseph Missouri. He was a member of The Natural Quartet and they performed on the radio. Ezra wrote and published a song called "Dat Chicken B'longs To Me" sometime between 1905 and 1915. We would sure like to find that sheet music.

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Oct 14 - 09:19 AM

Index to all chicken songs that have been posted at Mudcat (that I can find):

A CHICKEN CAN WALTZ THE GRAVY AROUND, Stovepipe, 1927, YouTube
AIN'T NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS, Louis Jordan, 1947, YouTube
ALL BIRDS LOOK LIKE CHICKENS TO ME, Will F. Denny, ca. 1902, YouTube
AUNTIE SKINNER'S CHICKEN DINNER, Arthur Collins & Byron Harlan, 1915, YouTube
BAKE THAT CHICKEN PIE, Uncle Dave Macon, YouTube
BANTY ROOSTER BLUES, Charley Patton, YouTube
CHICK, CHICK, CHICK, CHICK, CHICKEN (LAY A LITTLE EGG FOR ME), Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies, YouTube
CHICKEN A-LA-BLUES, Cousin Joe, YouTube
CHICKEN BLUES, York Brothers, 1951, YouTube
CHICKEN DANCE, Paul Parnes
CHICKEN DON'T ROOST TOO HIGH, Grandpa Jones, 1950, YouTube
CHICKEN GUMBOOGIE, Will Bradley & His Orchestra, 1941, YouTube
CHICKEN IN BLACK, Johnny Cash, YouTube
CHICKEN IN THE FRIDGE, Jeff Deitchman
CHICKEN LIPS AND LIZARD HIPS, Bruce Springsteen, 1991, YouTube
CHICKEN NEVER ROOST TOO HIGH FO' ME
CHICKEN ON A RAFT, Cyril Tawney, YouTube
CHICKEN PIE, Thomas W. Talley
CHICKEN REEL, Arthur Collins, 1911, YouTube
CHICKEN ROOST BLUES, Cliff Carlisle, 1934, YouTube
CHICKEN SHACK BOOGIE, Amos Milburn, 1947, YouTube
CHICKEN SONG, Jeff Davis & Jeff Warner, YouTube
CHICKEN SONG (I AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT SETTIN' DOWN), Ernest Tubb, YouTube
CHICKEN SOUP, Fran Avni, YouTube
CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE, Carole King, 1975, YouTube
CHICKEN TRUCK, John Anderson, YouTube
CHICKEN, YOU CAN ROOST BEHIND THE MOON, Frank Stokes/Beale Street Sheiks, YouTube
CHICKENS, Ray Wylie Hubbard & Hayes Carll, YouTube
CHICKENS FOR PEACE, Peter Alsop, YouTube
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO, George McWilliam
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO, Gloucestershire
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO, Louis Jordan, YouTube
CROW BLACK CHICKEN, Leake County Revelers, 1928, YouTube
CROWING ROOSTER, Memphis Slim, YouTube
CROWING ROOSTER BLUES, Lonnie Johnson, 1928, I. YouTube, II. YouTube
DAT'S DE WAY TO SPELL CHICKEN
DELANEY'S CHICKEN
DEM CHICKENS ROOST TOO HIGH
DIXIE CHICKEN, Little Feat, 1973, YouTube
DO THE FUNKY CHICKEN, Rufus Thomas
DON'T BET YOUR MONEY ON DE SHANGHAI, Stephen Foster, 1861, YouTube
FIGHTIN' LITTLE ROOSTER, Big Bill Broonzy, 1939, YouTube
FISHIN' FOR CHICKENS, Hobo Jim Varsos, YouTube
FLY UP MY COCK, Steeleye Span
GHOST CHICKENS IN THE SKY, Barry Ward, YouTube
HEN OVERBOARD, P. Tristram Coffin
HEY LITTLE HEN, Joe Loss, YouTube
HOMEMADE CHICKEN PIE, Frank Dumont, YouTube
I AIN'T YOUR HEN, MR. FLY ROOSTER, Martha Copeland, YouTube
I BOUGHT MYSELF A COCK
I GET THE NECK OF THE CHICKEN, Cab Calloway, 1942, YouTube
I HAD A ROOSTER, Pete Seeger
I LIKE MY CHICKEN FRYIN' SIZE, Merle Travis, 1947, YouTube
I'LL RISE WHEN THE ROOSTER CROWS, Binkley Brothers, YouTube
IF YOU SEE MY ROOSTER, Memphis Minnie, 1936, YouTube
IT TAKES THE OLD HEN TO DELIVER THE GOODS, Cliff Carlisle, 1936, YouTube
KERRY COCK
KING HEROD AND THE COCK
LITTLE RED HEN, Malvina Reynolds, YouTube
LITTLE RED HEN BLUES, Taj Mahal, YouTube
LITTLE RED ROOSTER, Big Mama Thornton, YouTube
LITTLE RED ROOSTER, Margie Day, YouTube
LITTLE RED ROOSTER, Willie Dixon, YouTube
LOUISIANA COCK FIGHT, John Nitzinger, YouTube
ME COCK'S ME OWN, Simon Ritchie
ME OLD GAME COCK
MEMPHIS WOMEN AND CHICKEN, Dan Penn, 1994, YouTube
OLD COCK CROWS
PICKIN' ON THE CHICKEN, Ray Stevens, 2015, YouTube
PRETTY CROWING CHICKEN, Frank Profitt, YouTube
RED HEN HOP, Louvin Brothers, YouTube
RED ROOSTER BLUES, Sonny Scott, 1933, YouTube
RILEY'S HEN HOUSE DOOR, Riley Puckett, YouTube
RISE WHEN THE ROOSTER CROWS, Uncle Dave Macon, 1926, YouTube
ROOSTER, The Ravens, 1947, YouTube
ROOSTER BLUES, Lightnin' Slim, YouTube
SHANGHAI ROOSTER, DeZurik Sisters, YouTube
SHANGHAI ROOSTER YODEL, Cliff Carlisle, 1931, YouTube
SHANGHAI ROOSTER YODEL NO. 2, Cliff Carlisle, 1932, YouTube
SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN, Hank Penny, 1956, YouTube
SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN, Jimmy Work, 1951, YouTube
STAY AWAY FROM MY CHICKEN HOUSE, Gene Autry, 1929, YouTube
TASTES LIKE CHICKEN, Austin Lounge Lizards, YouTube
THE BANTAM COCK, Jake Thackray
THE BLACK COCKEREL, Spanish Civil War
THE CHICKEN AND THE HAWK (UP, UP, AND AWAY), Joe Turner and His Blues Kings, 1955, YouTube
THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG, Leslie Sarony, YouTube
THE CHICKEN SONG
THE COCK, Louis Killen, YouTube
THE COCK-FIGHT / THE BONNY GREY etc.
THE COCKS ARE CROWING
THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER or THE LITTLE CHICKENS IN THE GARDEN.
THE GAME COCK, Colcannon, YouTube
THE GREY COCK
THE LEGEND OF CHICKEN STU
THE OLD GRAY CHICKEN, Miller, Hoffman
THE OLD HEN CACKLED
THE OLD HEN CACKLED AND THE ROOSTER'S GOING TO CROW, Fiddlin' John Carson, 1923, YouTube
THE ROOSTER FROM KITCHUSIS, Dick Nolan, YouTube
THERE'S A TRICK IN PICKIN' A CHICK, CHICK, CHICKEN, Wendell Hall, 1927, YouTube
UNDER THE CHICKEN TREE, Irving Jones & Kerry Mills, 1908, YouTube
WHERE IS THE CHICKEN IN THE CHICKEN CHOW MEIN?, Al Trace and His Musicians, 1944, YouTube
WHO DAT SAY CHICKEN IN DIS CROWD, Paul Laurence Dunbar & Will Marion. 1898, YouTube

Subject: Lyr Add: ME COCK'S ME OWN (Simon Ritchie)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Oct 14 - 09:54 PM

ME COCK'S ME OWN (THE COMICAL COCK)
As sung by Simon Ritchie on "Melodeon Mania" (2011)

1. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll tell to you this song:
Of when I went to market; I will not keep you long.
I met this fella selling birds; he had such a rare old stock.
I handed him a half-a-crown; he handed back his—

CHORUS: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
It's nothing to do with you.
Me cock's me own,
So leave it alone,
Me cock-a-doodle-doo.

2. Well, I took me cock under me coat, and off I went again.
I gave me cock a poke, and it began to croak.
This lady passing by, she gave me such a shock.
She stuck one arm around me waist, the other one round me—CHORUS

3. Well, I put me cock in a pen along with the railroad men.
Oh, what a hell of a do; oh, what a hell of a do!
Well, I came back up the garden path, to separate the flock.
I tried me best to pull 'em apart but she kept on pecking me—CHORUS

4. Well, me cock got into a fight; it only went in one.
A policeman who was passing by said: "Come with me, my son"
You know it's ... they stood me in the dock.
The judge says: "What's your name?" I said: "Are you talking to me, or me—CHORUS

5. Well, they gave me seven years; to dartmoor I did go,
And then they found at great big rocks, well, I was rather slow;
So they put me in charge of the prison farm, but kept me under lock,
But I fooled them all when I sneaked out right under the governor's—CHORUS

6. Well, it's time for me to go; I can no longer stay,
But before I go, there's something I must know:
Well. I cannot hang around; I should be in by twelve o'clock,
But are there any young ladies here who'd like to see me—CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: HEY LITTLE HEN (Ralph Butler & Noel Gay)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 09:01 AM

HEY LITTLE HEN
Words & music by Ralph Butler & Noel Gay, ©1941
As sung by Joe Loss on "The Warring 40s: 19 Songs from Wartime Britain" and "Comic Songs of the 1940s" and "The Great Songwriters: Noel Gay"

I had a lot of chickens, a large chicken run,
But owing to conditions, I'm now down to one.
I give her all the tit-bits, the dear little thing,
And just to keep her up to scratch, I go to her and sing:

§. Hey, little hen,
When, when, when
Will you lay me an egg for my tea?
Hey, little hen,
When, when, when
Will you try to supply one for me?
Get into your nest.
Do your little best.
Get it off your chest.
I can do the rest.
Hey, little hen,
When, when, when
Will you lay me an egg for my tea?

[Repeat from §.]

Subject: Lyr Add: COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO (Louis Jordan)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 07:17 AM

Several of these phrases are questionable. I'm not sure they're even intended to make sense.


COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO
As sung by Louis Jordan, 1951.
Tune: Turkey in the Straw.

1. It's a trick to pick a chicken when the cackle's in the coop.
Some are layin'; some are lyin'; some are labeled chicken soup.
Take a Dominicker rooster or a Dominicker hen
For some ricky-ticky chicken pickin' right from the pen.

CHORUS: Coo-whack-a-do: fricassee or new,
Who-whack-a-doodle, yams and apple strudel,
Out in the country, that's the style,
Sweet as the kisses from a honey chile.

2. When you wake up in the mornin' to the cock-a-doodle-doo,
And you sneak into the chicken shack and pick a chick or two,
Fill the kettle full o' vittles and your griddle papa view(?),
For the fricassee of chickasee, it's only chicken stew. CHORUS

3. Now the farmer's got a gobbler and a gander and a goose,
And a mighty pretty daughter but he'll never turn her loose.
If you like the farmer's daughter, she's a chicken you can steal.
You swing 'er while the fiddle plays a real chicken reel. CHORUS

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Subject: Lyr Add: THAT CHICK'S TOO YOUNG TO FRY (L Jordan)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 06:15 AM

Not literally about chickens--more an extended metaphor:


THAT CHICK'S TOO YOUNG TO FRY
As sung by Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five, 1946.

Say, boy, don't you harm that bird; don't you dare to try.
Start releasin' that chicken or you'll get a lickin'; that chick's too young to fry.

Hey, boy, better take my word; here's the reason why:
Gotta feed her steady till she gets ready; that chick's too young to fry.

[§] Take her back in the barnyard, then let her go; just turn her loose,
Way out there in the barnyard, where she'll grow up for better use.

Hey, boy, there will come a time, someday by and by,
She'll be ready for fryin', so stop your cryin'; that chick's too young to fry.

[Repeat from §.]

Get away; stay away; come back another day; that chick's too young to fry.

Subject: Lyr Add: UNDER THE CHICKEN TREE (Jones/Mills)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 14 - 12:25 AM

From the sheet music at York University:

UNDER THE CHICKEN TREE
Words by Irving Jones; music by Kerry Mills; ©1908.

1. I had a dream last night
That almost turned me white.
I dreamed that hens and roosters grew on trees.
I owned a great big ranch.
On every hen-tree branch,
The chickens were as thick as bumblebees.
I went out in the yard
And shook one tree right hard,
And about a hundred chickens tumbled down.
As soon as they had died,
Why, they were quickly fried
With gravy oozing out so nice and brown.

CHORUS: Under the chicken tree,
Under that big fricassee,
Hens were poppin' out of ev'ry blossom.
Lost all my love for the bird they call possum.
All kinds of money and ev'ry other thing
Looked like chicken feathers to me.
Eggs were droppin'.
Wings were floppin',
Under the chicken tree.

2. The eggs came budding first,
And soon as they would burst,
A tiny little chicken sprouted out.
Chickens were so free,
It certainly seemed to me,
That I would surely die soon with the gout.
Then suddenly I woke
And found it all a joke.
How sad then ev'rything to me did seem!
Don't care how long I live,
Myself I'll not forgive
For waking up out of that lovely dream.

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Haruo
Date: 23 Aug 14 - 03:30 AM

King Herod and the Cock

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 11:13 AM

Which came first - songs about chickens or songs about eggs?

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Felipa
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 10:51 AM

another song in Irish, though more commonly known as a dance tune
Tá'n coilleach ag fogairt an lae

Subject: RE: Songs about chickens
From: Felipa
Date: 20 Aug 14 - 10:48 AM

Cearc agus Coilleach a song in Irish Gaelic, hen's lament for cock who was killed by meat-eating humans

Subject: Lyr Add: CHICKEN REEL (Mittenthal/Daly)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 19 Aug 14 - 11:07 PM

Lyrics below are from the sheet music at Mississippi State University.
(There is also an instrumental version CHICKEN REEL, or PERFORMER'S BUCK, by Daly, published in 1910).

The tune will be familiar. Spotify has over 100 recordings. I listened to several, and to parts of many, but I couldn't find a vocal recording.


CHICKEN REEL
Words by Joseph Mittenthal; music by Joseph M. Daly; ©1911.

1. Way down in Carolina where the sweet potatoes grow,
There lives a dusky maiden by the name of Liza Snow.
She used to go to parties where they'd always make her sing,
But say! you ought to see that baby do the pigeon wing.
They held a dancing contest and were goin' to give a prize.
They all had on their finest and it now was up to Lize.
Just who was goin' to win it ev'rybody there could feel
When Liza hollered to the band to play the Chicken Reel:

CHORUS: Clear the crowd away.
Tell the band to play
When yer hear me say "Go," my honey.
Oh, you Chicken Reel!
How you make me feel!
Say, it's really so entrancin',
Who could ever keep from dancin'?
That's the music sweet
Like the chicken meat.
Give it to me with the dressin'.
I don't need no dancin' lesson.
Put all the other fine selections right away.
That is the only tune I want to hear you play.
When I get married, if there's music, I will say:
"Hey, boss, keep a-playin' Chicken Reel all day."

2. One night when from a party she was walkin' home with Bill—
Now he's her steady feller and the night was dark and still—
It seems he stole a chicken, and when Liza looked at that,
She said: "I'm goin' to wear it on my go-to-meetin' hat."
"I guess you're goin' crazy," answered William with a smile,
But Liza said: "Go on! You haven't heard the latest style."
When first she wore it out, the people asked her to explain,
But Liza simply said: "Why, I have chicken on the brain."