Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great ma From: GUEST,Mel Date: 12 Mar 07 - 09:40 PM I can't believe I found this. My grandmother used to sing it to me and I have never met anyone who knows what I'm talking about. Her version went: In China once there was a great man, His name was Chickery Choo Chai Chan, His legs were fat and his feet were small, That China man couldn't walk at all. Chickery Choo Chai Chan-galora, Bang-alora, Men-a-Kin-Men. Lang-con-do-dee Idi-kiddi-pi! Idi-kiddi-pi! China Coo! My god, it is quite insane when you write it down. The Idi-kiddi bits were inevitably accompanied by a burst of tickling. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: Stewie Date: 24 Feb 07 - 07:54 PM Adam McNaughtan recorded a Glasgow version of this and a couple of other children's ditties relating to Chinese on his "Words, Words, Words" album. This album and another, titled 'The Glasgow I Used To Know', have been reissued on an excellent double CD as 'The Words I Used to Know' Greentrax CDTRAX 195D. --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: GUEST,Geoff Yeowell Date: 24 Feb 07 - 11:47 AM My English granddad used to sing us a song when we were little. It went something like this: There once was a Chinaman who had a funny name His name was Chickeraka Chu Chi Chan His arms were long and his legs were short This Chinaman couldn't walk or talk - CHORUS Chickeraka Chu Chi Chimmy Chimmy Ora Pomma Diddy Ora Paddy Waddy Wack Oko Boko Hit Him on the Popo Here we go, here we go, cheerio! - Once his servant took him out Treated him to a glass of stout When they got to the top of the hill The Chinese man felt very very ill - CHORUS - Once his servant took him for a drive Told him not to drive to fast He drove too fast and they tumbled down That was the end of the Chinese man - CHORUS My granddad died in 1993 at the age of 81. I wish I had recorded him singing this! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: Charley Noble Date: 11 Feb 07 - 03:34 PM It certainly is a weird little ditty, and I can easily imagine how readily it passed from one generation to another as a nonsense song. But I cannot imagine leading it today unless I changed it to something like "Once in Scarsdale there lived a rich man..." Once upon a time there was a little poetry book called, I believe, THE INNER CITY GOOSE which processed familiar nursery rhymes. The only one that comes readily to mind is: There was a crooked man, And he done quite well! Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: Azizi Date: 10 Feb 07 - 05:56 PM Hello, GUEST,Hugh! Life is weird that way. But anyway you get here, you're welcome to stay. Consider joining our community. There's a whole lot of exchanging musical and other information going on. Best wishes, Azizi |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great ma From: GUEST,Hugh Date: 10 Feb 07 - 05:22 PM I remember a song I heard at summer camp in Canada in the 60s. Unthinkable that anyone would sing it now. Clearly of the same origin as many of the other songs mentioned here, but a little different. "Once in China lived a man Name was Chickeracka Chee Chi Cho Arms were long and legs were short Chinaman could walk nor snort." And the chorus went something like: "Hoke chickeracka cheek chickaloro Bongo loro piggywiggy wango Hoko poko hit 'im in the coco Chitterbee chatterbee chee chi cho." For some reason it really sticks in my head over 40 years later. In fact, I found this thread because it was running through my head today, so I googled "Once in China lived a man". Weird. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: Azizi Date: 07 Feb 07 - 12:14 AM I hasten to correct my statement that the source for the Stella Ella Ola rhymes may be of Chinese origin. I should have written that the source for these rhymes may be American English rhymes that attempted to mimic what they thought was Chinese/Asian talk. That's considerably different than the rhymes being of "Chinese origin". |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: Azizi Date: 06 Feb 07 - 11:48 PM What???!! Could I have been wrong?? Is it possible that I was mistaken about the origin of the "Stella Ella Ola" family of handclap rhymes??? Click here to read those rhymes: thread.cfm?threadid=77066#1370542 I thought that these rhymes might have come from the Spanish language because of that "s chico chico" line that's found in a number of its variants. But I really was standin' on shakey ground as I could never find any documentation of a Spanish source. It just sounded kinda Spanish, you know? Now I come to find out that there may be a Chinese origin for rhymes like: Stella ella ola, clap clap clap With an s, chicko chicko, chicko chicko slap jack! falo falo falo, with ah one, two three four, FIVE! -snip- Okay. I can live with that. But. I was close, hun? No?? Oh, well. Thanks Jim Dixon, and all the Guests! I appreciate it. Really. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: GUEST Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:26 PM In China once there lived a man His man was chickery iker man his legs were long and his feet were small And this poor chinaman couldn't walk at all chorus The ladies from about the town Came up the hill and Rolled him down And tickle and tease this China man chorus And when this chinaman he did die and in his coffin he did lie They shipped his body to Japan And that was the end of the chinaman Politically incorrect in today's world but my Grandmother sang it to me when I was a child. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: GUEST,Son of an Amherst grad Date: 21 Jan 07 - 11:59 PM My father, Amherst '53, used to sing a version with a chorus that went something like this: Chicka cha loo, cha loo, Japan Allopy, wallopy, chicka cha lallopy Chicka cha loo, cha loo, Japan Allopy wallopy China man We sang it on long car trips to Canada in the 1960s, along with other ethnic favorites. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: GUEST,flyingcat Date: 17 Jan 07 - 02:29 PM this is version i learned at my mother's knee, she used to sing to us and make us laugh. In China there lived a very big man His name was Jigger iger ingjing jang His legs were long and his neck was short And the Chinese man could't walk nor talk His servants used to carry him about because he was so very very stout They took him up to the top of a hill And rolled him down like a great big wheel Jiggerigering jiggerang jiggarora bondolora woodawooda waok Okotoko idi adi itiko Itify titify Chinese talk |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: Joe Offer Date: 17 Jan 07 - 01:16 PM Lee, when you answer an eight-year-old request, that IS pure genius. Thank you very much. -Joe Offer, who searched for this song for hours and hours- |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... From: GUEST,Lee Garrett Date: 17 Jan 07 - 10:21 AM My brilliantly bonkers Grandpa told me when I was young: Once in China there lived a great man, His name was Chika-Laka-Che-Chi-Chang. His sins were many though his feet were very small, But he had toenails on them all. With a Chika-Laka-Che-Chi-Chang-Chika-Laka, Chang-Chika-Laka-Malapy-Kat. Kat-Go-To-Go Iti-Kati-Ki-Go Iti-Kati-Ki-Go Chiney-Go!! Genius I tells ya, pure genius |
Subject: RE: Lyrics requested ... Once in China From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Apr 05 - 09:23 AM From the TIME Magazine archive: (with formatting changed a bit by me)
Dec. 3, 1945 In the [18]70s, collegians at Amherst set the 100-year-old jingle to music and sang it over pots of ale, when they wanted to prove that they could walk a musical straight line. One of the many versions ran like this: In China there lived a little man His name was Chingery-ri-chan-chan, His feet were large and his head was small, And this little man had no brains at all. Chingery-rico-rico-day ekel tekel Happy man. Kuan-a-desco cartty-o gallopy-wallopy-china-go. Last week this old tongue twister, with new and even less intelligible lyrics, was the fast-climbing No. 2 seller in Billboard magazine's poll of record sales. It was well on its way to join Mairzy Doats and the Hut Sut Song in the jabberwocky Valhalla of the jukebox. Twenty-nine-year-old Arkansas-born Jo Proffitt had changed the Chinaman into a chick, and called it Chickery Chick. She sent the lyrics to Tin Pan Alleysmith Sidney Lippman, who added some new notes. Now it describes a chicken who got bored with saying "chick chick" all day, astounds his companions with some jived-up poultry poetry: Chickery-chick cha-la cha-la, Check-a-la-romey in a ba-nan-i-ka... .Tin Pan Alley actuarians estimate that the U.S. will need about three months to get over it. -Copyright 1945 by Santly-Joy, Inc. |
Subject: RE: Lyrics requested ... Once in China From: Joe Offer Date: 26 Apr 05 - 03:29 PM It also comes up in the writings of Louisa May Alcott, from Under the Lilacs, Chapter 21:
"In China there lived a little man, His name was Chingery Wangery Chan." Here the hero "took the stage" with great dignity, clad in a loose yellow jacket over a blue skirt, which concealed the hand that made his body. A pointed hat adorned his head, and on removing this to bow he disclosed a bald pate with a black queue in the middle, and a Chinese face nicely painted on the potato, the lower part of which was hollowed out to fit Thorny's first finger, while his thumb and second finger were in the sleeves of the yellow jacket, making a lively pair of arms. While he saluted, the song went n, -- "His legs were short, his feet were small, And this little man could not walk at all." Which assertion was proved to be false by the agility with which the "little man" danced a jig in time to the rollicking chorus, -- "Chingery changery ri co day, Ekel tekel happy man; Uron odesko canty oh, oh, Gallopy wallopy China go." At the close of the dance and chorus, Chan retired into the tea garden, and drank so many cups of the national beverage, with such comic gestures, that the spectators were almost sorry when the opening of the opposite window drew all eyes in that direction. At the lattice appeared a lovely being; for this potato had been pared, and on the white surface were painted pretty pink checks, red lips, black eyes, and oblique brows; through the tuft of dark silk on the head were stuck several glittering pins, and a pink jacket shrouded the plump figure of this capital little Chinese lady. After peeping coyly out, so that all could see and admire, she fell to counting the money from a purse, so large her small hands could hardly hold it on the window seat. While she did this, the song went on to explain, -- "Miss Ki Hi was short and squat, She had money and he had not So off to her he resolved to go, And play her a tune on his little banjo." During the chorus to this verse Chan was seen tuning his instrument in the garden, and at the end sallied gallantly forth to sing the following tender strain, -- "Whang fun li, Tang hua ki, Hong Kong do ra me! Ah sin lo, Pan to fo, Tsing up chin leute!" Carried away by his passion, Chan dropped his banjo, fell upon his knees, and, clasping his hands, bowed his forehead in the dust before his idol. But, alas! -- "Miss Ki Hi heard his notes of love, And held her wash-bowl up above It fell upon the little man, And this was the end of Chingery Chan," Indeed it was; for, as the doll's basin of real water was cast forth by the cruel charmer, poor Chan expired in such strong convulsions that hishead rolled down among the audience. Miss Ki Hi peeped to see what had become of her victim, and the shutter decapitated her likewise, to the great delight of the children, who passed around the heads, pronouncing a "Potato" pantomime "first-rate fun." |
Subject: RE: Lyrics requested ... Once in China From: Joe Offer Date: 26 Apr 05 - 03:13 PM I'm guessing it's one of those songs from the late 19th century that made fun of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. You'll find a number of songs like that if you use our Filter and look for "china" (set the age back) - or click here I did find this on a Google search:
his name was icka rocka icka rocka ran. his legs were long as his feet were small. and he couldn't walk at all. EENY MEENY MING MONG PING PONG CHOW! EASY VEASY VACKA LEASY, EASY VEASY VOW! EENY MEENY MACKA RACKA RAY RI CHICKA RACKA DOMINACKA LOLLIPOPPA OM POM PUSH! |
Subject: RE: Lyrics requested ... Once in China From: GUEST,MMario Date: 26 Apr 05 - 02:24 PM I had no luck on google or at the levy sheet music site. |
Subject: RE: Lyrics requested ... Once in China From: GUEST Date: 26 Apr 05 - 02:18 PM a.marchant@tiscali.co.uk |
Subject: Lyrics requested ... Once in China From: Date: 12 Oct 98 - 09:23 AM Looking for the lyrics for a ditty that starts out: "Once in China there lived a great man, His name was Chikera-chee-chi-chan ?? His legs were long his feet were small The chinese man couldn't walk at all etc ??? |
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