Genre: Forum

My Dad used to sing a song to my brother in about 1938, which had the opening lyric "There was a china man with pig tail spic and span ha ha ha ha he he..." Unfortunately that's all I know of the song and would really like to find out the name of it. Any help would be appreciated, thank you. There was a man from Chinatown his name was Licka Lacka Lee Law Chan His head was tall and his feet were small and this little man had no nose at all Licka Lacka Lee Law Hey Indora Icky Picky Pikey OK They rolled him in the park one day and frightened all the kids away They rolled him here, they rolled him there, they rolled him in a bamboo chair. Licka Lacka Lee Law Hey Indora, In-Di-Ora, Icky Picky Pikey OK There was a Chinaman With pigtails spick and span Ah hah ha ha ha ha Who never would go out When there was rain about Ah hah ha ha ha ha For rain, he used to say, Washed pigtails all away Ah hah ha ha ha ha ha ha So indoors he would stay On every rainy day Ah hah ha ha ha ha My Great Grandma used to sing this song to me and I would dearly love to find the lyrics. She sang it something like this: In China there lived a China man, his name was Ching-a-rie-Ching-a-rie Chan, His legs were long and his feet were small, this ChinaMan couldn't walk at all...singing, Ching-a-rie, ching-a-rie Chan, riddle me this and (?)... Scallopy, wallopy chinaco My grandfather used to sing this one to all the grandchildren back in the 70's & 80's :) Chick a chaloo chaloo chapan wallapa wallapa China Man... There once there was a China man, his name was Chicka chaloo chapan His head was big and his feet were small, so the poor China man couldn't walk. Alas the China man to die and in his coffin he did lie They sent the coffin to Japan and that was the end of the China man. my grandma taught me a version of this song, though it went a little different: in all japan there lived a man: his name was chika-racka-chi-chai-chang. his legs were long, his feet were small, the poor old man couldn't walk at all, and they were singing; chicka-racka-chi-chai-cho-chocalorum-win\\... the servants used to carry him out on their backs and the folks did shout: "here he comes! there he goes! the poor old chap with the funny funny nose!" and they were singing: chicka-racka-chi-chai-cho-chocalorum-win\\... Ok so my version I was thought when I was young is nothing like this.... The once was a china man called chickaraca chickaraca chichickalora bombilora willy willy wack ohko ohko tiddy fi tiddy fi chinese talk they took him on a motor car told him not to go to far the word was said he fell on his head and that was the end of the china man Once in China there was a funny man his name was chikaraka chou chai chan his body was long his legs were short the poor little man could hardly walk, chikaraka chou chai chan chatty borra umdiddle ora alow wallow waxi oki doki hit him on the boki itchi gotchi itchi gotchi twinkle, There are more verses to this but can't remember them and there seems to be many different versions to this?? There was a poor old China man, his name was Chinka-chaloo-chahan, His teeth were short, his nose was long and this is the way he walked along. Chinka-chaloo-chaloo-cha-pan, al-up-ee, al-up-ee, chinka-cha-lol-up-ee, Chinka-chaloo-chaloo-cha-pan, al-up-ee, al-up-ee, Chinaman. At last, this poor o;d man he died, and in his coffin he did lie, They sent his coffin to Japan and this is the way his epitaph ran. Chinka-chaloo-chaloo-cha-pan, al-up-ee, al-up-ee, chinka-cha-lol-up-ee, Chinka-chaloo-chaloo-cha-pan, al-up-ee, al-up-ee, Chinaman. there was an old man from china town his name was inki pinki poo pa chan he had long legs and a turned down nose...the poor old man with the turned up toes. inki pinki poo-pa chan chickalo-ra bobtailo-ra paddywaddywack oko doko witamonatoko wittama dittama cheerioko Lots of different versions of this song! My mother would sing a version of this when my brothers and I were children - 1950's. She also loved to sing Johnny Rebeck to us. These are the words she taught us: There once was a Chinaman, who lived in old Japan, His name was Chick-a-rie, Chick-a-rie Chan. His feet were long, his toes were short And this is the way the Chinaman talked, There once was a man a funny little man His name was kinko kine-a- man His legs were tall and his feet were small And the poor little msn couldnt walk at all Sing ching- GA-lora, ching- GA-lora ching- GA-lora hidey - pok- aWAY! There once was a man, a funny little man, his name was Chingco china man His legs were tall and his feet were small, and the poor little fellow couldn't walk at all. Sing chingalor chingalor chingalora hidy chuckaway Iddy oddy ocka, hit him in the poka Iddy oddy ocka , um pa pa Hi, Stephen- Well, the song is certainly racist. Whether the thread is racist or not, is another matter. Whatever the case, racist or not, the song in question is certainly a real folk song and a very good example of the folk process, how a song may take many different paths and develop many different versions. But you're right...I cringe every time this thread comes up on the Forum Menu. Thanks for your constructive answer. I agree that Mudcat is not racist and sometimes very progressive. However a lot of people happen upon this site and a thread like this doesnt give a good first impression when they look at Mudcat. My own personal view of such playground songs is that they can lead to bullying and worse. I would really love to know the origin of this song too. Again, to me it was a silly weird song my mother used to sing back in the 60's and 70's when my sister and I were very young. Our version very similar. In China once there lived a man, His name was Chik-a-lee Chik-a-lee Chan His feet were long and his toes were short, And this is the way the Chinaman talked... dad sang us this song handed down to his family from the ballarat goldfields there once was a jolly little chinaman with a nid nod nid nod nid youve never seen such a little chinaman with a nid nod nid nod nid, down to the woodshed he went one day ,went one day,went one day to gather little sticks together so , so just to gather little sticks together so and his dear little wife she would say oh! with a nid nod nid nid nod nid nod nid nod nid nid nod nid nid Once in China I met a funny man his name was Chicaracka Chu Chi Chan His arms were long - his legs were short the poor old man could hardly walk Chicaracka Chu Chi Chai Chickanora punchinorra ala wala winkle Chicaracka Chu Chi Chai Chickanora punchinorra ala wala winkle This old man he went to sea to see the sights of the Kangaree The ship got lost and so you see The poor old man got drownded Chicaracka Chu Chi Chai Chickanora punchinorra ala wala winkle Chicaracka Chu Chi Chai Chickanora punchinorra ala wala winkle My grandad taught me this song, I am reading it at his funeral next week. I remember telling this poem to a pair of chinese exchange students asking them to translate it as I really thought it was in the chinese language! (well i was only 11) :0) There once was a China Man, His Name was Chicka Lacka Lee Chaw Chan, his head was big and his feet were small and this little china man, he couldnt walk at all.... ere's how i heard it in the 50's at camp china man had a wife led him such an awful life cut his pigtails off so long sold them for a chinese song chikerack a chee chy cho chickalarro bungo lorro piggy wiggy wago hoco poco hit em on the coco chitterbee chitterby chee chi cho We had a version of this song which has passed through the generations...we wanted to research tongue twisters for a project that my son is doing and I am amazed at all the versions I have found on this site. In China there lived a Chinaman, his name was chickaracka-chee-chan-chan. His feet were long and his legs were small and the poor little man couldn't walk at all. So they took him up to the top of a hill And they rolled him down like a rolling pin. With a.... Chicka-racka-chee-chan-chor-chickalorum, pongo-lorum,many-pee-cat, Cat go to go etty-ketty-catty-go, aye Japan Chinaman, chinese coo. From what I remember my mom used to sing to me when I was 4 or 5.(I'm 70 now) In China there lived a little man, his name was Chingling, chingling Chan. His legs were short, his feet were small, this little man couldn't walk at all. Miska Hi was short and fat, she had money & he had none, under her window he would go and play a tune on his little banjo. Miska Hi with notes of love, held her washboard high above, let it fall on Chingling Chan and that was the last of the China man. If this thread offends you...why do you click on it? It doesn't just..come up. This was just a little song my mom used to sing to us kids. Was curious when & why it originated. There was no bigotry or racist comments in it...click on something else or get a life. Ginner, the song stereotypes and ridicules an ethnic group - that fits the classic definition of bigotry to a "t," even though you and your mother think it cute. We don't suppress songs like this because they have historic and folkloric value - but that doesn't mean we can't complain about them. Songs like this aren't cute - they're nasty, obscene, and bigoted. Although it's a song that comes from a history of ethnic bigotry, it's still worthwhile to study the song and its versions. Such songs are often true examples of the "folk process" because they aren't the kind of songs publishers would publish. This song became a pop song called "Chickery Chick" in the 1940s, with lyrics that had nothing to do with anybody of any ethnic descent. Here's an article about the song from Time Magazine, December 3, 1945: In the '70s, collegians at Amherst set the l00-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 Hap py 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 Boats 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. CHAPTER XXI. CUPID'S LAST APPEARANCE. A picnic supper on the grass followed the games, and then, as twilight began to fall, the young people were marshaled to the coach-house, now transformed into a rustic theater. One big door was open, and seats, arranged lengthwise, faced the red table-cloths which formed the curtain. A row of lamps made very good foot-lights, and an invisible band performed a Wagner-like overture on combs, tin trumpets, drums, and pipes, with an accompaniment of suppressed laughter. Many of the children had never seen anything like it, and sat staring about them in mute admiration and expectancy; but the older ones criticised freely, and indulged in wild speculations as to the meaning of various convulsions of nature going on behind the curtain. While Teacher was dressing the actresses for the tragedy, Miss Celia and Thorny, who were old hands at this sort of amusement, gave a "Potato" pantomime as a side show. Across an empty stall a green cloth was fastened, so high that the heads of the operators were not seen. A little curtain flew up, disclosing the front of a Chinese pagoda painted on pasteboard, with a door and window which opened quite naturally. This stood on one side, several green trees with paper lanterns hanging from the boughs were on the other side, and the words "Tea Garden," printed over the top, showed the nature of this charming spot. Few of the children had ever seen the immortal Punch and Judy, so this was a most agreeable novelty, and before they could make out what it meant, a voice began to sing, so distinctly that every word was heard: "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 on: "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: 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 cheeks, 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: It never occurred to me that it was bad. I just thought it was full of nonsense words and the rythem was catchy. My version is COMPLETELY different from all that I have read here. My grandmother who was born in 1918 sang this to me when i was little. In china once there lived a man. His name was Chickala Chickala Chan. His fingers were long and his toes were short. And this is the way the poor china men talk. Wow, I had no idea there were so many versions! Here's how it was sung to us as kids: There was a Chinaman; lived in Japan His name was Chickala Chickala Chan His legs were long and his knees were knocked And this is the way the Chinaman talked A chickala chee chileye chilo A chickala Romeo and a banana go Walaka walaka chance to see In a banana go alchio The Chinaman he did up and die and in his coffin he did lie They sent him back to old Japan and this is the way his epitaph ran (Refrain) P.S. This version of the song goes back at least four generations in my family. My Great Grandpa worked in the coal minds. I have Irish and Chinese blood. Talk about a double whammy. This Song was not passed down in my family to be derogatory. I think it would be sad if we ever take political correctness to the point where we are afraid to laugh at ourselves. As long as you are fair about it, humor can just as easily unite us. I have never listened to this song, and thought, hay man, that??s me. Even as a Child I didn??t make that leap. I know I tease with my friends all the time, but the intent is never mean. This is just a nostalgic and historic breakdown of a song. This is not a political statement. I am an American, but I??m not going to take Yankee Doodle out of context. There lived in China a very fine man His name was chee karaka cheek you can his legs were fat and his feet were small The chinese man he couldn't walk at all. Chee karaka, chee karaka, cheek you can Cupa laura, cupa laura was a very fine man. Banga, hoola, izzy kizzy kizzy was a chinese moon. She was a lovely kind and gentle person and no racist comment was every intended. It was a fun tongue twister - plain and simple. I've been looking for lyrics to this song for a number of years. I never knew there were so many versions or that it went back so far, but I guess that is common. I believe my mom and her sister learned this song in camp back in the 30's/40's. My mom used to sing this "silly song" to me when I was a kid (60's/70's) and I loved it. Of course, we didn't worry about political correctness back then. I've never been successful in finding any reference on the internet - probably because of the differences in the version that they sang: the refrain of which went something like: Sadly my mom passed away recently, but I'll have to see if my aunt can still recall or rederive the lyrics that they learned. I think my mom was hesitant to sing this song to me in recent years because my own daughters are Chinese and she didn't want to give the wrong impression. Ironically, it wasn't until my own daughter learned the song "Chickery Chick" in music class this year and came home singing it that I was able to make the connection. I'd never heard of that song, but it was apparently a pop hit in the 40's. I'll be sure and post "our" version of the song if my (now 85 year old) aunt can remember it. Once there was a Chinaman His name was Chika Chika Chan His body was long his legs were thin Huliga Muliga Chinaman. Chinaman he did die. In a coffin he did lie Took his body to Japan To buy some tea for the Chinaman. Hickory choo, choo July, Hockery Rooney In a pialli pialli padu It doesn't agree Huliga Muliga Chinaman.