43. Novelty Songs from the Twenties and Forties

When I was growing up in Gettysburg in the Forties, my parents had a Victor phonograph that was in my grandparents house when my Mother was growing up in York, Pennsylvania in the Twenties. The wind up non-electronic acoustical record player held dozens of 78 records which I  played over and over because they were so entertaining.

Some of my favorites from the Twenties were the novelty songs like Crazy Words, Crazy Tune and Don't Bring Lulu.  Readers can find both these and many other songs of the Twenties on uTube.

When Nancy and I grew up in Gettysburg in the Forties, we enjoyed a number of novelty songs, sometimes called nonsense songs. Here are a sample of the lyrics to several which became big hits in the Forties.

One song we remember best was Mairzy Doats, which first made the pop charts in 1944 but was featured in movies and television as late as 2000. 

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey

A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey

A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

Chickery Chick by Sammy Kaye was number one in 1945. I don’t remember jitterbugging to the song. Mostly, we just got a kick out of singing the silly lyrics:

  

Once there lived a chicken who would say "Chick-chick""Chick-chick" all day

Soon that chick got sick and tired of just "Chick-chick"

So one morning he started to say:

"Chickery chick, cha-la, cha-la Check-a-la romey in a bananika

Bollika, wollika, can't you see Chickery chick is me?”

The Hut Sut song was supposed to be Swedish. It isn’t

Hut-Sut Rawlson on the Rillerah and a brawla, brawla sooit,

Hut-Sut Rawlson on the Rillerah and a brawla sooit.

Hut-Sut Rawlson on the Rllerah and a brawla, brawla sooit,

Hut-Sut Rawlson on the Rillerah and a brawla sooit.