"Tico-Tico no fubá" (; "

rufous-collared sparrow The rufous-collared sparrow or Andean sparrow (''Zonotrichia capensis'') is an American sparrow found in a wide range of habitats, often near humans, from the extreme south-east of Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, and the island of Hispaniola (split ...

in the cornmeal") is a Brazilian

choro ''Choro'' (, "cry" or "lament"), also popularly called ''chorinho'' ("little cry" or "little lament"), is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a fa ...

song written by

Zequinha de Abreu José Gomes de Abreu, better known as Zequinha de Abreu (September 19, 1880 – January 22, 1935), was a Brazilian musician and composer. Abreu was born in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, São Paulo state. He is best known for the famous chor ...

in 1917. Its original title was "Tico-Tico no farelo" ("sparrow in the bran"), but since Brazilian guitarist Américo Jacomino "Canhoto" (1889–1928) had a work with the same title, Abreu's work was given its present name in 1931, and sometime afterward Aloysio de Oliveira wrote the original Portuguese lyrics. Outside Brazil, the song reached its peak popularity in the 1940s, with successful recordings by Ethel Smith,

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

(with English-language lyrics by

Ervin Drake Ervin Drake (born Ervin Maurice Druckman; April 3, 1919 – January 15, 2015) was an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as " I Believe" and " It Was a Very Good Year". He wrote in a variety of styles and his ...

Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda (), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature ...

, Alys Robi, and others.

Notable recordings

The first recording of the work was made by Orquestra Colbaz (Columbia 22029, 1931). Ethel Smith performed it on the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

in the MGM film ''

Bathing Beauty ''Bathing Beauty'' is a 1944 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney, and starring Red Skelton and Esther Williams. Although this was not Williams' screen debut, it was her first Technicolor musical. The f ...

'' (1944), after which her recording reached the U.S. pop charts in November 1944, peaked at No. 14 on January 27, 1945, and sold nearly two million copies worldwide. The song was recorded by

on March 7, 1944 and it briefly reached the charts.

Notable arrangements and performances

Over the years, "Tico-Tico no Fubá" has been reinterpreted by numerous artists across various musical styles. Notable arrangements and performances include: * A guitar rendition by Spanish virtuoso

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (; 21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamen ...

, recorded in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and featured on his album ''La fabulosa guitarra de Paco de Lucía''. * An orchestral performance by the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

, conducted by

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. He is currently the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is scheduled to become the Music and Artistic ...

, recorded live during a concert celebrating South American music. * A solo

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

arrangement by Italian violist

Marco Misciagna Marco Misciagna (; born 5 February 1984) is an Italian violinist and violist internationally renowned for his performances and contributions to classical music. Biography Musical education Marco Misciagna was born in Bari, Italy. He graduated ...

, released in 2024 as a live recording. * A jazz guitar arrangement by Brazilian guitarist

Raphael Rabello Rafael Baptista Rabello (October 31, 1962 – April 27, 1995) was a virtuoso Brazilian guitarist and composer. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was considered one of the best acoustic guitar players in the world and played with many famous artists, ...

, showcasing his virtuosic interpretation of the piece. * A collaborative performance by gypsy jazz guitarist Joscho Stephan and classical guitarist Nadia Kossinskaja, offering a fusion of styles. * A piano duet (four hands) arrangement by Radmila Stojanović-Kiriluk, emphasizing rhythmic interplay between performers. * A performance by the

Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...

, highlighting the piece's enduring popularity in symphonic repertoire.

In film and television

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, the song has been used for several decades in commercials for Sico paint. In the ''

Mama's Family ''Mama's Family'' is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper, Mama (Thelma Harper). The series is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches called "The Family (sketch), The Family" featured on ''T ...

'' season three episode "An Ill Wind", an intoxicated Iola briefly sings the song's chorus before passing out onto a bed. The song can be heard on various episodes of the Belgian '' Kabouter Wesley'' cartoon. In the '' Narcos: Mexico'' season one episode "El Padrino", the orchestral version of the song is played by a band during a reception.

Other uses

This song was often performed by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

during their tuning jams between songs. It was also played as an instrumental by

James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Blac ...

with the

Jerry Garcia Band The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly tour ...

. This song was used in ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

'' in the episode "Muscle Beach Tom", where Tom's rival, Butch is seen dancing with a female cat. This song was performed in the closing ceremony of the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. This song was adapted to the 2016 video games Just Dance 2017 and

Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a 2016 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. The mobile and Nintendo Switch ports were published by Aspyr Media. It is the sequel to ''Civilization V'' ...

. This song was remixed with a

baile funk Funk carioca (), also known as baile funk and Brazilian funk, or even simply funk, is a Brazilian hip hop-influenced music genre from Rio de Janeiro, taking influences from musical styles such as Miami bass and freestyle. In Brazil, "baile fu ...

melody during the opening of Brazilian pop singer Anitta's set for Rock in Rio Lisboa 2018.

References to the song

A biographical movie about Zequinha de Abreu with the same title, '' Tico-Tico no Fubá'' was produced in 1952 by the Brazilian film studio ''Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz'', starring

Anselmo Duarte Anselmo Duarte Bento (; 21 April 1920 – 7 November 2009) was a Brazilian actor, screenwriter and film director. Early life Duarte was born in Salto, São Paulo on 21 April 1920. He was raised by his mother, alongside his six siblings. ...

as Abreu. The title phrase also features in the lyrics to the song "O Pato" made famous by

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto do Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer, and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he w ...

. In the M*A*S*H* episode "Your Hit Parade", Father Mulcahy mentions that he requested "Tico Tico", but got "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" instead.

Lyrics

References

External links

61 versions of Tico Tico
at WFMU's blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Tico-Tico no Fuba 1917 songs Brazilian songs Choro songs Flamenco compositions Songs about birds Songs about food and drink The Andrews Sisters songs Songs with lyrics by Aloísio de Oliveira Paco de Lucía songs Carmen Miranda songs 1917 in Brazil