[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial stereotypes. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]
A popular song from 1902
Words and music by Sidney L. Perrin and Bob Slater
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- In the little country schoolhouse
Where de little darkies go
There is a little picanninny
By de name of Ragtime Joe
Now, when it comes to spelling
His ragtime brain works fast
He’s de only well learned scholar
Dat holds down his own class
One day de teacher call his class
To spell one sort of bird
Dat kind of bird was chickens
And they could not spell de word
So de teacher called on Ragtime Joe
To spell dat word to them
He didn’t hesitate a bit
This is how he began
CHORUS:
C, dat’s de way to begin
H, dat’s de next letter in
I, dat am de third
C, dat’s to season de word
K, dat’s a-filling in
E, I’m near de end
C-H-I-C-K-E-N
Dat’s de way to spell chicken
- Parson Johnson gave a concert
In de old church-house one night.
He hired himself a lots of talent
Dat could sing and could recite
And when they pulled de curtain
Ev’rything went wrong, you know
Till one darkey loudly yelled
“Let’s hear from Ragtime Joe”
He sang a ragtime new coon song
But it did not take so well
He said, “I’ve went afrost on dat
I guess I’ll have to spell”
Then he told the audience dat
He had composed a chicken song
And when he spelled these words to them
He took de house by storm