Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Skidamarink

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Skidamarink or Skinnamarink is a popular preschool song. Originally titled "Skid-dy-mer-rink-adink-aboomp" or "Skiddy-Mer-Rink-A-Doo", the initial version of the song was written by Felix F. Feist (lyrics) and Al Piantadosi (music) for the 1910 Charles Dillingham Broadway production "The Echo." Since the title is gibberish, it has had various spellings over the years.

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In Canada, the song was popularised by the band Sharon, Lois & Bram, who first released it on their debut album One Elephant, Deux Elephants, and then sang it on The Elephant Show. 'Skinnamarink' became their signature song, and their next television show would be named Skinnamarink TV after it. A natural ice rink at the Sharon, Lois & Bram Playground in Davisville, Toronto has been named the "Skinnama-rink" in honor of the song.

The song had been discovered for the band by Lois Lilienstein, who had asked her cousin's daughter if she knew any good songs; the girl sang 'Skinnamarink', which she had heard at a camp she had just been to. None of the band members knew the origins of the song, and the track was attributed to Traditional.

  • The song began appearing on many song collections for children's shows in the 1980s. One version appeared on the Australian show Bananas in Pyjamas.
  • Children can be heard singing the song in the background of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • It appeared in a 2015 advertisement for Bose music systems.
  • "Skidamarink" appears in an advertisement for the Chevrolet Cruze in the United States.
  • Otto Brandenburg's Danish Christmas song Søren Banjomus is based on "Skidamarink", with accompanying "danglified" versions of the gibberish.

    • Lyrics

    ORIGINAL 1910 VERSION:

    1. Down on a Boola Boola Isle,

    Where the mermaids chant,

    Reigns big chief Crocodile

    Beneath an oyster plant.

    He loved a sea-nymph selfishly,

    Queen of the Gay White Wave.

    Each night in his shell he'd go to sea

    And in tuneful scales he'd rave:

    CHORUS: Skiddy-mer-rink-a-dink-a-boomp, skiddy-mer-rink-a-doo,

    Means I love you.

    Skiddy-mer-rink-a-dink-a-boomp, skiddy-mer-rink-a-doo,

    Means I'll be true

    Skiddy-mer-rink-a-dink-a-boomp, skiddy-mer-rink-a-doo,

    All the time he {sang/sings} this rhyme

    Skiddy-mer-rink-a-dink-a-boomp, skiddy-mer-rink-a-doo,

    Means I love you.

    2. But when the midnight moon was pale,

    King Fish Kokomo

    Came floating over with his tale

    To say he loved her so;

    But she was true to Crocodile,

    Said "Koko-Nut, go 'way;

    I know, in a very little while

    You will hear my lover say:"

    CHORUS

    LATER 1980s VERSION:

    Skidamarink a-dink, a-dink,

    Skidamarink a-doo,

    I love you. (2x)

    I love you in the morning,

    And in the afternoon;

    I love you in the evening,

    And underneath the moon.

    Oh, skidamarink a-dink, a-dink,

    Skidamarink a-doo,

    I love you.


    Another version goes like this:


    Skinnymarink e-dink e-dink,

    Skinnymarink e-do,

    I love you. (x2)

    I love you in the morning,

    And I love you in the night,

    I love you in the evening,

    When the moon is shining bright

    Oh, Skinnymarink e-dink e-dink,

    Skinnymarink e-do,

    I love you.

    References

    Skidamarink Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA