"Tico-Tico no Fubá" [ˈtʃiku ˈtʃiku nu fuˈba] ("sparrow in the cornmeal", or, literally, "rufous-collared sparrow in the cornmeal") is a Brazilian choro song written by Zequinha de Abreu 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.
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Outside Brazil, the song reached its peak popularity in the 1940s, with successful recordings by Ethel Smith, The Andrews Sisters (with English-language lyrics by Ervin Drake), Carmen Miranda 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 in the MGM film Bathing Beauty (1944), after which her recording reached the U.S. pop charts in November 1944, peaked at #14 on January 27, 1945, and sold nearly two million copies worldwide.
Carmen Miranda and Ray Conniff both made popular recordings of the song.
The song was recorded by The Andrews Sisters in 1944. The song was recorded by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians in 1956 (Decca DL8221) on the album, "A Visit to Disneyland".
The flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía performed this song in 1967.
In 2005, tubist Kyle Turner recorded a version for his album "Expressions - The Heart of the Tuba." In 2006, the Brazilian singer Ney Matogrosso recorded a version for his album Batuque. In 2009, Daniela Mercury recorded the song on her thirteenth studio album Canibália.
In 2015, the Japanese band Ali Project recorded a version with new lyrics written by Arika Takarano, the singer.
Other notable recordings have been made by:
In film and television
Carmen Miranda performed "Tico-Tico" onscreen in Copacabana (1947); It was also featured in the "Aquarela do Brasil" segment of the Walt Disney film Saludos Amigos (1942) and in Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987).
In Quebec the song has been used for several decades in commercials for Sico paint.
In the season three Mama's Family episode "An Ill Wind," an intoxicated Iola briefly sings the song's chorus before passing out onto a bed.
This song can be heard on various episodes of the Belgian Kabouter Wesley cartoon.
Other uses
This song was often performed by the Grateful Dead during their tuning jams between songs. It was also played as an instrumental by James Booker with the Jerry Garcia Band.
This song was performed in the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
This song was adapted to the 2016 video games Just Dance 2017 and Civilization VI.