“Tico-Tico No Fubá” 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. It belongs to the choro genre, a style of instrumental music that developed in 1870s Rio de Janeiro, flourished several decades into the 20th century, and has enjoyed several revivals since. While choro means lament, the music is often upbeat and rhythmic, and so is “Tico-Tico.”
The first recording of the work was made by Orquestra Colbaz (1931) 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. It also success in various forms, including in films: for instance, Carmen Miranda performed the song in the 1947 Groucho Marx film Copacabana.
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 No. 14 in January 1945, and sold nearly two million copies worldwide.
In Quebec, the song has been used for several decades in commercials for Sico paint. In the Mama’s Family 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.
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 as Abreu. The title phrase also features in the lyrics to the song “O Pato” made famous by João Gilberto. 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.
