Not really blues, but consider, for example, the old Merle Travis classic, “I Like My Chicken Fryin’ Size:”
I like my chicken fryin’ size
Hangin’ ‘round my pen
Young and tender and not too wise
Like some old stewing hen
Who has seen the lot
Of every rooster that you’ve got
That’s why I like my chicken fryin’ size
When I get my skillet hot!"
Of course, the slang sense of “chicken” is synonymous with the slang sense of “bird.”
It’s also worth noting that some folks still talk about “chicks” without causing any confusion.
I’m with ya, pal. I remember Steve Dahl and Garry Meier doing a radio bit called “Foreign Bodies in Rectum,” where they read medical accounts of, well, stuff stuffed up people’s asses. Guess what was playing as the background music?
I know we are waaay of topic, but you gotta love the Rectal Foreign Bodies web site…
Speaking of Louis Jordan…
I think you may have missed a joke on that one, AskNott.
The “chickens” then complain about being kept awake, since they need their energy for the next day: “We’ve got ground to dig, and worms to scratch – It takes a lot of settin’, gettin’ chicks to hatch.”
After the farmer is placated and goes to bed, the punchline: “It’s easy pickin’s – ain’t nobody here but us chickens.”
Do you think that song the is literally about poultry-theft? I know it is often taken as the chicken-thieves putting one over on the farmer by answering as though they are the chickens – but given that the writer, performers, and audience of the song was as urban as they come, and “chicken” has another, established sense for jive-talkers, can you see the non-literal implications of the song? The joke that a chicken’s work is “scratchin’ worms” and “hatchin’ chicks?”
In this context, it’s natural for the chickens to complain about the possessive farmer “jawing” and bothering them. This is another “Back Door Man” song.