Help me decipher these lyrics from "Zoot Suit Riot"

Zo dote zi ou
Za zay zoo zah
Ze zoo zah ze zoo
Zah zah zah
Play aba rig op
Date day day

That’s the way the “words” are usually spelled in karaoke lyrics, anyway. I would dismiss this as so much “fa la la” except that the song is an imitation (or, if you prefer, revival) of Swing-era music, the 1930s and '40s, when Pig-Latin was popular and there might have been other forms of jargon and slang I’ve never heard of. Do these lyrics, perhaps, actually mean something?

IIRC, there were actually riots in the 1940’s over the making of zoot suits. They used alot of fabric, which, at the time was being rationed for uniforms and parachutes (the silk lining for parachutes.)

from wikipedia: Zoot Suit Riots - Wikipedia

Nope, just scat singing to go along with the instrumental section. Nothing more, nothing less.

Missinformation, the OP is relatively brief. You could have probably read it before posting.

How do you know that?

I don’t know that, but I have to agree with Strainger. It clearly sounds like standard scatting to me, which would have been popular in that era.

Years of listening to and karaokeing the song plus a complete lack of references to the scat syllables as anything but scat syllables (if they’re referenced at all) are my cite.

Seriously though, as a former boss of mine used to say, you’re thinking too hard.

Here’s a little bit better cite: ZOOT SUIT RIOT

Remember where you are, dude! Every mondegreen is worth a thread! There’s got to be a Klingon proverb about that . . .

Y’all aren’t being very helpful. Here’s a translation for you:

Zo dote zi ou = Hi de hi de hi de hi
Za zay zoo zah = Ho de ho de ho de ho
Ze zoo zah ze zoo = Skiddly diddly day
Zah zah zah = Skooby dooby doo
Play aba rig op = Hey bop a ree bop
Date day day = De boodly ack a-sacky

Glad to be of service. :smiley:

You’re just Mooching for compliments.

That’s weird - you’re wrong about the cause of the Zoot Suit Riots yet you linked right to the article with the correct information.

The Zoot Suit Riots (which don’t quite have anything to do with the passage in the OP - that is just scat) were basically racially-charged riots. It started with a fight between young Mexican-American men and some servicemen.

I guess you could say that the servicemen thought that the Mexican kids were being disrespectful by wearing such extravagant clothing in times of personal sacrifice but…well I’d guess that “the making of zoot suits” was not the crux of the problem.

If it matters, based on a message to the staff, missinformation realized this a little while after she posted.

Also weird is that she didn’t correct herself in this thread…lol

Ah well, hopefully people clicked on the link!

Why would someone named missinformation correct themselves after being wrong? Her work is done! :stuck_out_tongue:

I believe the proverb is “Only Nixon can go to China.”

Nice.