# How many different versions of the C-H-I-C-K-E-N lyrics are there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751 "2008-11-14T19:15:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/1 "2008-11-14T19:15:25Z")
Almost put this in MPSIMS but then decided Cafe Society because it’s a song… I’m sure many of you know the C-H-I-C-K-E-N song. Name of song? Not sure. Anyway, I learned it as a camp song in Girl Scouts, and since then I’ve heard a few mildly different versions of the lyrics. I’m wondering if you know the song, and if so, how do your lyrics differ from these? C- thats the way it begins H - I’m the 2nd letter in I - I am the third and C - I’m the 4th letter in that bird oh K - I’m fillin’ in E - I’m near the N oh C-H-I-C-K-E-N That’s the way you spell CHICKEN! Oh Rufus, Ruffus, Johnson Brown Whatcha gonna do when the rent comes 'round Whatcha gonna say Whatcha gonna pay Whatcha gonna do on the judgment day Oh you know I know Rent means dough Landlord’s gonna throw you out in the snow Oh Rufus, Ruffus, Johnson Brown Whatcha gonna do when the rent comes round? ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/2 "2008-11-14T19:31:30Z")
Yeah, I remember it. The lyrics I learned were virtually identical, except we called him Rufus Raffus. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/3 "2008-11-14T19:33:44Z")
C … the way it begins H … the second letter in I … that is the third C, K … the middle of the word E … that’s near the end N … that IS the end! C H I C K E N that’s the way you spell CHICKEN! Chicken, oh chicken, chick, chick, chicken! ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/4 "2008-11-14T20:03:25Z")
Is this an Eastern regional thing? I’ve never even heard of this song and I’ve been to church camp AND Girl Scouts! ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/5 "2008-11-14T20:17:16Z")
I learned this song in elementary school in Oregon in the 70s, pretty much exactly as the OP has it. When I was teaching it to a group of children at a camp a few years ago one of my co-workers pulled me aside because she was concerned that this song was offensive to African-Americans. 😕:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/6 "2008-11-14T21:03:06Z")
> [@leafrog](#): > > When I was teaching it to a group of children at a camp a few years ago one of my co-workers pulled me aside because she was concerned that this song was offensive to African-Americans. 😕:rolleyes: Well, it does mention someone called “Rufus” and (fried) chicken. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/7 "2008-11-24T14:45:12Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Is this an Eastern regional thing? I’ve never even heard of this song and I’ve been to church camp AND Girl Scouts! I spaced out an forgot I even started this thread - oops. I learned it at a GS camp in Oklahoma, in the late 70s. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/8 "2008-11-24T14:58:40Z")
GS camp, California, early 80’s. His name is Rufus Rumfus Johnson Brown. Here’s my version, almost identical: C- thats the way it begins H - I’m the 2nd letter in I - I am the third **letter** and C - **is** the 4th letter in **this word** oh K - I’m fillin’ in E - I’m near the N oh C-H-I-C-K-E-N That’s the way you spell CHICKEN! Oh Rufus, Rumfus, Johnson Brown Whatcha gonna do when the rent comes 'round Whatcha gonna say Whatcha gonna pay Whatcha gonna do on the judgment day Oh you know I know Rent means dough Landlord’s gonna throw you out in the snow Oh Rufus, Rumfus, Johnson Brown Whatcha gonna do when the rent comes round? You can find the words online too, I did a search a few years back. (Now, does anyone else know O G?) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/9 "2008-11-24T15:16:54Z")
[The first version here](http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songs2/s2_28.htm) is the version we learnt. There may have been another verse after the CHICKEN chorus, but I don’t remember it, if so. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/10 "2008-11-24T16:42:07Z")
I’m another one who has never heard of this song. I grew up mostly near Baltimore, but never was in Girl Scouts or went to camp (in the US) or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/11 "2008-11-24T18:06:18Z")
The original version is “(Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown) What Ya Gonna Do When De Rent Come 'Round” (here a [recording](http://ia301117.us.archive.org/0/items/ArthurCollins_part2/ArthurCollins-WhatYouGointoDoWhentheRentComesRoundCoonSong.mp3) from 1905) and was a “coon song”, a/k/a a song done in blackface minstrel shows. So **leafrog** ’s co-worker wasn’t all that far off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/12 "2008-11-24T22:14:01Z")
Sheet music for [What you goin’ to do when the rent comes 'round? (Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown)](http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/cgi/b/bib/bib-idx?type=simple;c=devincent;c=starr;g=sheetmusic;sid=165d89eafa624e9e03b975cf01f7b46c;xc=1;Submit=search;sort=A-Z;q1=rent%20comes;rgn1=entire%20record;cc=devincent;view=reslist;fmt=short;start=1;size=25) In James Agee’s _A Death in the Family_, older kids tease little Rufus Follett, saying he has a “n\*gger’s name”, and singing the song. ---
**Author:** ![theleahmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@theleahmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theleahmonster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/13 "2017-03-18T04:39:34Z")
GS camp, Kansas, modern day C is the way it begins H is the next letter in I is the middle of the word C you have already heard K is the next letter in E we are nearing the end C-H-I-C-K-E-N that’s the way you spell chicken and a 1 and a 2 and a doodley-doo Rufus Rofkis Johnson Brown whatchta gonna do when the rent comes around whatchta gonna do whatchta gonna say can’t pay the rent til the break of day whatchta gonna do how’s it gonna go can’t pay the rent if you don’t got the dough and a 1 and 2 and a doodley-doo (repeat) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-different-versions-of-the-c-h-i-c-k-e-n-lyrics-are-there/472751/14 "2017-03-18T06:46:34Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > The original version is “(Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown) What Ya Gonna Do When De Rent Come 'Round” (here a [recording](http://ia301117.us.archive.org/0/items/ArthurCollins_part2/ArthurCollins-WhatYouGointoDoWhentheRentComesRoundCoonSong.mp3) from 1905) and was a “coon song”, a/k/a a song done in blackface minstrel shows. So **leafrog** ’s co-worker wasn’t all that far off the mark. Bah. This old zombie proves there ain’t no justice: [The full collection](https://archive.org/details/ArthurCollins_part2) has multiple recordings of “The Preacher and the Bear” and, yes “What You Going To Do When The Rent Comes 'Round” but only one of “Won’t You Fondle Me”!