# Ku Ku Kachoo: What does it mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366 "2013-04-22T02:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/1 "2013-04-22T02:08:45Z")
I hear this lyric in “I Am The Walrus” and “Mrs. Robinson” but I have no idea what it means nor the significance of it in either song. What do the members of the SDMB have to say? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/2 "2013-04-22T02:19:22Z")
[My Coo Cachoo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Y93Qucbt0) Alvin Stardust 1974 I don’t think it has any more intrinsic meaning than ‘la la laaaa’ or ‘hey nonny nonny no’ - it’s just a string of syllables that worked in that song for that songwriter. There’s probably a name for it … ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/3 "2013-04-22T05:56:31Z")
The lyric in “I Am The Walrus” is “goo goo ga joob”. It’s from _Finnegans Wake_. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/4 "2013-04-22T06:07:07Z")
Or not: [Celebrating the Beatles: Goo Goo Ga Joob! : Word Routes : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus](http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/celebrating-the-beatles-goo-goo-ga-joob/) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/5 "2013-04-22T06:22:52Z")
I’ve long thought that Lennon was experimenting with the sounds and rhythms of the words rather than their meanings when he wrote Walrus. And yeah, he might have been doing some other kind of experimenting also. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/6 "2013-04-22T06:40:11Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Or not: [Celebrating the Beatles: Goo Goo Ga Joob! : Word Routes : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus](http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/celebrating-the-beatles-goo-goo-ga-joob/) That is an excellent article! ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/7 "2013-04-22T06:58:32Z")
For a large part of his career, John Lennon didn’t seem to feel obligated to write a song with a particular meaning. This was in that period. ETA, and I think the same is true of Simon and Garfunkel at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/8 "2013-04-22T07:04:12Z")
Oh, in Mrs. Robinson, it was a reference to Walrus. And a left-handed drug reference. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/9 "2013-04-22T09:37:22Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Oh, in Mrs. Robinson, it was a reference to Walrus. And a left-handed drug reference. That is a fact, is it? :rolleyes: Singers (and songwriters) have been using nonsense syllables in songs since time immemorial. Hey nonny nonny no, folderol da diddle. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/10 "2013-04-22T10:04:14Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I’ve long thought that Lennon was experimenting with the sounds and rhythms of the words rather than their meanings when he wrote Walrus. > > And yeah, he might have been doing some other kind of experimenting also. According to Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Lennon received a letter from a pupil at Quarry Bank High School, which he had attended. The writer mentioned that the English master was making his class analyse Beatles’ lyrics (Lennon wrote an answer, dated 1 September 1967, which was auctioned by Christie’s of London in 1992). Lennon, amused that a teacher was putting so much effort into understanding the Beatles’ lyrics, wrote the most confusing lyrics he could. > > […] > > Lennon borrowed a couple of words, added the three unfinished ideas and the result was “I Am the Walrus”. The Beatles’ official biographer Hunter Davies was present while the song was being written and wrote an account in his 1968 biography of the Beatles. Lennon remarked to Shotton, “Let the fuckers work that one out.” So I’d say he paid plenty of attention to the words – enough attention to make sure they were nonsensical but vaguely symbolic sounding at least. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/11 "2013-04-22T16:05:08Z")
It means “Did you ever wake up with them bullfrogs on your mind?”. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/12 "2013-04-22T16:44:53Z")
The Rutles changed the lyric to “Do a poo POO.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/13 "2013-04-24T01:40:06Z")
Lennon later regretted making the walrus the focus of the song, as he was going for a somewhat sinister vibe, and the carpenter was the real badguy of the duo. Though after his infamous remarks about Jesus a year or so previously, if he’d written a song called “I Am the Carpenter,” you can just imagine the controversy! ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/14 "2013-04-24T01:54:31Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That is an excellent article! Indeed! Nice to know I’m not the only one who fell for the _Finnegans Wake_ story. Then again, there’s no way I was going to read it for conformation. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/15 "2013-04-24T02:58:46Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > It means “Did you ever wake up with them bullfrogs on your mind?”. I know what that’s a sure sign of. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/16 "2013-04-24T03:03:53Z")
For all the latest medical poop Call Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Poo poo pa-doop. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/17 "2013-04-25T23:04:53Z")
_“Smoke pot, smoke pot! Everybody smoke pot!”_ as much as some folks say that’s NOT what they’re singing at the end, it’s ALL i can hear! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/18 "2013-04-26T00:01:44Z")
> [@akrako1](#): > > _“Smoke pot, smoke pot! Everybody smoke pot!”_ > > as much as some folks say that’s NOT what they’re singing at the end, it’s ALL i can hear! Lennon said it was “Got one … Got one … Everybody’s got one.” ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/19 "2013-04-26T01:09:02Z")
Gesundheit, Catherwood. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366/20 "2013-04-26T01:25:30Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Lennon said it was “Got one … Got one … Everybody’s got one.” That’s what the women of the chorus are singing. The men are singing “Oom-pah, oom-pah, stick it up your jumper” (pronounced “joompah”). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ku-ku-kachoo-what-does-it-mean/656366.md?page=2)