# Musical ethnic cliches-- Do these tunes have names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998 "2004-08-22T19:34:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/1 "2004-08-22T19:34:51Z")
There’s that little flute-y thing that they play whenever a Chinese person shows up in a movie. Like in that song Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting. Is that part of a real song? How about the Russian drudgery song, always played showing women in babushkas sowing fields in the snow? And the Middle Eastern snake charming music? I’m sure there are more that I’m not remembering. Do they tunes have names? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/2 "2004-08-22T19:36:02Z")
That should be Musical **ethnic** cliches. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/3 "2004-08-22T19:49:57Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > How about the Russian drudgery song, always played showing women in babushkas sowing fields in the snow? That one, I think, is called the “Volga Boatmen.” ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/4 "2004-08-22T20:03:29Z")
[this site (warning, it plays the music)](http://www.shira.net/streets-of-cairo.htm), has some information about the snake charmer dance. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/5 "2004-08-22T20:08:41Z")
If it’s what I’m thining of, the Chinese one is nothing more than a cliche - something which was made to sound vaguley ‘oriental’ to people who don’t know any better. There’s a pretty good recording of the Volga Boatmen’s Chorus [here](http://www.artpankrat.de/saenger.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/6 "2004-08-22T20:49:03Z")
The book “The Devil in the White City”, by Erik Larson, confirms **amarinth** ’s link as far as Sol Bloom (who, BTW, later became the House Foreign Affairs chairman) is concerned. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/7 "2004-08-22T21:14:56Z")
One mention has to go to “La cucaracha” That Mexican song, which originated during the Mexican revolution of 1910, has been a cliché in cartoons and movies, I am still amazed that in the USA, in the 1930-1950, everybody missed what the original lyrics had this: La Cucaracha _Coro: La cucaracha, la cucaracha, Ya no puede caminar; Porque no tiene, porque le falta Marijuana que fumar._ In English: Chorus: _The roach, the roach, can’t walk no more; cause it misses, Cause it lost **marihuana** to smoke!!!_ I laugh when I remember that even little and angelical Shirley Temple sings that song, with those lyrics, in one movie from that era! Today, the lyrics are usually sanitized and even are used on training videos to learn Spanish: [http://www.musicalspanish.com/flashdemo2.htm](http://www.musicalspanish.com/flashdemo2.htm) With the “marihuana to smoke” line changed to the now common: “a foot to walk” Nice modern rhythm added to that old chestnut I have to say… ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/8 "2004-08-22T21:26:57Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > One mention has to go to “La cucaracha” > > That Mexican song, which originated during the Mexican revolution of 1910, has been a cliché in cartoons and movies, I am still amazed that in the USA, in the 1930-1950, everybody missed what the original lyrics had this: > > La Cucaracha > _Coro: > La cucaracha, la cucaracha, > Ya no puede caminar; > Porque no tiene, porque le falta > Marijuana que fumar._ > > In English: > > Chorus: > _The roach, the roach, > can’t walk no more; > cause it misses, Cause it lost > **marihuana** to smoke!!!_ > > I laugh when I remember that even little and angelical Shirley Temple sings that song, with those lyrics, in one movie from that era! > > Today, the lyrics are usually sanitized and even are used on training videos to learn Spanish: > > [http://www.musicalspanish.com/flashdemo2.htm](http://www.musicalspanish.com/flashdemo2.htm) > > With the “marihuana to smoke” line changed to the now common: “a foot to walk” > Nice modern rhythm added to that old chestnut I have to say… The original words to _I Get a Kick Out of You_ included the line “I get no kick from cocaine, flying too high with some guy in the sky…” It was changed to …In a plane… ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/9 "2004-08-22T22:29:05Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > There’s that little flute-y thing that they play whenever a Chinese person shows up in a movie. Like in that song Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting. Is that part of a real song? “They had these college cheerleaders and they were doing this routine, and it was _so racist._ First of all it started off with that _dunnanunna-nun-na-nun-na-naaa_ **gongggggggg**. If you’re Asian, and you hear that on TV, you know you’re fucked.” - Margaret Cho ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/10 "2004-08-22T22:29:41Z")
That was me, like it was such a big surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/11 "2004-08-23T00:13:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > In English: > > Chorus: > _The roach, the roach, > can’t walk no more; > cause it misses, Cause it lost > **marihuana** to smoke!!!_ “La Cucaracha” (The Cockroach) was actually the name of the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa’s automobile. According to [many accounts,](http://www.cleartest.com/testinfo/pancho_villa.htm) Villa’s military campaign’s were partially fueled by marijuana: > [@](#): > > One of our favorite revolutionary figures of the 20th century, Pancho Villa, is said to have smoked pot before going to battle to become mas valiente (more valiant). The term “Marijuana” even comes from ballads sung by Pancho Villa and his army. William Hearst took the term directly from their lips to his yellow journalism propaghanda when he pushed for the prohibition of cannabis. > > . . . > > The song was adopted as Villa’s battle hymn after his capture of Torreon and subsequent overthrow of the Mexican government because many of his men had smoked marihuana before going into battle, much like other soldiers drinking alcohol before battle. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/12 "2004-08-23T00:15:53Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The original words to _I Get a Kick Out of You_ included the line “I get no kick from cocaine, flying too high with some guy in the sky…” It was changed to …In a plane… The old Sinatra version I have has him singing: I get no kick from cocaine I know if I took even one sniff It would bore me terriffffff— ically too ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/13 "2004-08-23T04:00:26Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The original words to _I Get a Kick Out of You_ included the line “I get no kick from cocaine, flying too high with some guy in the sky…” It was changed to …In a plane… It wasn’t changed, both verses are original, you’ve mixed them up. **nonsuch** pointed out the lyrics of the cocaine verse and the plane verse has that great internal rhyme (“flying too high with some guy in the sky”) which Sinatra changed because of the genders. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/14 "2004-08-23T04:50:48Z")
Whenever a cartoon features Irish characters, the accompanying music is likely to be “The Washerwoman” (sometimes called “The Wash Woman” or “The Irish Washerwoman”), a stereotypical jig tune. ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/15 "2004-08-23T05:30:15Z")
The classic Japanese tune everyone uses is a traditional Geisha tune. Movies (and during the 60’s and 70’s, commercials on TV) typically manage to make traditional songs and music into stereotypical cliches. You can’t hear the theme from the Godfother without thinking of the Mafia, and it was lifted from a traditional Italian Wedding song. Irish jigs. Chinese Bamboo flute. Indian Sitar. Native American Drums. African Drums. Aboriginal Didjeridu. SCottish Bagpipes. Are some of the many traditional fok music that has become cliche over the years. Part of it is that these songs ans sounds are veryu regional and immediatly identify the Nationality or ethnicity of the person it is applied to. Because of this film and TV tend to over use a type of music until it becomes a joke. (For a non-ethnic example, just look at the theme from Jaws. When it came out it was the perfect piece of music for a killer shark. Now people would laugh.) ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/16 "2004-08-23T05:31:25Z")
I know, I know! Preview is my friend. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/17 "2004-08-23T11:02:59Z")
I wonder if the reverse is true. If other countries have music that signifies American. An electric guitar riff or maybe some Sousa. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/18 "2004-08-23T12:45:02Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > The old Sinatra version I have has him singing: > > I get no kick from cocaine > I know if > I took even one sniff > It would bore me terriffffff— > ically too That’s the original version. But when “Anything Goes” was made into a movie, the Hays Office wouldn’t allow it, so Porter rewrote the first line to “Some like the perfumes in Spain.” Not ethnic, but sections of the William Tell Overture are often used to indicate a storm, and that it’s morning (I heard the latter just the other day on “Two and a Half Men”). ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/19 "2004-08-23T14:12:57Z")
Andean pan pipes playing El Condor Pasa Spanish guitar playing Aranjuez Crooners singing Guantanamera or Besame Mucho accompanied by guitars and maracas - all used to evoke a generic ‘Latin’ mood even when geographically inappropriate. Same goes for the Banana Boat Song to evoke the Caribbean. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998/20 "2004-08-23T14:31:37Z")
A brief little squeeze of street-cafe accordion to signify France; A waltz with heavy tuba, especially “mein Hut es hat drei Ecken”, for Germany; Hillbilly = either a snippet of “Flop-eared mule” on the fiddle or some “Dueling Banjos”; for a more flatlander south, sometimes a little steel guitar or a fragment of “Dixie” Western = lots of choices…there’s that slow-pony thing (1.56.51.56.5), the minor guitar strumming, the “Bonanza Theme Song” dum da da dum da da dum da da… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-ethnic-cliches-do-these-tunes-have-names/260998.md?page=2)