"Zoot Suit Riot" nonsense (?) lyrics

[BrainGlutton]

One of my favorite songs to sing in karaoke is “Zoot Suit Riot” by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. It includes a passage with what appear to be nonsense lyrics, going something like this, IIRC (difference karaoke discs give different versions):

Zoo doot zi ou
Za say zoo sah
Zee zoo za zee zoo
Zah zah zah
Zote di i ou
Zah say zoo sah
Play aba rig op
Date day day

Are these words just meaningless filler, like “fa-la-la-la-la,” or are they some kind of 1940s Pig-Latin or slang?

[ddgryphon]

@BrainGlutton

One of my favorite songs to sing in karaoke is “Zoot Suit Riot” by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. It includes a passage with what appear to be nonsense lyrics, going something like this, IIRC (difference karaoke discs give different versions):

Zoo doot zi ou
Za say zoo sah
Zee zoo za zee zoo
Zah zah zah
Zote di i ou
Zah say zoo sah
Play aba rig op
Date day day

Are these words just meaningless filler, like “fa-la-la-la-la,” or are they some kind of 1940s Pig-Latin or slang?

It’s Scat

[Jonathan_Chance]

And each bit matches the horn section that immediately follows. It’s a nice piece of work.

[NailBunny]

The Daddies are famous for this. See also “Shake Your Lovemaker”.

[Loach]

Next up a thread which explores the hidden meaning of the end of “Minnie the Moocher”.

[Revtim]

Be careful if you are thinking of Googling “scat”, there’s another NSFW meaning of that word…