HAPPY HOTTENTOT

as sung by Miss Patricola


Listen while I sing to you
Um! Um! root-a-loot-a-loo
Of a girl in Timbuctoo
Um! Um! Doo-ma-rink-y-doo.
In her nose she wears a ring
Gosh! Ding! Pretty little thing!
She will lamp you then she'll vamp you
Fall time then means spring
Coo-Coo! Some stew! The birds now sing for you.

Oh, oh! This happy Hottentot has got 
Got got got
Got a dinner pot
That seems to say I welcome you
Jump right in and join our stew
And oh,oh! They'll be a lot of you to stew
Stew stew stew
I'm a telling you
And all her royal Zulu band
Wait with empty plates in hand
To meet you, greet you
Glad to eat you
Happy Hottentot.

In her hut behind the hill
Hill! Hill! She's a daffodil!
Listen to the whippoorwill
Lil! Lil! She is dressed to kill.
Queen of all the Hottentots
Tots! Tots! Rotten Hottentots
When she dances she entrances
Ev'ry move's a treat.
She moves, she moves,
Her moves are hard to beat.

Oh! Oh! This happy Hottentot has got
Got got got
Got an awful lot
Of something, you know what I mean
No, I don't mean gasoline!
But, oh oh!
She does a funny little step 
Step step step
Shows a lot of pep
And if the night is nice and warm
She will dance in perfect form
To host you, toast you,
Then she'll roast you
Happy Hottentot.

Oh! Oh! Oh! This happy Hottentot has got
Got got got
Got an awful lot
Of ways that make you fall some how
Oh boy, she's the cat's meow!
And, Oh! Oh! There never was another vamp
Vamp vamp vamp
Who was such a champ
She'll make a present, you will bring
Then she'll start and crown you king
She'll woo you, coo you,
Then she'll stew you
Happy Hottentot.


Note: Yet another Oh By Jingo clone; neither the best nor the worst (the worst are not included in this collection). The tune and Ms. Patricola's delivery surpass the lyrics.
One cannot help but wonder what this Hottentot was doing in Timbuctoo-- more distant from the Hottentot homeland than Moscow is from Madrid, or Montreal is from Mexico City. And just what was a Zulu Royal band doing with her? Alas, one must just assume that this is an other example of blatant geographic and anthropological ignorance on the part of the lyricist. Furthermore, there is no record of cannibalism in Hottentot society. However the song's title seems a correct detail within the limited knowledge of African peoples availible in the USA at the time; as the 1920
Encyclopaedia Americana describes the Hottentot as "of a happy-go-lucky, friendly disposition".

Have you read this collection's Introduction yet?

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