Brazilian song refurbished for North American consumption during the WWII flirtation with Latin culture. The unforgettable tune was composed by Zequinha Abreu, but unfortunately technology doesn't yet permit me to convey it to you through mere text. You'll have to settle for the lyrics - not the original Portuguese ones by Aloysio Oliveria, but the English translation Ervin Drake provided in 1943 for Oliveira's orchestra in Walt Disney's Saludos Amigos - a performance which would garner them an Academy Award nomination.
Oh tico-tico tick!
Oh tico-tico tock!
This tico-tico - he's the cuckoo in my clock.
And when he says: "Cuckoo!" he means it's time to woo;
It's "tico-time" for all the lovers in the block.
I've got a heavy date -
a tete-a-tete at eight,
so speak, oh tico, tell me is it getting late?
If I'm on time, "Cuckoo!" but if I'm late, "Woo-woo!"
The one my heart has gone to may not want to wait!
For just a birdie, and a birdie who goes no-where,
He knows of ev'ry Lovers' Lane and how to go there;
For in affairs of the heart, my Tico's terribly smart,
He tells me: "Gently, sentiment'ly at the start!"
Oh-oh, I hear my little tico-tico calling,
Because the time is right and shades of night are falling.
I love that not-so-cuckoo cuckoo in my clock:
tico-tico tico-tico-tico tock!
The following year the song was featured again in MGM's Bathing Beauty (by the ultimately-named Xavier Cugat and his band) and much was later made of the to-be-standard by legendary fruit-head Carmen Miranda, gap-handed gypsy virtuoso Django Reinhardt, Desi Arnaz and Joan Esquivel among legions of others.
UPDATE! Sylvar and especially gwidion have furnished me with the complete version of Aloysio's original Portuguese lyrics!
O tico tico tá, tá outra vez aqui,
o tico tico tá comendo o meu fubá.
Se o tico tico tem, tem que se alimentar,
Que vá comer umas minhocas no pomar.
O tico tico tá, tá outra vez aqui,
o tico tico tá comendo o meu fubá.
Eu sei que ele vem viver no meu quintal,
e vem com ares de canário e de pardal.
Mas por favor tira esse bicho do celeiro,
porque ele acaba comendo o fubá inteiro.
Tira esse tico de lá, de cima do meu fubá.
Tem tanta fruta que ele pode pinicar.
Eu já fiz tudo para ver se conseguia.
Botei alpiste para ver se ele comia.
Botei um gato um espantalho e um alçapăo,
mas ele acha que o fubá é que é boa alimentaçăo.
| 
