This song is about the birds of Jamaica using their regional names.

For the chorus, the lead singer sings the first line, "Chi chi bud oh". Then the group responds with "Some a dem a holla, some a bawl."

Then the lead singer sings "Some a" + the name of a bird. Then the group responds with, "Some a dem a holla, some a bawl." They go back and forth following the same scheme with the lead singer naming different birds. After naming four birds they sing the original chorus again.

The song continues like this for as long as they can continue.

Since the leader decides which birds to mention in whichever order he chooses, the birds listed here examples of birds often used, in no particular order.

Chi Chi Bud Oh - Jamaican Children's Songs - Jamaica - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World - Intro Image

Notes

*If anyone knows the English name of the "conlan", please email me. Thanks! -Mama Lisa

Note: Jankrooo = Jankro = John Crow = Turkey vulture or black vulture.

Comments

"Here's a saying we have in Jamaica – ...'Chi chi bud oh, some a dem a holla , some a bawl.' Oh what tangled web we weave." -Kwesi (Probably due to the fact that the song goes on and on until either the lead singer or the group can't take it any more!)

"The song Chi Chi Bud Oh was less about birds and more about tracing certain kinds of people. The John Crow was a scavenger; the parrot, a chatterbox; and the blackbird, a robber, for example." -The Gleaner

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Thanks and Acknowledgements

Image: Greater Antillean Grackle, cc.