Tico-Tico no Fubá is a Brazilian choro tune written by Zequinha de Abreu in 1917. It started life as Tico-Tico no Farelo but was renamed in 1931 to avoid confusion with another piece, and the first recording was made that year by Orquestra Colbaz for Columbia. The song, with Portuguese lyrics by Aloysio de Oliveira and Eurico Barreiros and an English version by Ervin Drake, gained international fame in the 1940s through popular performances by Ethel Smith, The Andrews Sisters, and most famously Carmen Miranda. Miranda’s 1945 Decca recording helped push it into Hollywood, where it appeared in films such as Bathing Beauty (1944) and Copacabana (1947). The title refers to a rufous-collared sparrow in the cornmeal, and the piece remains a staple of Brazilian choro with countless arrangements across genres, heard in films, on stage, and at events like the Rio 2016 closing ceremony.
