Chico Rotico
(Bob Nolan)
Chico, chico rotico,
Little boy, Sonora’s joy, come singing,
Singing songs with a beat slow.
Chico, chico rotico, mine.
Chico, chico rotico,
Nut brown nose, your daddy’s clothes come clinging,
Clinging to you, mi niño.
Chico, chico rotico, mine.
When the shades of nighttime fall,
You’ll hear the sandman call.
Chico, chico rotico,
You may grow but Mexico comes ringing,
Ringing bells where your feet go,
Chico, chico rotico mine.
This song has been spelled variously over the years. The registered name is
Chico Rotico but, because it does not seem to have an English translation,
it has been misspelled in Teleways Transcriptions collections, etc. Bob, introducing
the song himself on the Teleways Transcription #152,
clearly says, “chico rotico”, rolling the “r”. The word "rotico" is possibly a local endearment
for children.
Bob attended high school in Tucson where, at that time, over 50% of the students were Spanish-speaking. He picked up a working knowledge of the language and we understand that his pronunciation was excellent. When a solo in Spanish was called for, Bob was often the soloist. We often hear Bob and Ken Carson sing Spanish lyrics en duet.
Chico Rotico was recorded
only for radio transcriptions and we have found just the one recording which we
can find on Teleways
#152, etc. The words have been copied down from the transcription because we found no
lyric sheet or sheet music.