Chili Bean

A novelty ballad from 1920
words by Lew Brown
music by Albert Von Tilzer


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:


Lyrics

  1. In the land of Eenie meenie minie mo
    Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! not long ago
    Lived a girl called Chili
    And the fellows loved her so
    They loved her so
    They loved her do re me fa sol
    They were a lot of little profiteers
    Who came from near and far
    They loved the um ta da
    She played on her guitar
    Every night in the pale moonlight
    They gathered ‘neath the stars
    And as they formed a ring
    They all began to sing

Chorus
Oh! you lank and leany
Chili Beanie eenie minie mo
You know we love you so
We love your ja da, um ta da da
Our lives won’t be so dreamy if you let us go
You think we’re full of blarney
We’re full of Chili Con Carne
Chili Bean said, “Boys, I’m green
I don’t know what you mean
You know that I’m so slow
What you want I do not know.”
They said, “Now listen Chili, dear
Oh by Jingo! sent us here,
You lank and leany Chili beanie
We’ll have lots of eenie meenies
We’ll feed them all on weenies, eenie minie mo.”

  1. Now this girl called Chili had a lot of dough
    Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! she loved it so
    But she was so silly, and she let the fellows know
    She let them know that she had do re me fa sol
    When all the little profiteers found out
    They went to Chili Bean
    They said, “From what we’ve seen
    You’d make a dandy Queen.”
    Chili said, “You can go ahead
    When do I reign supreme?”
    They said, “For what you’ve got
    We’ll crown you on the spot

Sung here by Fred Feild to a player piano roll: