"Chim Chim Cher-ee" is a song from ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'', the 1964

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

, and is also featured in the 2004 ''Mary Poppins'' musical. The song won the 1964

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

. In 2005,

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

included this song as part of ''Julie Andrews Selects Her Favorite Disney Songs''.

Songwriters

The song was written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman (the "

Sherman Brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of brothers Robert Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard Sherman (June 12, 1928 – May 25, 2024). Together they received ...

"), who also won an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for the ''Mary Poppins'' score.

Inspiration

The song was inspired by one of the drawings of a

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who inspects then clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combust ...

created by ''Mary Poppins''

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Don DaGradi. When the Sherman Brothers asked about the drawing, DaGradi explained the ancient British folklore attributed to "sweeps" and how shaking hands with one or touching their sleeve could bring a person good luck. In their 1961 treatment, the Sherman Brothers had already amalgamated many of the P.L. Travers characters in the creation of "Bert". His theme music became "Chim Chim Cher-ee". In addition to the "standard" version of the song which Bert sings to the children, he sings short snippets of the song to himself at various times, with different verses specific to an unfolding plot element. The
Mentsch
music group notes some similarities with a

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

song written by Itsik Manger named "Vaylu". The song also shares some sonic similarities to the Yiddish folksong, Tumbalalaika.

Covers

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

on the 1964 album '' Chim Chim Cheree And Other Children's Choices''. (#6 RPM AC Canada) *

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

on the 1965 album '' The John Coltrane Quartet Plays''. * The Lower Third, an early

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

band, incorporated the song into their repertoire. *

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

on the 1966 album '' Goin Out of My Head''. * Charlie Byrd released on Italian series ''I giganti del Jazz''. *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

(on his 1968 album '' Thoroughly Modern Bing''). *

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

released a complete Album with Mary Poppins songs, '' Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins''. * The

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early life Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 — a ...

Quartet covered this song in 1965. *

The New Christy Minstrels The New Christy Minstrels are an American large-ensemble folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. The group has recorded more than 20 albums and scored several hits, including "Green, Green (song), Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Tod ...

on the 1965 album ''Chim Chim Cher-ee and Other Happy Songs'' (#7 RPM AC Canada) * Mrs. Miller covered the song for her first

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

album ''Mrs. Miller - Greatest Hits''. * The Tinseltown Players on the some various albums including ''Chim Chim Charee & Other Kiddie Favorites'' *

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

on the 1969 album '' The Chipmunks Go to the Movies'' *

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

on '' Disney Songs the Satchmo Way''

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. * Rex Gildo, in German on 1965's ''Chim-Chim-Cheri'' * Mannheim Steamroller on the 1999 album, '' Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse''. * Pete Doherty performed this song live at the Meltdown festival in 2007. * The Three D's covered it on a Capitol Records 45rpm 1964 recording * Joe Pernice (as "Chim Cheree") on the 2009 album ''It Feels So Good When I Stop''. *

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984), sometimes professionally known with the stylized name of esperanza spalding, is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Aw ...

on the 2010 album ''Everybody Wants To Be A Cat''. * Plastic Tree (in Japanese on the 2011 album ''V-Rock Disney'' * Turin Brakes as a 2011 single, with all UK proceeds going to Shelter. * On 2013 album ''Disney - Koe no Oujisama Vol.3'', which features various Japanese

voice actors Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

covering Disney songs, this song was covered by

Takuma Terashima is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actor. Terashima graduated from Tokyo Announce Gakuin, voice training school. He had initially belonged to Holypeak until December 2008, and then to Production Baobab up until September 2011 when he swit ...

. * David Alan Grier in '' Amazon Women on the Moon''. * The Seldom Scene in the album ''Act3''. * An orchestral arrangement of the song was used in the 2021

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

advertisement "Chimney". * Kokia, as the first track of her cover album ''Watching from Above 2'', released in 2019.

Parodies

The song was parodied by song parodist Allan Sherman (no relation to the

), using the same song title. The parody pokes fun at the American merchandise seen on TV commercials. Supporters of English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams,

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, sing a version of the song which is a reference to each team's local rivals,

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, who all wear claret and blue shirts. English comedian

Tim Vine Timothy Mark Vine (born 4 March 1967) is an English comedian, actor, writer and presenter best known for his puns and other one-liners and his role on the TV sitcom '' Not Going Out'' (2006–2012, 2014). He has also released a number of stand- ...

played on the lyrics to the song in the title of one of his stand-up DVDs, ''Tim Timinee, Tim Timinee, Tim Tim To You'' and on the cover it features Vine dressed up as a

Songwriters

Inspiration

Covers

Parodies

References

Further reading