Information About The Song "Streets Of Cairo" Which Is Considered To Be The Inspirattion For The Children's Recreational Rhymes "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars" Etc.

"Streets of Cairo" - Dan W. Quinn (November 3, 1895)

 Samuel Stokes, Jul 27, 2013

"This is the original 1895 recording of the song "The Streets of Cairo or the Poor Little Country Maid" by Sol Bloom and James Thornton. The music and lyrics are all in the public domain. I recently learned that Sony is in possession of the rights for this recording. This YouTube posting has a slight speed adjustment from the previously posted version. After I sent the recording I found to Barrett Hansen (aka Dr. Demento) he noted that the speed sounded fast. He adjusted it by ear until he found what sounded most natural. The recording as I had sent it to him was in F#m, but he informed me that old Berliner records were often recorded at a lower speed. After he adjusted it, the pitch was now in Em. Not only does it sound much more natural, but it agrees with the original published sheet music (which was printed in E minor) and it brings the song into a better range for a baritone voice (as Quinn is often described as a baritone). Dan W. Quinn recorded this song on at least these two occasions: Berliner 171-Z, 11/3/1895. Breliner 171-ns 4/17/1896 (Philadelphia) This is the first, recorded on November 3, 1895"... **** Edited by Azizi Powell Latest revision - January 6, 2026 This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the late 19th century "Streets Of Cairo" song. This series also focuses on the Hoochie Coochie dance that is mentioned in that song, and the much later children's recreational rhymes that were inspired by that song. This pancocojams post presents a YouTube sound file of the song "Streets Of Cairo" along with some online information about that song. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/two-film-clips-from-19th-century-of.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That pose showcases two late 19th century film clips of "Hoochie Coochie" dancers. That post also presents information about the Hoochie Choochie dance.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/pre-1970s-examples-of-theres-place-in.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents a compilation of pre-1970s examples of the children's recreational rhymes "There's A Place In France", There's A Place Called Mars", "In The Land Of Oz", and other similar rhymes.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to the composers of the "Streets of Cairo" song and thanks to all those who featured in these showcase videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishes of these videos on YouTube. **** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This particular pancocojams series on the song "Streets Of Cairo" and the rhymes "There's A Place Called France", "There's A Place Called Mars" and "In The Land Of Oz' departs from the main mission of this blog which is to provide information about and examples of African American culture and other Black cultures around the world.

Sometimes pancocojams posts focus on children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers because I'm interested in those subjects, regardless of which population originated those compositions.

That said, many of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, that I focus on in this pancocojams blog were originally composed by or adapted by African Americans or other Black people throughout the world. 

Furthermore, regardless of who originated or adapted them, it's likely that each of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers that have been published in this blog have been performed or are now being performed by some Black people throughout the world.  ONLINE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "STREETS OF CAIRO" ONLINE INFORMATION #1 From https://www.samuelstokesmusic.com/cairo.html The Streets of Cairo or The Poor Little Country Maid

"Lyrics

I will sing you a song, and it won't be very long

'Bout a maiden sweet, and she never would do wrong.

Ev'ryone said she was pretty. she was not long in the city.

All alone, oh, what a pity, poor little maid.

 

She never saw the streets of Cairo.

On the Midway she had never strayed;

She never saw the kutchy-kutchy,

Poor little country maid.

 

She went out one night, did this innocent divine,

With a nice young man who invited her to dine.

Now he's sorry that he met her, and he never will forget her,

In the future he'll know better, poor little maid.

 

She never saw the streets of Cairo.

On the Midway she had never strayed;

She never saw the kutchy-kutchy,

Poor little country maid.

 

She was engaged as a picture for to pose,

To appear each night in abbreviated clothes.

All the dudes were in a flurry, for to catch her they did hurry,

One who caught her now is sorry, poor little maid.

 

She was much fairer far than Trilby,

Lots of more men sorry will be,

If they don't try to keep away from

This poor little country maid.

Research

I have been researching the origin and musical symbolic meaning of the Cairo melody, which is often used as a cliche to signify the Middle East, or more broadly, anything considered exotic. It is also known as the snake-charmers song or "There's a Place in France..." The melody was used at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago for an exhibition called "Street in Cairo," where a dancer called Little Egypt danced the infamous kutchy-kutchy (or hutchy-kutchy). I have been informed that the lady depicted in the video above is not the original Little Egypt but a later imitator, as there were many other dancers that used the name, capitalizing on the popularity of the original. Sol Bloom claims to have composed the melody, although there is some evidence that it may have originally come from a folk tune.

In 1895, James Thornton wrote "The Streets of Cairo or The Poor Little Country Maid," which uses the hutchy-kuthcy melody for the verses, with a chorus in the relative major key. …

A large number of popular songs have borrowed the hutchy-kutchy melody including Steve Martin's "King Tut" and "Istanbul not Constantinople" by Four Lads and They Might be Giants. More information on the history of the borrowing of this melody can be found in the Wikipedia article about the Arabian Riff.

Parody lyrics of this tune are quite prominent. I personally remember learning some on the school playground in the 1980s. My belief is that different versions of these parody lyrics may go all the way back to the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. After all, this melody was playing over and over at the Street in Cairo exhibit, which was right next to the fair's biggest attraction - the world's first Ferris Wheel. Millions of people from all over the world rode the wheel, which explains why this song is so ubiquitous, yet few people know what it is called. So far, I have traced parody lyrics as far back as 1934."...

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ONLINE INFORMATION #2

[Numbers added for referencing purposes only]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1hyltgs/what_are_the_origins_of_theres_a_place_in_france/

1. Indecisivesloth, 2024
"What are the origins of "There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance" school yard song?

We all seem to know this song, what are its origins?"

 
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2. artisticthrowaway123, 2024
"Very interesting question indeed.

The song, (or melody, rather) is well known as the Arabian riff, or "The Streets of Cairo". Musically speaking, it's an incredibly simple ascending/descending progression (Do Re Me Re Do, Do Re Me Sol Re Me Do)

The origins of this song are widely debated amongst music folklorists.

For instance, Jean-Baptiste Arban, in his book "Arban's Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet" written in 1864, he lists hundreds of musical exercises, used for various brass instruments. These exercises are based on simple to advanced compositions from different regions from the world, and included is a certain "Arabian Song", in which the first 5 notes is a part of the famous "Arabian Riff".

Interestingly enough, those notes are commonly attributed to an even older French song, titled "Colin Prend Sa Hotte", which was published in 1704 by the famous Parisian music publisher Christophe Ballard, in his book "Brunetes ou petits airs tendres, avec les doubles, et la basse-continue, meslées de chansons a danser. Recüeillies & mises en ordre par Christophe Ballard, seul Imprimeur de Musique, & Noteur de la Chapelle du Roy. Tome second." In fact, one of the earliest written versions of the Arabian riff came from Franz Hunten, a German composer, who published an alternative version of Ballard's song in 1845, under the name "Melodie Arabe".

On the other hand, French composer Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin wrote in 1857 in his book "La Chanson Populaire" that he believed "Colin Prend Sa Hotte" to be actually a direct descendant from an Algerian or Moorish song called Kradoutja, which had been fairly well known in France since at least 1600. William Benzon, in his 2002 book titled "Beethoven's Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture", theorizes it might even have been a Middle Eastern song that could have came from either Moorish Spain or a Crusader State. Unfortunately, the original Kradoutja has been lost to time.

What largely popularized the melody, however, was the entertainment director of the 1893 World's Fair Exposition of Chicago, Sol Bloom. The fair had an attraction titled "Little Egypt", which featured snake charmers, camel rides and the like. James Thornton, a songwriter of the time, composed the new melody, and titled it "Streets of Cairo", which is the name it's currently most known for. It was recorded not long after that."

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Reply
3. Lrodhubbard, 2024
"Any ideas as to when the schoolyard lyrics became attached to the tune?"

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4. artisticthrowaway123, 2024
"Good question. Once again, it was popularized and revived in America sometime after the 1893 Columbian World Exposition, and the subsequent popularity of European Orientalism in the late 19th-early 20th century. Once again, like most unpublished kids songs, these become folkloric adaptations over time, with oral lyrics passed from generation to generation, thus becoming quite hard to place the creation of these schoolyard lyrics on any particular date after 1893. There's also a lot of versions of the melody and lyrics.

[…]

Of course, the song has been in the public eye for a while, being part of the music score of a wide array of movies and cartoons, such as a few Mickey Mouse cartoons:

- The Opry House, 1929

-The Karnival Kid, 1929

-The Chain Gang, 1930

-Pioneer Days, 1930

As well as a lot of other media, not only in the realm of cartoons. Laurel and Hardy's 1933 movie Sons of the Desert has it playing in a belly dancer's scene. The Great Zigfried from 1936, a movie with 3 Academy Awards, not only plays the song in a scene, but the movie itself is centered on the 1893 Exposition. You can even hear the song in modern media, such as the famous 2017 videogame Cuphead, where it plays in the Pyramid Peril episode.

There are a lot of incredibly old songs that traverse through time in this particular manner. Another good example is "Greensleeves". That song had been registered in London around 380 years before the 1960 Brothers Four hit song."

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5.Technical Molasses23, 2024
"Your answer is great. Minor correction: the movie is the Great Ziegfeld."

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ONLINE INFORMATION #3

"AI Overview

"The Streets of Cairo" (or "Arabian riff") refers to a popular 19th-century melody, famously used for the "Hoochy Coochy" dance at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, often associated with snake charmers and featuring lyrics about a "Poor Little Country Maid," with its roots potentially tracing back to French soldiers in Algeria and Arabic songs. It's a well-known tune in American culture, appearing in many other songs and media, though it's considered by some to be an example of cultural appropriation.

Key Aspects

Melody: A distinctive, catchy tune known as the "Arabian riff," also called "The Snake Charmer Song".

Origin: Popularized by showman Sol Bloom at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, linked to dancers like "Little Egypt".

Lyrics: The most famous lyrics, written by James Thornton in 1895, tell a story of a young woman lured by a snake charmer, as in "The Streets of Cairo, or The Poor Little Country Maid".

Cultural Impact: Became a staple in American entertainment, used in various cartoons and songs, despite its controversial origins and themes of cultural appropriation."

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

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