The Coffee Song - I Need Coffee

I thought I was a Frank Sinatra fan, but somehow this tune escaped me. Back in 1946, Frank Sinatra sang The Coffee Song. Bob Hilliard wrote the lyrics and Dick Miles did the music.

The Coffee Song as performed by Frank Sinatra.

Way down among Brazilians Coffee beans grow by the billions
So they’ve got to find those extra cups to fill
They’ve got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil
You can’t get cherry soda ’cause they’ve got to sell their quota
And the way things are I’ll bet they never will
They’ve got a zillion tons of coffee in Brazil
No tea or tomato juice You’ll see no potato juice
Cause the planters down in Santos all say no no no
A politician’s daughter was accused of drinking water
And was fined a great big fifty dollar bill
They’ve got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil
And when their ham and eggs need savor Coffee ketchup gives ’em flavor
Coffee pickles way outsell the dill
Why they put coffee in the coffee in Brazil
No tea or tomato juice You’ll see no potato juice
Cause the planters down in Santos all say no no no
So your lead to the local color
Serving coffee with a cruller
Dunking doesn’t take a lot of skill
They’ve got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil
Man, they got a gang of coffee in Brazil.

Many of the song lyric databases include the following lines, which were not in the Frank Sinatra version.

You date a girl and find out later she smells just like a percolator
Her perfume was made right on the grill
Why they could percolate the ocean in Brazil
Don’t ask for hot cocoa there
They’ll say you’ve gone loco there
But say caffeine or coffee bean and they’ll say ay ay ay

This song appears on several Frank Sinatra releases, including 16 Most Requested Songs.

Sources

Bob Hilliard – Wikipedia page.

The Coffee Song lyrics – The version performed by Rosemary Clooney.

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Michael Allen Smith

Michael Allen Smith is both a coffee fanatic and a web developer. In April 1999, he combined these two interests and started the coffee website INeedCoffee.com. His personal blog, which covers a wide range of topics, is Critical MAS.