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"Ciribiribin"[tʃiribiriˈbin] is a merryPiedmontese ballad, originally in three-quarter time, composed byAlberto Pestalozza in 1898 with lyrics by Carlo Tiochet.^[2] It quickly became popular and has been recorded by many artists. Decades later it enjoyed continued popularity with swing and jazz bands, played in four-four time.

The distinguishing feature of the song is repeated use of the five-note title phrase. In the sheet music the name is indicated to be enunciatedchiri-biri-bean to allow singers to hold the vowel at the end as long as they like.^[3]

• It was a success as "Ciribiribin Waltz" forPrince's Orchestra in 1911 reaching a number three position in the charts of the day as calculated byJoel Whitburn.^[4]
• Grace Moore enjoyed chart success with the song in 1934 reaching a peak position of number 15.^[5] She also made a live recording accompanied by a pianist, Gibner King, as an encore after presenting some pieces withWillem Mengelberg and theConcertgebouw Orchestra on June 23, 1936.
• The song was a favorite ofHarry James, who chose it as his theme song when he formed his band in 1939^[6] and wrote English lyrics for it withJack Lawrence. The James version reached the No. 10 spot in the charts in 1940.^[5]Frank Sinatra worked with James's band for a while before going to work forTommy Dorsey. On the James/Sinatra recording of the song, Sinatra enunciated the trailing "n".
• Bing Crosby andthe Andrews Sisters recorded the song on September 20, 1939^[7] withJoe Venuti and his Orchestra and it reached the number 13 spot in the charts in 1940. This was Crosby's first recording with the Andrews Sisters and they went on to have another 22 chart hits together in the US.^[8]

Artists who have recorded the song in Italian includeGracie Fields,Mario Lanza,Claudio Villa, andRenato Carosone. Coloratura sopranosMado Robin andErna Sack recorded the song as well (in German for Erna Sack).

• The song "Java Jive", a hit song forthe Ink Spots in 1940, originally featured thecouplet "I'm not keen about a bean / Unless it is a 'cheery beery bean", as a pun on "Ciribiribin", but the Ink Spots' lead singer inadvertently sang it as "cheery cheery bean", and recordings by subsequent artists have generally either followed suit or changed it to "chili chili bean".
• An earlier play on the "chili" joke came in a comic song written byAlbert Von Tilzer and recorded byBilly Murray in 1921. The song, "Chili Bean", is about an exotic woman named Chili Bean. A bar of "Ciribiribin" appears in a brief instrumental segment in the middle of the song.
• A rock 'n' roll adaptation, "Gotta Lotta Love", sung bySteve Alaimo, was mildly successful in late 1963, where it peaked at number 74.^[9]

• 1898 songs
• 1939 singles
• Italian songs
• Frank Sinatra songs
• Jeanette MacDonald songs

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• Short description matches Wikidata
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