Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

I had an interesting discussion the other day with a member of The Constellation Branch (Stephen, the group's drummer, is second from the left) about music lyrics. Someone made a comment about I Am The Walrus by the Beatles and I followed up with "coo coo ca choo, Mrs. Robinson." Stephen, who also happens to work with me, said the phrase is "goo goo g'joob." Being the Doubting David (since my brother is Thomas), I was skeptical, but knew I had mixed two songs together.

After doing some research, it turns out we were both right. In the Beatles tune, it's pronounced "goo goo g'joob." However, in Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel, it is "coo coo ca choo." Both phrases loosely mean "No worries" or "Everything is all right." A third spelling is "kukukachu."

If you're a fan of That '70s Show, you might remember Donna Pinciotti got stoned and used "coo coo ca choo" as an end to a random string of rhymes. Crush the turtle used the phrase in Finding Nemo. "Little dudes are just eggs, leave 'em on the beach to hatch, then 'coo coo ca choo,' they find their way back to the big 'ol blue."

It's funny how you can hear a song over and over, yet still get the exact words to the lyrics wrong. Oh well, "coo coo ca choo!"