Ying Tong Song

The "Ying Tong Song" (also known by its refrain, "Ying tong iddle I po") was a notable song written by Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan

Terence Alan Patrick Seán Milligan KBE , known as Spike Milligan, was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet and playwright. Milligan was the co-creator and the principal writer of The Goon Show, in which he also performed. Aside from his well-known comedy and poetry, Milligan did some painting...

 and performed by The Goons, usually led by Harry Secombe

Harry Secombe

Sir Harry Donald Secombe, CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a noted fine tenor singing voice and a talent for comedy. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in The Goon Show , a BBC radio comedy series...

. It was a hit in the UK on two occasions: its highest position was #3 in the UK charts in 1956, reaching a position of #9 when re-issued in 1973. It is a nonsense song, consisting of small verses interspersed by a completely nonsensical chorus. Secombe usually spoke the lead vocals, accompanied by Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers

Richard Henry Sellers, CBE, commonly known as Peter Sellers was a British comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr...

 and Spike Milligan, who would sing along as various Goon Show characters

The Goon Show cast members and characters

This is a list of regular cast members of the 1950s British radio programme The Goon Show and the characters they portrayed.-Uncle Oscar:...

.

As Harry was signed to Philips Records

Philips Records

Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. It was started as Philips Phonographische Industries in 1950. During much of the 1950s, it served to distribute recordings made by the US Columbia Records and Columbia Masterworks Records labels in the United...

, he didn't sing on any of the Goons' Decca

Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades...

 recordings of the 1950s, including this song, only speaking his words.

Spike claimed that he wrote this song as a bet with his brother, that he couldn't get a song into the hit parade which had only two chords (in this case G and D7).

In the satirical TV sketch show Spitting Image

Spitting Image

Spitting Image was a British satirical puppet show which ran on the ITV television network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one, for editing, in 1989....

, in which news figures and celebrities were lampooned in the form of grossly-caricatured rubber puppets, it was not uncommon for Prince Charles to be seen leaving a room quietly singing the Ying-Tong song to himself. This was a reference to the fact that Prince Charles is a lifelong fan of the Goon Show.