It is frequently found in early animated cartoons as a catchy tune used to represent farmyard activity, or a gathering of fowl.

Today, the tune is usually played without the words, which would often have been sung in the minstrel style (in stereotyped African-American vernacular).

The lyrics as written by Mittenthal:[3] Way down in Carolina where the sweet potatoes grow There lives a dusky maiden by the name of Liza Snow She used to go to parties where they'd always make her sing, But say you ought to see that Baby do the pigeon wing.

I guess you're goin' crazy answered William with a smile, But Liza said "Go on you haven't heard the latest style."

A spirited arrangement of Chicken Reel for fiddle and Jew's harp is featured in A Christmas Story when the Bumpus family's bloodhounds swarm Ralphie's father as he arrives home from work.