Is the chicken dance offensive?

[muffincakes]

To provide some back-story:

I recently learned that a Polish friend of mine refuses to listen or dance to the chicken dance song because he claims that it is offensive to the Polish, and a derogatory song towards polka in general. Now he learned this from his parents, and they from theirs, but I have been unable to locate anything at all to back this up.

So here's my question, since this is the most international community that I know, have any of you heard this before? And if not, do you know if your parents/grandparents/etc. have? I'm not trying to convince my friend to start dancing or anything, but if this song is actually offensive then I don't wish to listen to it anymore either.

Also, as a side-note, I've already done all the basic searches to learn the origins of the song, but the history books do not always contain the whole truth, so I am mainly interested in personal knowledge, not textbook facts. Thank you all for any light you can shed on this situation.

 

[Aris Khandr]

It's offensively tacky, does that count?

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

I find it hard to understand how a song without lyrics is offensive. I think your friend is just being too sensitive.

I daresay he's being quite a chicken himself.

 

[lobster1077]

Crikey, talk about lacking a thick skin. Sounds like your friend doesn't even have a skin at all which would make him a skeleton. Holy dooly a real life Polish Skeleton!

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

Obviously, it's offensive to fowl everywhere: implying that no one would want to be a chicken or a duck. People just don't seem to get that.

OT: I'm part Polish, on my dad's side of the family. I've never found it offensive. As a matter of fact, I have fond memories of my dad teaching me the chicken dance when I was little. So... er... no, I've never heard anyone think that the chicken dance is offensive. Including my Polish grandparents. Or my Polish father.

 

[LordLoudmouth]

I´m a chicken dance and i find this offensive to find me offensive

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ah the downfall of a modern sterile world, everything is so politically correct people haveto invent new ways to get offended

 

[Dags90]

Ah the downfall of a modern sterile world, everything is so politically correct people haveto invent new ways to get offended

Except this offense apparently dates back to his grandparents, and possibly the origin of the chicken dance in the 1950's. But other than that, yeah, it totes has to do with the modern sterile world.

I can see how it's a juvenile pastiche of a form folk music, but the polka was hardly kept to Poland, so I don't see how it would be specifically offensive to Polish people.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I don't think it's even a Polish song and it has nothing to do with Polish people. It's really popular in PA Dutch places at weddings and skating rings and stuff, and I can't think of a way anyone could see it as offensive.

 

[Wintermoot]

nope never heard of a song being offensive to a country.
a quick skim of the Wikipedia article says it,s swiss in origin and a bit off a novelty song not polka (then again I,m not a musician and I,m most likely talking out of my ass).

 

[Blunderboy]

What the hell is the Chicken Dance?

 

[Powereaver]

its certainly not offense its just childishly silly and fun