Why Are Kids Saying 'Chicken Banana' — & What Does It Mean?
Have your kids started singing about chicken and bananas yet? Don’t worry, it’s coming! This new Gen Alpha trend that basically repeats “chicken, banana,” over and over again comes from a very silly song.
My kids first started singing “chicken banana” months ago. The first time I heard it, my 6-year-old was eating chicken nuggets, and he got up and grabbed a banana from the counter. “Chicken, banana. Chicken, banana,” he sang, prompting his 8-year-old brother and 3-year-old brother to immediately harmonize with him. It sounded like something they just made up, but no. It’s a real song, and it’s growing in popularity.
The “Chicken Banana” song was created by a Swedish production team named Crazy Music Channel, which was released in Feb. 2025. “It just came up in one of our talks,” Michel Petré, CEO of the label MTM Music AB, told Vox on Feb. 5. “You know, let’s just put the chicken and banana together.”
“With all the bad things happening all over the world, we wanted to do something funny that people could laugh at,” he added. What a sweet inspiration for this catchy tune!
And it’s clearly working. The YouTube music video of the song has 169 million views, many of which are likely from parents trying to figure out why their kids are singing this phrase. In it, you’ll see a chicken head bobbing to the beat on a banana body. It’s colorful with a catchy tune and bright graphics, so it’s no wonder the song and its ubiquitous phrase gets stuck in kids’ heads. (I can’t stop singing it either!)
“My 8 yr old niece made me listen to this,” one person wrote. Another person commented, “I played DJ at a 5th grade social tonight and one of my students requested this. I listened to it three times in the car on the way home. I have been forever altered.”
“This got the toddler community in a chokehold,” another quipped.
At least you understand where it comes from, so next time your kids say or sing the phrase “chicken banana,” you can join right in!
For more info on popular slang, check out our guide HERE.
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