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The song "Wer hat Angst vor Dracula?" contains the text:

Bei Nacht, bei Nacht, bei Nacht, bei Nacht,
im schi-scha-schubidupp Mondenschein.

Is Schi-Scha-Schubidupp here a transmogrified adjective, or just nonsense-words inserted for aesthetic reasons?

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2 Answers 2

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These are nonsense words like

du-bi-du

or

schalalalala

So there is no real meaning or translation for this.

There was a time in German music when using nonsense words like these quite regularly. For example this song by a German cabaret artist.

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    Da da da. Ich lieb dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht. Aha.
    – splattne
    Commented Jun 5, 2011 at 20:24
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    youtube.com/watch?v=hSwJ2rjUSdc (for people who think @splattne is just expressing a lack of amorous feelings for Keyboardsurfer)
    – balpha ♦
    Commented Jun 5, 2011 at 20:44
  • @balpha there is a song called "Da da da"?!?
    – splattne
    Commented Jun 5, 2011 at 20:53
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    @splattne And it’s a quite famous one ;)
    – poke
    Commented Jun 6, 2011 at 7:06
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"Schubidupp" is somewhere inbetween scat singing and onomatopoeia. A precursor to beatboxing if you will :D

"Schi-Scha-Schubidupp" is a relatively common stylistic device. A rather popular example would be "Schni-Schna-Schnappi". You take the first syllable and prepend it twice, substituting the vocal with an "i" and "a" respectively.

Der Text [...] verwendet die Stilfigur des „mehrere-Anläufe-mit-falschen-Vokalen“ („Schni-schna-schnappi“ wie in „Bi-Ba-Butzemann“)
- Wikipedia

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  • Onomatopoeia for what?
    – Tim
    Commented Jun 5, 2011 at 22:27
  • @Tim N: For rhythm instruments. "Schu" could be a clap, snare or washboard, while "bidup" is a bass. If you add a quarter rest before the three syllables and loop it, you get a relatively decent swing rhythm.
    – back2dos
    Commented Jun 5, 2011 at 22:45
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    Somehow I associate "Schubidu" with 1950s German Rock-and-Roll (Peter Kraus and such), though I couldn't find a reference to prove it.
    – starblue
    Commented Jun 6, 2011 at 9:25
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    While I associate it with Scooby-doo.
    – Glen Wheeler
    Commented Jun 23, 2011 at 9:40
  • Der Schubidu: youtube.com/watch?v=XDb05IUESGw
    – Residuum
    Commented Dec 27, 2011 at 10:30

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