José Gomes de Abreu, better known as Zequinha de Abreu (September 19, 1880 – January 22, 1935) was a Brazilian musician and composer. Abreu was born in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro. The title refers to a bird that got into the cornmeal, but we can imagine the same kind of grousing over morning coffee at the office. It was composed in 1917 but Hollywood attention made it popular in 1937 and there are many American-style covers. In Brazilian music, "Tico-Tico" is actually a choro, which is basically a song that typically shrugs off misfortune with good humor, good tunes and fast tempos.