What is "chizhik-pyzhik"

Chizhyk-Pyzhik is a Russian folk song which runs as follows:

Чижик-пыжик, где ты был?
На Фонтанке водку пил.
Выпил рюмку, выпил две —
Зашумело в голове.

Chizhik-Pyzhik, where've you been?
Drank vodka on the Fontanka.
Took a shot, took another -
Got dizzy.

Chizhik-Pyzhik, gde ty byl?
Na fontanke vodku pil.
Vypil rumku, vypil dve -
Zashumelo v golove.

The origin of the song in unclear. According to one urban legend, the rhyme refers to the students of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence, who frequented a pub belonging to the merchant Nefedov on the Fontanka Quay in Saint Petersburg. The school was founded by Duke Peter of Oldenburg in the nearby house #6. The students of the college wore uniforms with yellow and green colors, which resembled the colors of the bird called the siskin (; hypocoristic: chizhik). Because of that, they were nicknamed Chizhyks-Pyzhiks.

Its extremely simple melody (mi-do-mi-do-fa-mi-RE, sol-sol-sol-(la-ti)-do-do-DO) is suitable for teaching small children to play piano (with a suitable "nursery" lyrics).

Several Russian classical composers, including Sergey Prokofyev, Isaak Dunaevsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, were inspired with Chizhik.