Apart from the original instrumental version, there are songs of the same name, and at a minimum, two entirely different lyrical arrangements, and musical arrangements that in turn give very different impressions, so are distinct from each other. For example, the version by Willard Robison Deep River Orchestra, with vocals by Annette Hanshaw, with the lyrics about a sandman from Japan, who exchanges yesterdays for tomorrows. By doing so he "takes every sorrow of the day that is through" and "he'll bring you tomorrow, just to start a life anew."[6] The number has an Oriental atmosphere, and is similar to many other songs from the interwar period that sing about a dreamy, exotic setting. Whereas in a version by The Cellos there are East Asian tropes of pronunciation "you lookie like a Japanese Sandman", and the use phrases such as "I wear a pinstripe jacket made of chunky foo yang/ Polka dot shoes made of yang sang" [7]
A version of the song was often used in North American cartoons in the 1940s, such as 1942's The Ducktators, usually to mock Japanese characters, due to the attack upon the U.S. by Japan.
In the 1947 Disney cartoon "Cat Nap Pluto," both Pluto and Figaro are visited by figurative "sandman" likenesses of themselves in coolie hats, seeking to bring on sleep. These references are purely visual, however, as the Whiting song is not heard.
The Japanese-American boxer, Shoji "Harold" Hoshino, was nicknamed "The Japanese Sandman" in the 1930s.[9][10]
In 1944 a version of the song plays out the submarine's speaker system to the crew in Destination Tokyo.
A version of the song appears towards the end of the overture to the 1967 film Thoroughly Modern Millie, despite not appearing anywhere else in the theatrical release.
Instrumental covers performed by Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks Orchestra appeared in almost every one of the first five episodes of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire; a version with lyrics was featured in an episode aired on October 24, 2010.
In 1957, the American doo-wop band The Cellos recorded "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am the Japanese Sandman)",[11][12] which features the same character, but with different lyrics. Frank Zappa quoted from The Cellos' lyrics in his song "A Little Green Rosetta", from Joe's Garage (1979).[13]
