In 1950, the song was a top-ten hit in the U.S. for Freddy Martin And His Orchestra with vocalist Merv Griffin and sold over three million copies.The following year, it was a number-25 hit for Danny Kaye.

It was a staple song of the Billy Cotton Band Show on British radio and television. The song is still played over the public address at Cambridge United football matches after home wins.

The song appeared in I Could Go On Singing (1963), Judy Garland's last film. A portion of the song also appeared in Disney's 1994 The Lion King (sung by Rowan Atkinson). Nicolas Cage also sang part of this song in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Ringo Starr sang an impromptu version of the song in Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles' TV special broadcast by the BBC on 26 December 1967.Also, actors Hayden Rorke and Bill Daily performed a few lines of the song on ukulele in the 1969 I Dream of Jeannie episode "Uncles a Go-Go". In the first episode of the 1977 sitcom Mind Your Language it is mentioned that a professor went crazy and sang this song.[citation needed]

Swedish performer Povel Ramel wrote a Swedish version of the song in 1950. This version, "Far jag kan inte få upp min kokosnöt" ("Dad I can't crack my coconut open"), has little to do with the original. It is sung by a little boy who, in the course of his attempts to open his resilient coconut, disfigures his mother, demolishes the family's furniture, and finally blows their house up. This version also features prominently in the film My Life as a Dog (1985), as well as in the Swedish version of The Lion King. The song is also known in Finland from the versions by Kipparikvartetti and M. A. Numminen, Kuinka saisin rikki kookospähkinän, which feature a similar tragicomic story.

The 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King includes a portion of this song, sung by Zazu to amuse Scar. The 2011 British 3D computer-animated family film Gnomeo & Juliet also includes a portion of the song.

Finally, in 1980, the Muppet Show produced a slight variation of the song for their 4th episode of series 5. Some coconut and company sang this song at a circus setting.