Shame,
Shame, Shame. I don’t want to go to Mexico no more, more, more.
There’s a big fat policeman
at door, door, door.
He’ll grab you by the collar
and make you pay a dollar.
I don’t want to go to Mexico
no more, more, more.
Shame.
"I Don’t Want To Go To Mexico” appears to be a widely known handclap rhyme.Like most hand clap rhymes, it is recited in unison.
I collected this version in 1998 from a number of school aged
African American girls and boys living in various Pittsburgh, PA.
neighborhoods.
In
2001, I also collected a version of this same rhyme from my school age Philadelphia cousins
Breeana and Tonoya.Breena’s
and Tonoya’s version also starts with “Shame, shame, shame” and has
all of the same words until the section about the big, fat policeman.At that point they say “if he pulls you by the collar,
girl, you better holler”.Their
version ends with the players saying “I don’t want to go to Mexico, no
more, more, more”,“Shut
the door!”Each partner tries to be the first to say “shut the
door!”Whoever says it
first, lightly taps the other player and then points to them in a “got
ya!” manner.Breeana and
Tonoya also showed me two different, intricate handclapping patterns that they can do
while reciting this unison rhyme. These patterns involved clapping while
dipping down and also clapping under your legs.
I have also seen this rhyme titled “I don’t want
to go to college”, but the source for all of these is probably the rhyme “I don’t want to go to
Macy’s.” In his Jump-Rope
Dictionary, Roger Abraham notes that "I don't want to go to Macy's was
recorded in 1938. “Macy’s”
is a famous department store in New York City.My theory is that these children substituted "Mexico" for "Macys"
since they weren't familiar with the
"Macy's" store or the word “Macy’s”.This
is an example of “folk etymology”Folk etymology occurs when people change foreign words or
unfamiliar words into familiar words or sounds that are similar to the
word they don’t know.
The
original version of “I don’t want to go to Macy’s” doesn’t have
any introductory phrase, but a lot of African American songs have
beginning (introductory) phrases such as “Shame, Shame, Shame”.One seven year old Pittsburgh girl recited the same version as other
Pittsburgh children had shared with me, but she started the rhyme by
saying “Shine, shine, shine”.Actually,
“shine” may be another example of “folk etymology”.The girl may have thought she heard the word “shine” when she
actually heard children saying “shame”.After all, it makes more sense to say “shame” then “shine”
when talking about police grapping you by the collar.
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