|
I Never Been To College
Category: Folk Rhyme
Source:
Multiple Sources
I never been to college
I never been to college.
I never been to school.
But when it comes to boogie,
I’m an educated fool.
"I never went to college" is an example of a “floating verse”
that appears in a number of African American rhymes. Ms. Barbara Ray, an African American female, shared this
rhyme with me from her memories of Pittsburgh, PA. in the early 1950s.
She told me that before starting the rhyme, someone would first ask
“Are you ready?” and the rest of the group would repeat “Are you
ready?” The same person
would then say “Then let’s go” and the other players would echo
“Let’s go”. The group
would then say the rhyme in unison.
“I’ve never been to college etc.” is also
recited at the end of an old African American call & response rhyme
called “Aunt Jenny Died.” “Aunt
Jenny Died” is not meant to make fun of death, but rather to help
children come to terms with the experience of relatives dying.
In that rhyme, one child would say “Aunt Jenny died”.
The rest of the group would say “How did she die?”
The first child would then say “She died like this” and make a
funny motion. The rest of the
girls and boys would then have to try to exactly imitate that motion.
The chant goes on in like manner with the same “soloist”
mentioning the death of other relatives.
“Aunt Jenny Died” ends this way:
"My mama alive.
She lives in a place called Tennessee, she wears short skirts above
her knees, She’s never been to college, she’s never been to school,
but when it comes to boogie, she’s an educated fool.”
“Boogie” is an African American slang word that means “to
dance”. Another word like
it is “boogaloo.” The
word "boogie" can be traced to West Africa and has been used by African Americans
for a long time. For example,
in 1948 the Blues guitarist and singer, John Lee Hooker, had a big hit called
“Boogie Chillen” (children). I
bet you know lots of other song titles that include the word
“boogie”.
Share Black rhymes & chants with CocoJams!! |
