Jan
26
Submitted by Azizi on Wed, 2011-01-26 08:28
HAND CLAP, JUMP ROPE, AND ELASTICS RHYMES #2
This page contains selected examples, videos, and comments about hand clap rhymes, jump rope (skipping) rhymes, and elastics rhymes whose names begin with a letter from M-Z.
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes for selected examples of handclap, jump rope, and elastic rhymes whose names begin with a letter from A-L.
Ms Azizi Powell, Founder / Editor
Latest revision: May 6, 2013
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PRESENTATION OF RHYME EXAMPLES
Jump rope rhymes and elastics rhymes will be identified by that category's name.* All other rhymes in this section are hand clap rhymes.
*Many jump rope rhymes are also used as ball bouncing rhymes.
SENDING IN EXAMPLES OF RHYMES
Please send examples of hand clap, jump rope (skipping), ball bouncing, and/or elastic rhymes to cocojams17@yahoo.com for possible posting on this page.
Examples are posted for their creative, folkloric value.
Your email address is never posted or shared.
Or if you are on facebook, visit me at cocojams jambalayah, and befriend me, or send me a private message!
Please be aware that by sharing your examples or comments with me, you are giving me permission to include it in a book or in any other off-line publication
Although it is not required, please include information about how this rhyme is performed. Also, for the sake of folkloric research, please include the following demographical information: where you learned the rhyme (please include the city & state if within the USA, and the nation, if outside the USA); when you learned this rhyme (year or decade such as 2008, the 1990s, or the mid 1970s); and who performed this rhyme (age, gender, race/ethnicity).
Thanks to all those who have sent in examples for possible posting on Cocojams! Special thanks to all those who remember to include performance information and demographical information (particularly location, and when the rhyme was performed) along with the text of the rhyme itself.
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EXAMPLES OF CHILDREN'S HAND CLAP, JUMP ROPE, AND/OR ELASTIC RHYMES #2
M, N
MABLE MABLE (Jump rope rhyme)
Mable Mable set the table
Don't forget the red. hot. PEPPER (the rope is turned much faster on the word "pepper")
-multiple sources including Cocojams' editor's childhood memories of Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s.
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MAILMAN. MR. MAILMAN (Version #1 of "Mailman Mailman"
Handclap Rhyme Race-All Florida/Throughout Elementary- Mailman Mr. Mailman do you duty Here comes a lady with a big fat booty She can do the pom pom She can do the twist Most of all she can kiss kiss kiss K - I - S - S Ok. Well ITS like any patty cake rhyme ( the way you move your hands) When you do the K I S S you move your legs and feet out to do a split. But you Dont do a total split. You keep doing this until someone reaches a split, or someone falls. Truly the object of this I think is to do a split.
-Lori; 4/20/2008
Editor:
The entry for a very similar rhyme "Policeman Policeman" is posted below.
Here's a video that shows one way of performing this rhyme:
Mailman, Mailman
Posted by celinababe29
June 24, 2009
" My little sister and her cousin playing Mailman, Mailman after i taught them an hour earlier".
Editor:
The phrase "A lady with an African booty" which is found in a number of versions of this rhyme means "a lady with a big butt". This phrase is based on the belief that Black women have big butts and that's an African trait. This is considered a compliment and not a put down.
See "Policeman Policeman" and "Police Lady Police Lady" below for similar rhymes.
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MAIL MAN MAIL MAN (Version #2)
This is in an hand clap version of this song.
Mail Man
Mail Man
Do your Duty
Here comes Miss American Beauty
She can do the Pom Poms
She can do the Twist
But most of all she can
Kiss Kiss Kiss"
K-I-S-S
In the Version of Mail Man Mail Man I was taught as a kid for the " "K-I-S-S" part you inched your feet apart, so you were starting to go into the splits. Then you'd do it again and get your feet farther apart in the next round, until someone fell. It was part of the game to go faster or hit your hands harder together to try to made the other person get off balance and fall.
~Erin; 12/23/2009
Here's a YouTube video of two sisters doing a number of handclap games including "Lemonade" and "Mailman"
Hand Clap by the Parreño Sisters
Posted by frappp1
March 30, 2009
The Parreño Sisters, Christine (11) and Regina (8), perform eight hand-clapping games: 1. Slide, 2. Lemonade, 3. Mailman, 4. Handshake, 5. Down Down Baby, 6. Bubblegum, 7. Playground, and 8. Hotdog...
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MAIL MAN MAIL MAN (Version #3)
Mail man, mail man
Do your duty
Here comes the girl
With the big 'ol booty
She can do the hot stuff
She can do the splits
But most of all she can
Kiss, kiss, kiss
K-I-S-S
- http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml; assessed 6/13/2010
Here's a video of Mailman Mailman Do You're Duty [second rhyme, first rhyme is Mama Mama Can't You Seel Notice that these girls chant "Here comes a lady with an African Booty. "An African booty" means a big butt.]
Mama,Mama Can't You See/Mailman,Mailman Do Your Duty
Uploaded by utae1234 on May 28, 2011
Editor: Two very similar rhymes ,"Policeman Policeman" and "Police Lady Police Lady" are found below.
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE
Examples of this rhyme are posted below regardless of the title (first line) which is used.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/mama-mama-cant-you-see-usmc-cade... for a post on Mama Mama Can't You See - United States Marine Corps candence and handclap rhyme.
Also, the tune to the military cadence "Ain't No Use In Lookin Down" is the same as that used for "Mama Mama Can't You See"
http://cocojams.com/content/military-cadences-other-cadences
MOMMA MOMMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #1)
Momma momma can't you see
What the army's done to me
Took away my MTV
Now I got to watch Barney
Tic Tac Toe
Three in a row
Barney got killed
By GI Joe.
Don't stop till your hands get hot
Don't stop till your hands get red
(After this line, partners do a series of fast handclaps; the first person who moves her or his hand away so that the hand won't be hit, loses)
-African American girls and boys; around 8-10 years old; Duquesne, Pennsylvania, 7/1999
Editor:
This hand clap rhyme has its source in a military cadence of the same title but the only similarities between the cadence's and the handclap rhyme's lyrics are the first two lines and the portion of the third line that mentions "___ took away my ___".
Visit http://www.cocojams.com/content/military-cadences-other-cadences
Cocojams' Military Cadence page to find examples of that cadence.
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MOMMA MOMMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #2)
Momma momma can't you see
What the army's done to me
Took away my MTV
Now I got to watch Barney
Tic Tac Toe
Three in a row
Your mama got killed
By GI Joe.
Don't stop till your hands get hot
Don't stop till your hands get red
-African American girls, ages 9 years old; Fort Pitt Elementary School; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 10/2006
Editor:
"Momma Momma Can't You See" appears to be a rather widely known handclap rhyme in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. It appears to be performed by girls [up to the age of about 12 years] and boys up to the age of about 8 years old].
In some examples of this rhyme the "your mama got killed" line appears to have replaced the "Barney got killed by GI Joe" line that I first heard recited by African American boys and girls in 1999 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, a city about 12 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. If that is so, I find it very troubling that the line about Barney (the fictitious television character that "older" children love to hate) getting killed has been replaced with a line about a mother getting killed.
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #3)
Mama mama can't you see,
What the army done to me.
They took away my favorite toys,
Now I'm playin' with boys.
They took away my MP3,
Now I'm watching Barney.
They took away my favorite jeans,
Now I'm wearin' army greens.
I saw a lady chewin' gum,
I asked her if i could have some.
She looked at me like I was dumb,
That's when I said
See my pinky
See my thumb
See my fist
You betta run!
- daledot4kids | August 22, 2007 [transcription by Azizi Powell without the boy's sound effects]
Here's that video:
Mama Mama Can't You See?
daledot4kids | August 22, 2007
Silly Megan with the boys...
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MOMMA MOMMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #4)
Momma momma can't you see
What this baby has done to me
Took away my MTV
Now I'm stuck watching Barney
Barney got shot by GI Joe
Now I'm watching the Cosby show
Cosby show got fired
Now I'm getting tired.
-Guest, Mom From Bama [who indicates she learned this from her two small girls]; 5/2/2008 http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055&messages=48 ; Folklore: Play Ground Hand Jives
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MOMMA MOMMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #5)
Momma momma can't you see.
What that army done to me.
It made me watch Barney.
Tick tack toe
Three in a row.
Barney got killed by GI Joe.
Don't stop till your hands are hot.
Don't stop till your hands get red.
-Conraya E. age 11; Sha'Ona K. age 11; African American girls; (Pittsburgh, PA); 6/12/2008
Editor:
Conraya ("Raya") and Sha'Ona performed "Momma Momma Can't You See" as a two person handclap. For the first two lines, the girls held both of their partner's hands and performed a back & forth tugging motion to the beat. They then alternated one hand up & one hand down claps with two hand claps. After the line "Don't stop till your hand gets hot", the girls did a fast paced one hand up/one hand down handclapping routine. These claps sting the partner's hands. The person who moves their hand away first, because she doesn't want to feel the sting, is the loser.
Because this version of the rhyme didn't refer to MTV as did most of the examples I've collected, I asked Raya and Sha'Ona did this rhyme have a line about a television station. They say they didn't know that line. I also mentioned to the girls that I had heard some girls say "Your mama got killed by GI Joe". Sha'Ona said that they don't say it that way because "that would be talkin about somebody's mother and you aren't supposed to do that". Sha'Ona and Raya told me that another way they and other girls they know say this rhyme is Michael Jackson got killed by GI Joe". Because it didn't seem as though that pop singer's whole name would fit the beat of the rhyme, I asked them if they said his entire name. Sha'Ona said that they only said "Michael got killed by GI Joe" but everyone knew that "Michael" meant Michael Jackson.
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #6)
loool this is mine its a hand game
mama mama cant u see
wat this baby done to me
took away my mtv
now im watching barney
tic tac toe, three in a row
barney got shot by GI JOE
mama called the doctor the doctor said
dont stop till ur hands get red
(and u do the hand motion rlly fast till u feel like stopping cuz ur red hands...)
- xxspicypepperxx; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See; 2008 (posted on Cocojams 12/30/2010
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MOMMA MOMMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #7)
Momma Momma cant you see
what the baby did to me
took away my M.T.V
now I'm watching Barney
tic tac toe in a roll
Barney got shot by Gi Joe
momma called the doctor
the doctor said
don't stop till your hands get red
(do the hand motion really fast till your hands are red)
tiiscute - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See ; 2008 (posted on Cocojams 12/30/2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #8)
my version is
mama mama cant u see
what these babys done to me
took away my mtv/bet
now im watching barney
barney got shot by ge i jo
now im watvhing the casby show
cosby show got fired now im tired
watching lizzie mcguire
-jonasbrotherfan2194; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See ; 2009 (posted on Cocojams 12/30/2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #9)
it really goes like this
mama mama cant you see
what this baby said to me
took away my mp3
now im watching barney
baney got shot by a g i jo
mama called the docter
and the docter said
keep playing till your hands get red
- Ceassa18; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See ; 2009 (posted on Cocojams 12/30/2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #10)
Mama mama can't you see,
What the army did to me.
They took away my favorite toys,
Now I'm playin' with boys.
They took away my MP3,
Now I'm watching Barney.
They took away my favorite jeans,
Now I'm wearin' army greens.
I saw a lady chewin' gum,
I asked her if i could have some.
She looked at me like I was dumb, T
hat's when I got really mad......
You see my pinkie
You see my thumb
You see my fist
You better run.
-thelightblue32; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See (transcription byAzizi Powell)
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #11)
my version-
mama mama cant you see
what this baby done to me
took away me BET
now im watchin MTV
tic tac toe tree in a row
barny got shot by a gansta named joe
barnys hood friends called the doctor and the doctor said
why you kill barny now go to bed
-shadowdragonnight ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See ; June 2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #12)
nooo its another version!!! lol ok here it goes:
Mama can't you see
What these baies done to me
They took away my MTV
Now I'm watchin' Barney
Tic-Tac-Toe Three in a row
Barney got shot by a G.I Joe
I called the doctors
The doctors said,
"Don't stop playing 'till your hands get red!"
lol
-winter0880 ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See ; June 2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #13)
this one was fun!
mama cant you see
what the army did to me
they took away my favorite toys
now im playing with dumb boys
they took away my mp3
now im watching barney
-Jessica; http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games ; April 2010 (retrieved August 21, 2010)
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T U See (Version #14)
mama mama cant u c?
look wat daddys done to me
he took away my mtv
and now im watching barney,
sister got shot by g i joe............
went to the doctor and the doctor said
............ROO THERE IT IS ROO THERE IT IS
ROOO ROOOR OOOOR OOO there it is
-princessgailx ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related ; Mama Mama Can't You See ; September 2010
Editor:
The "roo ther is is" line is from one of two popular R&B songs entitled "Whoops There It Is".
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #15)
It goes
Mama mama cant you see
what the army did to me?
They took away my MTV
and now i have to watch barney
I went downtown to see my mom
she was chewing bubble gum
i asked could i have some
she looked at me like i was dumb
I went home to see my dad
he was looking mighty sad,
I asked him wat was wrong:
he said mommy's having a baby,
dady's going crazy
if its a boy ill give it a toy,
if its a girl ill give it a curl,
it it's twins ill wrapp it up in toilet paper
and throw it down a elevato
-kidwalk2 ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related Mama Mama Can't You See; November 2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #16)
Okay, you all got it wrong.
It's- momma, momma, can't you see?
What this babies done to me...
Took away my Mtv,
now i'm watching dumb barney.
Tick tack toe, three and a row.
Barney got shot by a Gi Joe.
Momma called the doctor
and the doctor said-
*pause*
"oops, barneys dead."
-luv9; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjmEPOz8l4U&feature=related Mama Mama Can't You See; November 2010
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #17)
Mama,Mama can't you see
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
What the baby's done to me
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
Took away my MTV.
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
Now I’m watching dumb Barney
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
tic tac toe three in a row
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
barney got shot got shot by GI Joe
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
who ever got stop get a bump in the head
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
and that is how the game will end
[clap clap clap clap clapclap]
- vdsmdac98mcs on Jun 11, 2010 (my transcription from video)
Here's that video:
[note that I placed the examples from the other "Mama Mama Can't You See video- the girl in the bus or van- together in spite of their dates]
mama can't you see?
Uploaded by vdsmdac98mcs on Jun 11, 2010
juego de manos
hand shake games
-snip-
The two girls speak Spanish prior to starting the handclap game, and speak English while playing the game. They do a two handed tugging motion for the introductory spoken lines. The actual rhyme is accompanied by two hand slaps followed by clapping their own hands.
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #18)
Wasn't it
Mama Mama can't you see
What this baby did to me
Took away my MTV
Now she's watchen Barney
Barney got shot by G.I. Joe
Now she'swatchen Elmo
Elmo died and lost his head
Now we're laying in bed
Don't stop till ur hands get red
-Spazbutt66, http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=PhIXn5dauvk "Mama Mama Can't You See" (two girls doing handclap) ; April 2011
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #19 & Version # 20)
The one i do goes like:
mama mama cant you see..
what your baby done to me..
took away MTV..
now im watching barney..
barney got shot by the FBI..
and i was wonderin-wondering why...
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...
Oops barney's dead,
Oops barney's dead..
I also do
I asked my mama for some gum..
she looked at like i was dumb..
I asked my daddy for some beer..
he said girl get out of her...
I asked my sister whos in your bed?..
She said no one but my boyfriend Ted..
-PrettyGirlDuo77,
http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=PhIXn5dauvk "Mama Mama Can't You See" (two girls doing handclap) ; July 2011
Editor:
Another blogger (NiKKiBSEXCii) wrote that that was the same way she remembered it from "when I was little".
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #21)
where i live have a diffrent virsoin like this:
mama mama cant u see
what the baby done to me
she took away my mtv
know im watching barney
tik tak toe three in a row
mama got shot by giyo
if u stop u geta pop
all the way to the candy shop
-ramirez502ful ; http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=PhIXn5dauvk "Mama Mama Can't You See" (two girls doing handclap) . July 2011
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MOMMY MOMMY CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #22)
Where I live we have a different version and between the lines we do the clapping thing twice as fast lol this is how it goes:
Mommy, mommy can't you see
What the army did to me
They took away my MTV
Now I'm watching dumb Barney
I went downstairs to see my mom
She was chewing spirit gum
I asked her if i could have some
She said that I could have none
I went upstairs to see my dad
he was looking mighty mad
I asked him what was wro-ong
*i forgot this part! lol*
-vertexgirl . http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=PhIXn5dauvk "Mama Mama Can't You See" (two girls doing handclap) . July 2011
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (Version #24)
My version:
Mama mama cant you see?
what these people done to me,
they took away my mtv,
now im watching brney,
tic tac toe three ina row,
mama got shot by GI JOE,
i pledge allegiance to the flag,
michael jackson is a fag,
i askda strager for some gum,
she looked at me like i was dum,
i got out my BB gun, and said
POW POW
FIST FIST
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS THIS -
Black Version
-1982BearTeddy http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=PhIXn5dauvk ; February 2012;
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MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE (AND LEMONADE, MAILMAN, MAILMAN DO YOU DUTY!!!) [Version #26 of Mama Mama Can't You See]
Mama Mama can't you see
What the army's done to me
Took away my MTV
Now I'm watchin dumb Barney
Barney got shot by GI Joe.
Tic Tac Toe three in a row
Don't stop till your hands get red
[clap faster]
-Uploaded by AnnaGuan77 on Nov 22, 2011; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLGiQYHg4LE [This video no longer available]
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MAMASIKA
I have a boyfriend.
Mamasika.
He's a cutie.
Mamasika.
I fed him.
I met him.
I never will forget him.
So let's do the cherry pie.
- 8 year old African American girl; 2008; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; collected by Azizi Powell
Editor:
The word "Mamasika" is a folk processed form of the Spanish word "mamacita" which means "little mama". The lines that start with the words " I met a boy mamacita" are a folk procesed version of the lyrics of a 1990s R&B song by Troop called "Mamacita". A llne from that song's chorus is "Mamacita/so glad to meet ya".
To my knowledge, there hasn't been any dance that was called the "cherry pie". When the young girl who recited this rhyme for me got to that part of the rhyme, she did a little hip shaking dance.
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes to find a version of this rhyme which included in a Down Down Baby rhyme.
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MARY MACK
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/various-handclap-routines-for-mi... for a post on my blog that showcases seven videos of different ways of doing handclap rhymes while reciting "Miss Mary Mack".
Source Theories
Most playground rhymes have multiple sources. "Miss Mary Mack" is certainly an example of that. One early source of "Miss Mary Mack" is the song "The Elephant" that is included in African American professor Thomas W. Talley's now classic 1922 book called Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise & Otherwise
My mammy gimme fifteen cents
Fer to see the elephan' jump de fence.
He jump so high, I didn't see why,
If she gimme a dollar he mought not cry.
So I axed my mammay to gimme a dollar,
Fer to sgo an' hear de elephan' holler,
He holler so loud, he skerred de crowd.
Nex' he jump so high, he reech de sky;
An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' July.
[Kennikat Press edition, 1969, p 116; originally published 1922 Macmillan Press]
-snip-
Notice there is no mention of "Mary Mack" or "silver buckles down her back" in this song. .
Talley COLLECTED a version of a rhyme about asking mother for 15 cents to see the elephant. I'm not sure if that rhyme ORIGINATED with African Americans or not, although the version with the title "Miss" and the repeated words "mac mac mac" etc, probably originated with African Americans.
The line "going to see the elephant" in the Miss Mary Mack rhyme may have originally had the meaning given in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_the_elephant
"The phrase "seeing the elephant" is an Americanism (or American phrase) of the mid to late 19th century. Seen throughout the United States in the Mexican-American War, the Texas Santa Fe Expedition, the American Civil War, the 1849 Gold Rush, and the Westward Expansion Trails (Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail), the mythical elephant was an extremely popular way of expressing an overwhelming emotion."
Another theory about the meaning of the name "Mary Mack" in that handclap rhyme is the name of the Civil War battleship "Merrimac".
The Scottish folk song "Mary Mac" (going to marry me) may also be a source for that handclap rhyme. Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3sOA6yQc4A to a sound file with the lyrics to the folk song "Mary Mac".
Also, the "silver buckles down her back" line in the rhyme "Miss Mary Mack" is said to be Briish riddle of "coffin",
Another source for "Miss Mary Mack" lines are the British profanity avoidance lines "ask my mother for __ to see the giraffe". Several of those rhymes that I have found online include a line about asking your mother for a specific amount of money to see the giraffe.
Click http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=21978#236755 for this version of what I call a "profanity avoidance rhyme" that plays on the word "ask":
Ask your mother for sixpence
To see the big giraffe
With freckles on its elbows
And pimples on its
Ask your mother for sixpence...
Aiso, read a similar profanity avoidance example of "ask your mother"... from From:JennieG Date: 05 Jun 00 on that same Mudcat thread. "Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat" rhymes are widely known American examples of profanity avoidance rhymes.
Versions Of "Miss Mary Mack"
"Miss Mary Mack" may be the most well known English language handclap rhyme. That said, my experiences in facilitating game song groups and special performances in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area from 1997-2005, mostly with Black children, was that "Miss Mary Mack" was more well well known among African American children (5-12 years) than non-African American children. Also, by at least 2003, it seemed that fewer African American children knew this rhyme than had known it before.
As a child I knew "Miss Mary Mack" [as given in Example #1 below] and I performed it as a handclap rhyme. And when I conducted game song special programs in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area from 1997-2005), and asked children what handclapping song they knew, the answer usually was "Miss Mary Mack".
The people I've asked about this rhyme (from my "adopted" city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and from my hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey) appear to only know the version of "Miss Mary Mack" that is given above -although the amount of money had changed from 15 cents to fifty cents.
However, some books that I've read include this verse at the end of "Miss Mary Mack":
July can't walk.
July can't talk.
July can't eat
with a knife and fork.
-snip-
Here's another verse that is sometimes added to the end of the "standard" version of Miss Mary Mack:
She went up stairs, stairs, stairs
To make her bed, bed, bed
She bumped her head, head, head
On a piece of corn bread.
-snip-
I've also read versions of "Mary Mack" that include these traditional verses:
She went to the river, river, river
But she couldn't get across, cross, cross
So she paid five dollars
for an old gray horse horse horse
And the horse wouldn't pull pull pull
So she traded it for a bull bull bull etc
-snip-
Vocalist Ella Jenkins recorded this version of "Mary Mack":
May-Ree Mack, dressed in black
Buttons all up and down her back
Hi-yo, hi-yo, hi-yo-o, hi-yo
Give me a nickel, give me a dime
See my honey baby all the time
Hi-yo, hi-yo, hi-yo-o, hi-yo
Went to the river, couldn't get across
Got in trouble with my boss
Hi-yo, hi-yo, hi-yo-o, hi-yo
Words and Music: Ella Jenkins
1968 Ella Jenkins (ASCAP)
Here's a song track of that song: http://saintsandspinners.blogspot.com/2007/10/song-of-week-may-ree-mack....
Rufus Thomas' 1965 hit R&B song "Walking The Dog" includes this version "Mary Mack"
Mary Mack dressed in black
Silver buttons all down her back.
High low, tip to toe
She broke a needle
And she can't sew.
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6AZNywvF-s for a video of this song.
-snip-
Here's some examples of Miss Mary Mack from my memories and from other persons:
MISS MARY MACK (Example #1)
Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack
All dressed in black black black
With silver buttons buttons buttons
All down her back back back.
She asked her mother mother mother
For fifty* cents cents cents
To see the elephant elephant elephant
Jump over the fence fence fence
He jumped so high high high
[that] He touched the sky sky sky
And he never came back back back
Till the fourth of July ly ly
-multiple sources, including my childhood memories of Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s
*I remember saying "fifteen cents" when I was a child, but most children now say "fifty cents".
****
OLD MARY MACK (Example #2)
Hi, When I was growing up, we learned Old Mary Mack a little differently. The first 4 lines were the same, the remaining lines went like this:
She cannot read read read
She cannot write write write
But she can smoke smoke smoke
Her father's pipe pipe pipe
Not very PC, (politically correct) but what do you expect from a kid from Boston! (grin) Take care.
-Judy ; 6/2/2007
Editor:
When I was growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1950s, I learned this verse from my mother: "Can you read?/can you write?/ Can you smoke your daddy's pipe?" However, that rhyme wasn't combined with Miss Mary Mack.
****
MISS MARY MACK (Example #3)
Miss Mary Mack, Mack Mack
All dressed in Black, Black Black.
With silver Buttons, buttons buttons,
all down her back back back.
She asked her mother, mother, mother
for fifty cents cents cents.
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
jump over the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, high
they reached the sky, sky, sky
they never came back, back, back
till the fourth of july, ly,ly.
She went upstairs, stairs, stairs
to make her bed, bed,bed
she made a mistake, stake, stake
and she bumped her head, head, head
she went downstairs, stairs, stairs
to make some cookies, cookies, cookies
she made a mistake stake stake
and she ate her boogies boogies boogies.
she went outside, side side
to mow the grass grass grass
she made a mistake stake stake
and she mowed her ass, ass ass
she went inside side side
to tell her mother, mother, mother
she made a mistake stake stake
and she told her brother, brother, brother!
-Rae, http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php; Schoolyard Games, [website link no longer active], 8/10/2006
****
MRS MARY MACK (Example #4)
Mrs Mary Mack Mack Mack.
All dressed in black black black.
with silver buttons buttons buttons buttons
all down her back back back
she asked her mother mother mother
for 15 cents cents cents
to see the elephants elephants elephants
jump over the fence fence fence
she jumped so high high high
she touched the sky sky sky
and she never came back back back
till the fourth of July ly ly
A jump rope chant from the 1980's Elkhart Indiana
-Sonjala A; 3/15/2008
Editor:
I think of "Mary Mack" as a handclap rhyme, so I appreciate the fact that Sonjala wrote that she remembers reciting it while jumping rope.
****
MISS MARY MACK (Example #5)
Here is a street song my children sang in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in a primarily African-American neighborhood. I heard children who were Jewish, African-American, and Irish sing this song. It is a hand-clapping song.
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black,
with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back.
I asked my mother, mother, mother, for 50 cents, cents, cents,
to see the bad boy, bad boy, bad boy, jump over the fence, fence, fence.
-MerlePsyA; 8/24/2011
****
Videos Of Miss Mary Mack
Here are a few videos of children doing handclaps while chanting "Miss Mary Mack". Notice the different ways they do their hand routines, and notice the slightly different words that they chant:
Miss Mary Mac!
Miss Mary Mac!
Posted by evrlastingbeauti
September 26, 2007
**
Hailey and Julie Singing Miss Mary Mack"
Posted by arlenebabb53
July 13, 2008
**
B-I-N-G-O and Miss Mary Mack by Samantha and Lauren
Posted byscacciata
April 23, 2009
"Samantha and Lauren show hand clapping games"
The "Miss Mary Mack" rhyme is said starting at .14 to end of the video
Here's what I think I heard the girls say for the BINGO rhyme:
Bingo!
B-I-NGO
Butterfingers Tootsie Rolls
Icey Icey STO [?]
And Bingo was his name o
[?] means that I'm not sure about what was said.
****
Here's a Sesame Street video in which two girls perform a hand clap routine and chant a rhyme about the letter "M" that clearly has its basis in the "Miss Mary Mack" playground rhyme:
wattamack4 | July 17, 2007
Girls play a clapping game about the letter M.
****
MISSISSIPPI (Elastics/Chinese Jump Rope) Version #1
I also remember a Mississippi rhyme where you did a different move for the letters that spell M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I.
M- Jump into the square with both feet
I- Straddle the two elastics
S- Straddle one elastic
S- Straddle the other elastic
I- same as above
S- same as above
S- same as above
I- same as above
P- jump on both elastics
P- jump on both
I- same as above
* you basically do the same move for letters
-Guest Doris ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=46932 ; Child's Game: Elastics;
October 27; 2004
****
MCDONALDS IS YOUR KIND OF PLACE (Version #1)
Original Lyrics:
McDonalds is your kind of place!
Hamburgers in your face!
French Fries up your nose!
Pickles between your toes!
And don't forget those lousy shakes!
They're made from polluted lakes!
McDonalds is your kind of place!
Direct from the source ;)
-TheOffensiveuser,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEkfipbI3Q&feature=related ; April 2012
****
MCDONALDS IS YOUR KIND OF PLACE (Version #2)
As kids we sang:"McDonalds is yur kinda place.
Hamburgers in yur face.
French fries between yur toes.
Dill pickles up yur nose.
And dont forget McDonalds shakes,
made from polluted lakes.
McDonalds is yur kinda place."
-journeyquest1; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEkfipbI3Q&feature=related , April 2012
****
MCDONALDS IS YOUR KIND OF PLACE (Version #3)
We sang the same version except for the shakes/polluted lakes part:
We sang "The last time I went there - they burned my underwear-McDonalds is your kind of place." LOL
-MuscleMikal in reply to journeyquest1; May 2012
-snip-
Here's that version:
McDonalds is your kinda place.
Hamburgers in your face.
French fries between your toes.
Dill pickles up your nose.
The last time I went there
They burned my underwear.
McDonalds is your kinda place
journeyquest1; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEkfipbI3Q&feature=related, May 2012
****
MISSISSIPPI (Elastics/Chinese Jump Rope) Version #2
don't forget about mississipi:
M STANDS FOR THE INSIDE OF THE 2 ROPES
I STANDS FOR THE OUTSIDE OF THE ROPES
S STANDS FOR STRADLING ONE SIDE OF THE ROPE
THEN THE NEXT P STANDS FOR STEPPING ON THE ROPE
So you would sing M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I When you complete this you are to raise the rope up to your knees then under your butt waist arm pits neck heaven.
hope this was alittle bit of a help to any one.
-Guest Teda; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=35850&messages=53 Help with playing 'Chinese Jump Rope' ; October 13. 2005
****
MISSISSIPPI (Elastics/Chinese Jump Rope) Version #3
Hey Chinese jumpers!I'm in grade 8, and in grade 3,4, and 5 my friends and I use to play this game. I just got one of these rope recently and I kind of forget how to play this but one thing i do remember doing is the game calles MISSISSIPPI. So here is how you play...
M- Jump to the middle of the rope with both feet
I- Jump to the either sides of the rope with your feet
S- Jump with your left foot in the middle and your right foot on the outside
S- Jump with your right foot in the middle and your left foot on the outside
I- Same as before
P- Jump with both feet on the two sides of the rope
P- same as before
I- Same as before
And finally jump out.
-Guest MJ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=35850&messages=53 Help with playing 'Chinese Jump Rope' July 12, 2010
****
MISS LUCY HAD A BABY
Editor:
All versions of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" are posted together regardless of their first lines (titles).
"Miss Lucy Had A Baby" and her sister rhyme "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" were jump rope rhymes, but both of these rhymes now appear (in the USA) to be chanted mostly while doing hand clap routines. This may be because since at least the 1990s, but probably even earlier, there's been far less recreational jump rope activities occuring in the USA than previously. And when children (usually girls) jump rope for fun, they seldom chant. Much of the "blame" for this can be attributed to jumping rope (Double Dutch) becoming a competitive sport. I'm not really knocking that sport, but I very much regret the separation of the art of chanting from jumping rope.
For some time I've been trying to find out the source & meaning/s of the line "out goes the lady with the alligator purse" in the rhyme "Miss Susie had a baby/his name was Tiny Tim" (and other similar words). I'm now convinced that the alligator purse is a referent to activist Susan B. Anthony's purse. I received an email from a visitor to this site which offerred that theory. And I finally found what I believe is a confirmation of that theory. See Example #9 below.
Enough editorializing. Here are versions of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby":
MISS LUCY HAD A BABY (Jump Rope Rhyme) Example #1
Miss Lucy had a baby
His name was Tiny Tim
She put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water
He ate up all the soap
He tried to eat the bathtub
But it wouldn't go down his throat.
Miss Lucy called the doctor
Miss Lucy called the nurse
Miss Lucy called the lady
with the alligator purse.
In came the doctor
In came the nurse
In came the lady with the alligator purse
Out went the doctor
Out went the nurse
Out went the lady
with the alligator purse.
-Azizi Powell, remembrances of childhood (Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s)
Editor:
The ending of this rhyme is also mixed up with an ending that was added to the choosing it game "eenie meenie minie mo":
Out goes the rat
Out goes the cat
Out goes the lady with the see-saw hat
-snip-
I think that sometimes I said that "out goes the rat" ending instead of saying "out went the doctor etc".
My theory about the meaning of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" is that, at some point, this rhyme became a critique on conventional medicine. The lady with the alligator purse was a herbalist who succeeded in curing the child with a bubble in his throat (diptheria) when conventional medical treatments failed. Of course, I can't prove this, but it makes sense to me. :o)
[3/13/2012 - I'm still holding on to this theory, though I had some momentary doubts about it because of the Susan B. Anthony connection - See Example #9 below]
Click http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418&messages=26 "Folklore: Lady's alligator purse? Her own thread" for more comments about this theory and for other examples.
I also believe that "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" and another very widely known rhyme"Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" come from the same rhyme source "Bang Bang Lulu". Click http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84511 to read a discussion on this theory, and find examples of "Bang Bang Lulu" (Bang Bang Rosie). Examples of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" are found below.
****
MISS LUCY HAD A BABY (Version #2)
Miss Lucy had a baby
His name was Tiny Tim
She put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water
He ate up all the soap
He tried to eat the bathtub
But it wouldn't fit down his throat.
Miss Lucy called the doctor
The doctor called the nurse
The nurse called the lady
with the alligator purse.
In came the doctor
In came the nurse
In came the lady
with the alligator purse.
"Measles," said the doctor
"Mumps," said the nurse
"Nothing," said the lady
with the alligator purse.
Out went the doctor
Out went the nurse
Out went the lady
with the alligator purse.
-Anonymous (White woman; from her childhood memories of Washington, D.C. in the 1980s); collected by Azizi Powell, 1999
Here's a video of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby":
ambernoele | May 6, 2009
****
MS. SUZIE HAD A BABY (Version #3)
ms. suzie had a baby, she named him tiny tim
she put him the bathtub
to see if he could swim
he drank up all the water
he ate up all the soap
he tried to eat the bathrub
but it wouldn't go down his throat
ms. suzie called the doctor
ms. suzie called the nurse
ms. suzie called the lady-with the alligator purse
crazy said the doctor
stupid said the nurse
hungry said the lady-with the alligator purse
ms. suzie kicked the doctor
ms. suzie punched the nurse
ms. suzie paid the lady-with the alligator purse
-butters; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php; 6/7/2003
****
I HAD A LITTLE DOG (Version #4)
I had a little dog
His name was Tiny Tim
Put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim
Drank all the water
Ate all the soap
Had to phone the doctor before he choked
In came the doctor
In came the nurse
In came the lady with the big fat purse
Out went the doctor
Out went the nurse
Out went the lady with the big fat purse.
-Metoshin, www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm ;Lyr Add: ???; 2/21/2006
Editor:
This rhyme is also given as "I Had A Little Brother"
****
MINNE-MINNEHAHA (Version #5 of Miss Lucy Had A Baby) Jump Rope Rhyme
Minne-Minnehaha
Went to see her papa
Papa died, Minnie cried.
Minnie had a baby named him Tiny Tim
Put him in the bathtub to teach him how to swim
He drank all the water and ate two bars of soap
And died the next morning with a bubble in his throad
Minnie called the doctor
Minnie called the nurse
Minnie called the lady with the alligator purse
(at this point, three more girls would jump in)
Measles said the doctor
Measles said the nurse
Measles said the lady with the alligator purse
Mumps said the doctor etc.
-
-
Dead said the doctor
Dead said the nurse
Dead said the lady with the alligator purse
Out went the doctor
Out went the nurse
Out went the lady with the alligator purse (the three would jump out)
-Lydia Leftcoast; http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add... Anybody remember jumprope rhymes?" ; Apr-30-05
****
DONNA HAD A BABY (Version #6; Jump Rope Rhyme)
I may have mentioned this before, Azzizi, if not, in the neighborhood where I grew up, both girls and boys jumped rope, some times in mixed groups and some times in "girls only" or "boys only" groups--this was in the middle fifties--I can't remember the whole thing, but here is the basic part--
Donna had a baby,
Named it Tiny Tim,
Put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim
Drank up all the water
Ate up all the soap
Died last night
With a bubble in his throat.
Momma called the doctor,
Momma called the nurse,
Mama called the doctor
Mama called the nurse
Mama called the lady
With the Alligator Purse.
Too late for the doctor
Too late for the nurse
Too late for the lady
With the Aliigator Purse
One, two, three, four, etc.
My neighborhood was not one of the better ones, and we knew the lady with the alligator purse to be a social worker,because wherever misfortune visited, she followed --
The "bubble", it was later explained to me, was not from the soap, it was the membrane in the throat associated with diphtheria--
-M. Ted; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418; 4/21/2006
****
MISS LUCY HAD A BABY (Example #7)
Miss lucy had a baby
his name was tiny tim
she put him in the bath tub
to see if he could swim
he drank up all the water
he ate up all the soap
he tried to eat the bathtub but it wouldn't go down his throat
Miss lucy called the doctor
the doctor called the nurse
the nurse called the lady with the alligator purse
Mumps! said the doctor
Measles! said the nurse
Nothing! said the lady with the alligator purse
Shots! said the doctor
Medicine! said the nurse
Pizza! said the lady with the alligator purse
Miss lucy punched the doctor
Miss lucy kicked the nurse
Miss lucy payed the lady with the alligator purse.
(we didn't sing the in and "out" verses, but that was probably because we used it as a clapping game and not a jump rope game.
-Guest, girl; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418 Folklore: Lady's alligator purse? Her own thread; 4/21/2006
****
I HAD A LITTLE TURTLE (Version #8 of Miss Lucy Had A Baby)
I had a little turtle his name was tiny tim I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim he drank up all the water he ate up all the soap and now my little turtle is sick in bed with a bubble in hi throat and
Miss.Suzy had a baby she named him TinyTim she put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim he drank up all the water he ate up all the soap and now Miss.Suzy's baby has a bubble in his throat Miss.Suzy called the doctor Miss.Suzy called the nurse Miss.Suzy called the lady with alligator purse the doctor said measles the nurse said mumps but bubbles said the lady with the alligator purse
-Grace; http://roughdraft.typepad.com/dotmoms/2004/05/theres_a_song_i.html ; May 21, 2009
-snip-
Request!!
I received an email on October 24, 2011 from a reader who mentioned learning about a version of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" which included the line "vote Said the lady with the alligator purse". The reader indicated that she believes that this may be a reference to Susan B. Anthony. She and I are wondering if any cocojams reader knows a verse of this children's rhyme that includes that line. Like other versions of that rhyme, that version might have another female name such as "Miss Lulu" or "Miss Mary". If you know of such a version, please contact cocojams17@yahoo.com Thank you.
[See Example #9 and comments below for an example of a version that mentions "vote said the lady with the alligator purse"]
****
MISS LULU HAD A BABY (Example #9)
I'm reposted this comment from http://susanbanthonyhouse.org/blog/something-new-from-the-past/alligator... for the folkloric record:
"Alligator Purse Rhyme
Posted on February 22, 2011 by DHughes
"The traveling champion of the women’s rights movement, Susan B. Anthony, was recognized by two trademarks: her red shawl and her alligator “purse.” You can see the famous alligator bag she carried across the United States and to Europe when you visit the Susan B. Anthony House at 17 Madison Street in Rochester, NY. You may recognize this children’s jump-rope rhyme that was recorded by the press when Anthony was campaigning for suffrage in California:
Miss Lulu had a baby, she called him tiny Tim.
She put him in the bathtub, so see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water! He ate up all the soap!
He tried to swallow the bathtub, but it wouldn’t go down his throat!!
Call for the doctor!
Call for the nurse!
Call for the lady with the alligator purse!
“Mumps!” said the doctor. “Measles!” said the nurse.
“Vote!!” said the lady with the alligator purse!!
Anthony used her alligator bag more like a briefcase or backpack than like a purse. In it, she carried her speeches and pamphlets, a copy of the transcript from her 1873 trial in which she was found guilty for having voted “illegally” in the 1872 federal election. What would be the most important item for you to carry in your alligator bag?"
-snip-
Here's a comment that I wrote on http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418&messages=35 about this version of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" (This comment was written in response to another blogger's post about the Susan B. Anthony House version not being substantiated)
" Jon Corelis,
I noticed that there was no attribution for that information from the Susan B. Anthony House website about the origin of the "lady with the alligator purse" version of "Miss Lucy Had A Baby".
It might have been a coincidence that Susan B. Anthony's purse was made of alligator skin and there was a pre-existing line in a playground rhyme about "a lady with the alligator purse". And some enterprising, creative reporter could have made up the "vote said the lady with the alligator purse" version. Indeed, I think it's likely that that is what happened.
And Jon, my focus is probably different than yours. I accept the fact that this rhyme is about death or at least about illness that could have led to a person dying. Read M.Ted Date: 21 Apr 06 - 08:18 PM comment about diptheria (bubble in one's throat).
However, I don't think that the lady with the alligator purse represents death because, in most versions I've read, she succeeds in curing the baby when the doctor, and the nurse fail.
I'm specifically interested in finding an early citation for the inclusion of the alligator purse in these playground rhymes.
And I'm not convinced that the rhyme that you cited is the source for the "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" family of rhymes. I think this (and the core verses for the very widely known "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat") came from the "Bang Bang Lulu" song. Since I believe "Bang Bang Lulu" is of American (USA) origin, I also believe that "Miss Lucy Had A Baby" is of American origin. And I think that the "lady with the alligator purse is a later addition to that rhyme. "
****
MCDONALDS HAND CLAP RHYMES
See examples for Big Mac in Handclap Rhymes page 1, and "Welcome To McDonalds" below on this page.
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #1)
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Hey you,
scooby do
your Mama's got the measles
Your papa's got the flu
magic measles
magic flu
Take an a b c d e f g
Take an h i j k l.m.n.o.p.
Take a smooth shot
Take a smooth shot
and now freeze.
-Eleanor Fulton, Pat Smith; Let's Slice The Ice, (Magnamusic-Baton, 1978;
St. Louis, Mo.; p 16)
Here's a video of a version of this rhyme, though it's not a video of the exact words that are given above :
St. Matthew's clapping game
Uploaded by burndive on Jan 30, 2009
Girls at St. Matthews show me their clapping game.
Editor:
I'm not sure where this "St. Matthews" is. From their accents, I believe these girls are from the Caribbean. There's a school associated with St. Matthew's University in Grand Cayman, British West Indies. This video may have been taken there.
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #2)
Hot off the presses from 9-yr-old daughter, provenance unknown: "Um, just from my friends and all". Haphazard guardianship indeed!
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her name was Suzianna
Sitting in a rocker
eating Betty Crocker
Watching the clock go
Tick Tock
Tick all around go
Tick Tock
Tick all around
A-B-C-D-E-F-G
Gotta wash that stain right out of me
Gotta Boom-shot
Gotta Boom-shot
Gotta crick in my side
Gotta crick in my side
Salt and pepper said "DO NOT MOVE"
(alternate ending)
Salt and pepper said" DO NOT MOVE,
FIRST ONE TO MOVE IS A BLACK-EYED-PEA
SECOND ONE TO MOVE IS A BEAUTY QUEEN
-Dani (Southern USA) ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 Folklore: Do kid still do clapping rhymes? ; September 22, 2003
Editor:
Dani's comment about "haphazard guardianship" was in reference to another poster's quoting noted children's rhymes researcers Peter and Iona Opie that "the games are now under the haphazard guardianship of girls of about seven to nine." This quote is from "The Singing Game" (ISBN 0-19-284019-3)
**
Also see the entry for "My Mother Said Never Play With The Gypsies In The Woods" below that contains a verse from Guest ,Karen, Cheshire, Uk that says:
Mrs Cooper dressed in black
"Silver buckles down her back"
-snip-
This is very similar to the "Miss Mary Mack" verse.
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #3)
Miss Sue, Scooby Doo
Miss Sue from Alabama
Sittin at the table
peeling mashed potatoes.
Waitin for the clock to go
boom tick tock.
boom ticky wally wally.
Boom tick tock
Boom ticky wally wally.
Stop!
Ah 2 more time.
Boom tick tock.
Boom ticky wally wally.
Boom tick tock.
boom ticky wally wally.
Ah 1 more time.
Boom tick tock
Boom ticky wally wally
Boom tick tock.
Boom ticky wally wally.
Ah no more times.
-Alafia Children's Ensemble, Pittsburgh, PA; 1999 & 2001; Collected by Azizi Powell, 1999 & 2001, posted by Azizi, 2004
Editor:
"Miss Sue" can be performed by partners or various numbers of girls and boys. Two children stand facing each other and perform intricate handclap routines. The handclap motions can be alternated between three children on each side of one child, or between two sets of partners. Here's the way that I've seen in play with more than four children: the children stand in a circle formation. The children place one of their hands palm up and their other hand palm down. While reciting the rhyme, girls and boys simultaneously clap the hands of the persons standing on their right side and their left side. An up and down dipping motion often accompanies the hand clapping and recitation.
Prior to beginning the rhyme, either one of the players or an adult group leader determines how many times the "boom tick tock" portion of the rhyme is given. After chanting "no more times", the rhyme is over.
"Scooby Doo" is a cartoon dog that was created by the Hanna Barbara company. An example of "Miss Sue From Alabama" that was recited in 1965 in Northern Mississippi includes the Jazz scatting phrase "A-doobie-do-wah". That example is found below as Version #12 of this rhyme. I found that version on this Mudcat thread: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes? (Guest, nanasallthat; December 11, 2007)
it's very likely that "A-doobie-do-wah" became the name "Scooby Doo", given the increased familiarity with that cartoon dog with that name, and (regrettably) given the fact that many children nowadays know very little about Jazz or scatting.
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #4)
Hi,
I was searching the web for handclap songs and came across your website and you asked for more versions of "Miss Sue from Alabama". My daughter is 6 years old, we live in Northern California and this is what the kids on her playground are singing:
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her real name is Susanna
Sittin' in the rocking chair eating baby crackers watching the clock go
Tick tock tick tock bananna rock, tick toc, tic toc bananna rock
A-B-C-D-E-F-G wash those spiders off of me,
Mooscha, Mooscha, I want my mommy
Mooscha mooscha I know karate
Mooscha moosch oops I am sorry
Mooscha mooscha FREEZE!
-Deena GS; 12/15/2002
Editor:
"Eating baby crackers" probably came from the phrase "eating Betty Crocker".
"Betty Crocker" is the invented name for a fictitious cook who represented the General Mills company. "Betty Crocker" cookbooks contain all kinds of easy to use recipes, including recipes for bake goods such as cookies, pies, and cakes. Thus "eating Betty Crocker" means eating some baked goods that were created by using a Betty Crocker recipe. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Crocker for more information about "Betty Crocker".
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #5)
Hi:-) I just wanted to submit a very popular version of the 'handclap rhyme' song "Miss Sue From Alabama".
I lived in Indiana my whole life although I changed schools alot, and this song seemed to be known by every other African American child I met. Here's how we all sang it:
Miss Sue! *clap clap*
Miss Sue! *clap clap*
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her real names Suzyanna
Sittin in a rockin chair
Eatin Betty Crocker bread
Watchin the clock go
Tick tock tick tock Banana rock!
Tick tock tick tock Banana rock!
A-b-c-d-e-f-g Wash them spots right offa me!
Moocha Moocha Moocha Freeze!
*literally freeze on the last clap,
try to stay still longer than your friend
-darlenevil; 2/1/2005
Here's a video of a version of this rhyme and of other rhymes:
Uploaded by cattbird on Dec 6, 2009
Kayla and Yas do their thang!
Editor:
I wrote a comment on this video's thread asking what country the girls are from. From their accents, I think its either Australia or the UK. Also, I thought that 1st rhyme they said was a form of Miss Sue from Alabama (Miss Pat?); the 2nd Tick Tock Banana Rock (I couldn't understand the next lines); the 3rd rhyme was That's The Way; the 4th was Brickwall Waterfall ending in "so cut it with that attitude" (Which was cute, I've never heard that ending before). I couldn't understand much of the rest of the words.
****"
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #6)
one goes back and forth between the people playing the game; I'll just use my name (Monica):
(both)Miss Sue, Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her real name is Susannah
(Boom chicka boom chicka boomboomboom)
Mommy's got the measles, Daddy's got the flu
I ain't lyin', nor are you.
(other person) Hey Monica!
(me) Who's callin' my name?
(other person) Hey Monica!
(me) Stop playin' my game!
(other person) Someone's on the telephone!
(me) If it ain't my baby tell 'em I ain't home!
(both) Sittin' in her rocker, eatin' peanut butter
Watchin' the clock go
Boom ticky wah wah boom tick tock
Boom ticky wah wah clock says stop!
-getoffmyskittle; http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=38901&page=4 Does anyone remember this?? (goofy kid-rhymes) February 6th, 2006
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #7)
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her real name is Susanna
Sittin' in her rocker
eatin' Betty Crocker
Watching the clock go
Tick Tock Tick Tock banana rock
Tick Tock Tick Tock banana rock
A B C D E F G
Wash those spiders off of me
Moosha Moosha I want my mommy
Moosha Moosha I know karate
Moosha Moosha oops I'm sorry
Moosha Moosha FREEZE!
(lots of hand movements to this one! and the first one to move loses C:)
-Grace Kim; http://battery-d.livejournal.com/87113.html ; 12/17/2005
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #8)
You said you needed more Ms.Sue hand games. This is what I have heard:
Ms sue(clap clap)
Ms Sue(clap clap)
Ms sue from alabama alaska nebraska
sittin' in a rockin' chair
eatin' peanut butter
watching the clock go
tick tock tick tock chihuahua
tick tock tick chihuahua
a,b,c,d,e,f,g wash these cookies off of me
musha musha walkin with a cane
musha musha it's all to the same to me
musha musha oops excuse me
I hope you enjoy this hand game
-Haley, 11/5/2006
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #9)
We had a different version of Miss Sue in the early 70's in New Orleans. It went something like this:
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Hey little girl with a zip-a-dee-doo
Ya mama got the measles
and ya papa does, too
Take an a,b,c,d,e,f,g
Ya take an h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p
Ya take a booster shot
Ya take a booster shot
Take a booster shot and...
FREEZE!
-Adriana; 1/11/2007
Editor:
See this comment about this example that comes via Cocojams email from Dave in China:
"Just want to compliment you on this fascinating collection and confirm "Miss Sue #6". I'm a 39yo white male originally from New Orleans. I woke up from a nap today in China, with the phrase "take a booster shot and freeze" inexplicably stuck in my head. I had no idea what it meant, but I Googled it and out popped this site. Very interesting to see all the variations and curious about their development as well as many related topics. (I'm looking into studying ethnomusicology next year. This site could come in handy.) This one from New Orleans was exactly what my sister was singing in one of my earliest memories circa 1971".
-Dave; 6/22/2007
-snip-
Editor:
Thanks for the compliment, Dave! I also enjoy reading these examples. And I'm glad this collection may be of interest to folks studying ethnomusicology and other subjects.
Because I've added examples from other sites, note that this version is now #9 instead of the number Dave gave in his comments. And Dave, if you happen to read this, please contact me on my facebook page cocojams jambalayah. This suggestion can also be for other friendly readers to this site :o)
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MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #10)
Hi there. I'm from Mississippi and was in elementary school in the late 80's through early 90's. the version of "Miss Sue" I remember was not listed here. I thought I'd help you out. Last time I heard it, I think it had varied ever so slightly from when I was in school, but this is how I remember it:
Miss Sue (clap clap clap)
Miss Sue (clap clap clap)
Miss Sue from Alabama
Sittin' in a rocker
eatin' betty crocker
watchin' that clock go tick-tock,
tick-tock-banana-nana
tick-tock, tick-tock banana-nana
ABCDEFG-wash those stains
right out'a my knees
MUSHKA, MUSHKA, MUSHKA
FREEZE
(as fast as you can)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10!
I never got the last part...sometimes the rule was you had to stay still while you counted, and sometimes it was to count the fastest. The most distinct difference I remember is that there were always three claps after "Miss Sue." I hope that was helpful.
-Allison (Mississippi; late 1980s, early 1990s); 2/28/2007
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #11)
Heres another version of miss Sue. We sang this in Pennsylvania
Miss Sue (clap clap)
Miss Sue (clap clap)
Miss sue from alabama
we call her susyanna
sitting in her rocker (moving arms like rocking chair)
eating betty crocker
watching the clock go ticktock
tick tock shawalwalla (moving fingers like clock then rolling hands)
ticktock tick tock shawalwalla
a-b-c-d-e-f-g
wipe those dirty hands off me (wipe your hands on other person)
moocha moocha moocha freeze (during moocha moocha moocha find position and freeze and try to stay still for longer than other person)
- Aubri ; 4/15/2007
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #12)
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Someone is in your garden
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Someone is in your garden
Miss Sue from Alabama
Show me what you can do
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Show me what you can do
Miss sue from Alabama
Is this the way you do
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Is this the way you do
Miss Sue from Alabama
Hey Hey
A doobie-do-wah
Your mama's broke
And your papa's broke
Turn to the east
Turn to the west
Turn to the very one you love the best
Milk in the pitcher
The butter's in the bowl
Can't catch a sweetheart
To save your soul
I think this is the way we sang this game in Northern Mississippi cira 1965.
-Guest, nanasallthat; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes? ; December 11, 2007
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #13)
I know of another version of "Miss Sue From Alabama" and if you don't mind I'll write it below and the instructions as well as I can.
I met a Sue from Alabama,
Nebraska, Alaska,
we call her Suziana
(pause here)
Sitting in a rocking chair,
eating Betty Crocker,
watching the clock go tick, tock, tick tock
Phenominock,
tick, tock, tick tock Phenominock
A-B-C-D-E-F-G,
I got Plastic Surgery!
Mishka, Mishka,
I want my mommy!
Mishka, Mishka,
I do karate!
Mishka, Mishka,
Oops, I'm sorry!
Mishka, Mishka, FREEZE!
Instructions: In the very beginning of the song, on the word "I", you pat your knees (this is a 2 person game). Then on "I met a Sue from Alabama..." you clap your own hands, extend your right hand to the other person's right hand, clap your own hands again, extend your left hand to the other person's left hand, clap you own hands, and keep on doing this until the words "Sitting in a rocking chair". On those words you rock your hands to and fro like a rocking chair. On "eating Betty Crocker" you pretend to hold a spoon to your mouth, on "Watching the clock go Tick, tock, tick tock Phenominock" you put your hands together, swishing them side to side on the "tick tock" parts, on "Phenominock" (pronounced Fi-nom-in-ock) you put both your hands around your ears and circle them.
You repeat this until you get to "A-B-C-D-E-F-G". On that, you circle your finger around your face. On "I got Plastic Surgery!" you put both hands inside your both, pulling the insides of your cheeks. On "Mishka, Mishka", you extend both of your hands to meet the other person's, and clap them twice. On "I want my mommy" you pretend to suck your thumb. Extend and clap hands twice again for "Mishka Mishka" and then on "I know karate!" Cross your arms or do any karate pose. Same thing again on the next "Mishka Mishka" and on "Oops, I'm sorry!" hit the other person on the head. Mishka, Mishka... then when you say "Freeze!" You get into any position and stay in it. It's also a blinking contest, and whoever blinks first loses.
I hope that my instructions made you understand!
-Janice ; 2/20/2008
-snip-
The rhyme "Down Down Baby I Know Karate" that is found on http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes is very similar to the second part of this version of "Miss Sue From Alabama".
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #14)
Mis Sue from Alabama
Let's make a movie
Sitting in a rocking chair
Eating Betty Crocker
Watching the clock say
Tick Tock Boom Boom Banana
Tick Tock Boom Boom Banana
Hey white girl whatcha going to do
Momma got the measles Daddy got the flu
Give me a ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP
Take a flue shot take a flu shot
and FREEZE
-Guest, Mom From Bama ; 5/2/2008 http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055&messages=48 ; Folklore: Play Ground Hand Jives, May 2, 2008
-snip-
This blogger indicated that she learned this from her two small girls. That same blogger also posted a version with the line "hey lily white girl/watcha going to do".
****
PEA SOUP (Version #15 of Miss Sue from Alabama)
i have a clapping song
pea soup
pea soup pea soup
flying in a rocket eating merry chocolate
waiting for the clock to go tick tock whirly whirly tick tock
a b c d e f g
wipe those boy germs off of me
moonshine moonshine moonshine clear
first one to laugh is a bumble bee
not me
recited by girls in 2000s
-hannan d; 12/1/2009
Editor:
I posted this example here because I think that the phrase "Pea Soup" in this rhyme is probably a folk processed form of "Miss Sue". Numerous example of "Miss Sue (from Alabama)". However, visit http://www.cocojams.com/content/gross-out-rhymes to read an example of a rhyme called "Pea Soup".
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #16)
Here is the song to a hand game we played:
Ms. Sue! (clap hands 3 times)
Ms. Sue! (Clap hands 3 times)
Ms. Sue from Alabama (Do patty cake hand thing-a-majig)
They call her Suziana 'cuz she's... (Move arms as if you're in rocking chair)
Sittin' in a rocking chair
Eating Betty Crackers (Act like you're eating crackers)
Watchin' the clock go tick tock (Point index fingers up and move them left right left right) Tick tock FINALLYALLY! (At Finallyally move both fingers around ears as if you're saying someone's crazy)
Tick Tock Tick Tock FINALLYALLY
A B C D E F G (Dot down your body)
Wash those boy germs off of me! (Wipe off your shirt)
BOOPA! BOOPA! (Throw out open hands)
I WANT MY MOMMY! (Cuddle hands)
BOOPA BOOPA!
I know Karate! (Act like you know Karate)
BOOPA BOOPA! OOPS I'M SORRY! (Bump someone in the arm)
BOOPA BOOPA FREEZE!
AMERICAN CHEESE! (Freeze)
Don't let those ______ touch me! (Replace _____ with something like Arms, Elbows, pinkies...Then do jingle over again this time using arms/elbows/pinkies...until you want to continue with song)
The boys are in the bathroom (Now continue with patty cake motions)
Slurping up their flies
are in the meadow
Ms. Sue is with her boyfriend
Kissing in the D-A-R-K
D-A-R-K
D-A-R-K
DARK
DARK
DARK!
Darker than the ocean!
Darker than the sea!
Darker than the underwear
my grandma made for me!
My mother is godzilla!
My Father is king kong,
My brother is the boy
who made me sing this stupid song!
HEY!
-Alicia; 3/4/2009
-snip-
This version combines "Miss Sue From Alabama" with a version of "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico", and a version of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat".
****
MISS MUFF FROM CALIFORNIA (Version #17 of Miss Sue From Alabama)
Miss muff *clap clap clap*
miss muff *clap clap clap*
miss muff from california
sitting on a bench learning french (pretend to read book)
watching the clock go
tick tock tick tock banana's (clock motions with hands together)
tick tock tick tock banana's ( " ")
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
wipe them cobwebs of your knees. (pretends to wipe cobwebs)
all the girls in spain wash their knickers in the drain (slaps hip)
all the boys in france do the hula hula dance (hula dance)
and the dance they do is enough to tie a shoe (point to shoe)
and a shoe they tie is enough to tell a lie (waggle finger)
and the lie they tell is enough to ring a bell (pretend to ring bell)
and the bell they ring goes ( " ")
DING A LING A LING. (grab friends shoulder and shake back and forth)
<3
-Guest Imogen. http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352&messages=69 ; Lyr Req: Playground songs ; Dec 22, 2010
-snip-
This version of Miss Sue From Alabama combines that rhyme with a version of "All The Girls From Spain".
****
MISS SUE (Version #18 of Miss Sue From Alabama)
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama
Let's have a party
Chica boo Chicka boo boo boo
Let's play tic tac toe
Tic tac tic tac toe
Mama's got the measles
Daddy's got the flu
I ain't got it
Neither are you
Miss M
Sittin at the table
Peelin my potatoes
Miss M Sittin in the alley
Messin with my neighbors
Listenin to the fly go
Chicken wah wah
Chicken wah wah
FREEZE!
-chicabon | March 13, 2006 ;
Hilary and Olga playing in the park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dh1sOPhlYI&feature=related
(transcription by Azizi Powell; 12/23/2010)
-snip-
Here's that video:
Miss Sue!
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #19)
Miss Sue
Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Alabama Alaska Nebraska
She was sittin' in a rocking chair
Chewing on her underwear
Watching the clock go tick-tock,
Tick-tock-banana rock
Tick-tock, tick-tock banana rock
ABCDEFG
Wash those cooties off of me
Wishka Wishka Wishka
FREEZE
Inky dinkey donkey
Daddy had a donkey.
Donkey died.
Daddy cried.
Inky dinky donkey
Uploaded by irenekistler on Apr 7, 2011 [transcription by Azizi Powell, 2/21/2012
[On the part beginning with the counting out rhyme "inky dinkey donkey", one person points to her partner and herself on each syllable. The person who is pointed to last has to put one hand behind her back and do the clapping and pantomine motions with just one hand. The rhyme is repeated until one player has to put both hands behind her back. The other player is the winner.]
Here's that video:
Miss Sue Playground Song
Uploaded by irenekistler on Apr 7, 2011
****
MISS SUE FROM ALABAMA (Version #20)
I learned it a little different: the beginning is the same
Miss Sue... Miss Sue...
Miss Sue from Alabama, Montana, Louisiana
her real name was susannah,
she was sitting in her rocking chair,
eating baby crackers (or betty crocker),
watching the clock go tick tock, tick tock banana rock tick
tock tick tock banana rock
A B C D E F G,
wash these spiders off of me
banana! banana! banana split!
cherry, cherry, cherry pit!
betchya cant betchya cant betchya cant
FREEZE!
moves first loses!
laurenmeepss, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-svfUMX3BM&feature=related , November, 2011 (posted to cocojams.com on 2/21/2012)
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT
Editor: Examples from this rhyme family are considered versions of each other regardless of the main character's name or what type of boat is mentioned.
Visit http://www.playgroundjungle.com/2009/12/how-miss-susie-and-tiny-tim-got-... for an interesting & informative analysis of the history of this rhyme.
MISS SUSIE HAD A TUG BOAT (Version #1)
Miss Susie had a tug boat,
her tugboat had a bell,
Miss Susie went to heaven
her tug boat went to HELL...
o operator please give me number nine,
and if you disconnect me
I'll cut of you're
behind the 'fridgerator
there lay a piece of glass
Miss Susie sat upon it
and cut her little
ASS..k me no more questions,
I'll tell you no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom
zipping up their flies
are in the meadow,
the bees are in the park,
Miss Susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the D-A-R-K,
D-A-R-K, dark dark dark.
The dark is like the movies,
the movies' like the show,
the show is like tv
and that is all I know
know know, I know
I know my ma I know
I know my pa,
I know I know my sister
with the 49'rs bra.
The bra is for the boobies,
the boobies for the milk,
the milk is for the babies
with diapers made of silk.
-Kristeena; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; June 7, 2003 [This link is no longer active.]
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #2)
Miss Susie had a steamboat,
the steamboat had a bell ding ding,
the steamboat went to heaven,
Miss susie went to
hello operator,
give me number nine,
and if you disconnect me,
I'll chop off your
behind the refrigerator
there lay a piece of glass
Miss susie sat upong it
and broke her little
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom
zipping up their
flies are in the city
bees are in the park
Miss susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the
d-a-r-k
d-a-r-k
d-a-r-k
dark dark dark
the dark is like the movies,
the movies like the show
the show is like the tv set
and that is all i know know know
i know i know my ma
i know i know my pa
i know i know my sister
with the sixty dollar, sixty dollar sixty dollar bra bra bra
my mother is godzilla
my father is king kong
my brother is the stupid one
who made up this song
my mother gave me a nickel
my father gave me a dime
my sister gave me a boyfriend
his name was frankenstein
he made me do the dishes
he made me wash the floors
he made me clean his underweard
then i kicked him out the door
i kicked him over london
i kicked him over france
i kicked him over hollywood and he lost his underpants
-Erin; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; 4/19/2004
Here's a video clip of two girls reciting a version of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" whose ending is simlar to the version of the above example:
Posted by rosebudandgrumpers
October 02, 2007
"The twins playing hand games"
****
MRS MARY HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #3)
Mrs Mary had a steam boat, the boat had a bell toot toot.
Mrs Mary went to heaven, the steamboat went to
hell-o operator give me number nine,
And it you disconnect me I'll kick you from
behind the yellow certain their lay a piece of glass
Mrs Mary fell opon it and cut her big fat
as-k me no more questions and tell me no more lies.
The boys are in the bath room doing up their flys. The bees are in the park,
Mrs Mary and her boyfriend are kissing darker than the ocean, darker than the sea,
darker than the underwear my mommy puts on me.
-elizabeth; (Canada); 10/28/2005
****
MS. LULU HAD AN ENGINE (Version #4)
Miss Lulu had an engine; the engine had a bell,
Miss Lulu went to Heaven; the engine went to
hello, operator, give me number nine,
and if you disconnect me, I'll kick you in the
behind the 'frigerator, there was a piece of glass,
Miss Lulu fell upon it, and broke(cut) her little
ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies,(I'll tell you no more lies)
the boys are in the cellar, pulling down their
flies in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo,
skunk in the barnyard - P.U.!
- Flaxen ; http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=38901&page=2 Re: Does anyone remember this?? (goofy kid-rhymes); February 5th, 2006
****
MS. SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #5)
This is a clap game...early [19]80's Baton Rouge, LA playground:
Ms. Susie had a steamboat...
he steamboat had a bell...
Ms Susie went to heaven...The steamboat went to
Hell-o operator give me number nine...
if you disconnect me...
I'll kick your big Be-hind the fridgerator...
There was a piece of glass...
Ms. Susie sat upon it and broke her big ole As-k me know more questions...
tell me no more lies...
The cows are in the barnyard..
Eating chocolate pie!!!
Note: It was hilarious as a kid!! :)
-Felicia; 2/25/2006
****
MS. SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #6)
ms.susie had a steamboat
the steamboat had a bell
ms.susie went to hevan
and ms.susie went to
hell_o perator please give me number nine
and if u disconact me
i will kick you right
behind the rafigerator there was a peice of glass
ms.susie sat upon it and broke her little
as_K me know more questions
teel me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom
the bees are in the park
ms.susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the d-a-r-k d-a-rk dark dark
dark the movies is the show
the show is all i know.
i know i know my pa
i know i know my ma.
-katie; 5/15/2006
****
MS. LUCY HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #7)
Me and lilly have another rhyme for handclaps it goes....
Ms. Lucy had a steamboat
the steamboat had a bell ding ding,
The steamboat went to heaven
and Ms. Lucy went to
hell-o operator please give me Number 9
and if you disconnect me
i will kick you right behind-
the refrigerater there laid a peice of glass
ms. Lucy feel Upon it and she broke her little
as-k me no more questions
tell me no more lies,
Ms. lucy fell upon it the day before she died
-her hair all purple
she died her hair all pink
she died her hair all polka dot
and washed it in the sink-
me in the ocean
sink me in the sea
sink me in the toilet
but please dont pee on me!!
psssss woops!
-Marlee & Lilly; 5/14/2006
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #8)
Miss Susie had a steamboat,
The steamboat had a bell,
The steamboat went to heaven,
Miss Susie went to,
Hell-o operator, Give me number nine,
And if you disconnect me,
I'll chop off your,
Behind- the refrigerator, There was a piece of glass,
Miss Suzie sat upon it,
And cut her little,
Ass-k me any question,
I tell no lies,
The boys are in the girl's bathroom,
Zipping down their,
Flies- are in the city,
Bees are in the park,
(Friend's name) and her(his) boy(girl)friend,
Are kissing in the, D-a-r-k,
D-a-r-k, D-a-r-k, Dark dark dark,
The dark is like the movies,
The movies like the show,
The show is like the TV set,
And that is all I know,
I know I know my ma,
I know I know my pa,
I know I know my sister,
With the forty acre bra,
My mother is Godzilla,
My father is King Kong,
My brother is the stupid one,
Who taught me this song,
My mother gave me a nickel,
My father gave me a dime,
My sister gave me her old boyfriend,
His name was Frankenstein,
He made me do the dishes,
He made me wash the floors,
He made me clean his underwear,
So I kicked him out the door,
I kicked him over London,
I kicked him over France,
I kicked him over Hawaii
where he learned the hula dance,
He swam across the ocean,
He swam across the sea,
He swam across the tub,
Just to get to me,
I flushed him down the tub,
I drained the water good,
I kicked him out
just like my mama said I should,
In Hawaii he met the good girls,
In Hawaii he met the bad,
Half way through Hawaii
he ran into my dad,
The good girls go to heaven,
So the bad girls go to,
Hell-o operator,
Give me number ten,
And if you disconnect me, I'll sing this song again!
-Elle F.; 11/18/2006
****
MS. SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #9)
My friend jessica and I learned ms. susie this way...
Ms Susie had a steamboat,
her steamboat had a bell (TOOT TOOT!)
Ms susie went to heaven,
The steamboat went to
hell-o operater,
give me number 9,
and if you disconnect me,
i'll kick your big be-
hind the frigerator,
there was a piece of glass,
ms susie slipped apon it,
and broke her big fat
as-k me no more question,
tell me no more lies,
the boys are in the bathroom,
zipping up their flies
are in the meadow,
bees are in the park,
ms susie and her boyfriend,
are kissing in the d-a-r-k,
d-a-r-k, d-a-r-k,
darker than the ocean,
darker than the sea,
darken then those black birds,
chasing after me!
i know i know my pa,
i know i know my ma,
i know i know my sister with the 40 acre bra!!!
-Sydney and Jessica; 9/23/2007
****
MS. SUZIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #10)
ms. suzie had a steamboat,
the steamboat had a bell *ding ding*
ms. suzie went to heaven,
the steamboat went to
hell-o operator, connect me number 9.
and if you disconnect me,
i'll kick your front-
behind the frigerator,
there was a piece of glass.
ms. suzie sat upon it,
and broke her little
ass-k me no more questions,
i'll tell you no more lies.
the boys are in the bathrooms,
zipping up their flies-
are in the meadow,
the bees are in the hive,
me. suzie and her boyfriend,
are kissing in the D-A-R-K,
D-A-R-K, DARK DARK DARK.
the dark is like the movies,
the movies like the show.
the show is like my tv set
and that is all i know!
i know i know my ma,
i know i know my pa.
i know my older sister
wears a 40-acre bra!
-Kat ; 10/10/2007
Here's a video of a similar version of this rhyme:
Hand Clap Game
dawnseattle | September 04, 2009
Resurrect this way of girls having fun just by clapping hands, these girls are having fun with old hand clap game, at school in Seattle,
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Version #11)
miss susy had a steam boat
the steam boat had a bell ding-ding
miss susy went to heaven
the stem boat went to
hell-o operator
please give me number 9
and is you siconect me
i'll chop off your behind...
the fridgerator there layed a piece of glass
miss susy sat upon it and broke her little..
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom
zipping up their...
flies are in the meadows
bees are in the park
miss susy and her boyfriend
were kissing in the d-a-r-k d-a-r-k d-a-r-k
dark dark dark
the dark is like the movies
the movies like the show
the show is like a t.v screen
and that is all i know
i know i know my mom
i know i know my pa
i know i know my sister
with the 80 meter
80 meter 80 meter bra bra bra
the bra is black & purple
as purple as can be
the bra is stuck with cotton balls
and thats the end of me me me
my mom is like godzilla
my dad is like king-kong
my sister is the stupid one
that made up this dumb song another one...
-Samantha; 3/15/2008 (learned in the 1990s)
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Versions #12, 13, 14, 15)
here are 1 I know and 3 i learned from my friends their all the same but worded differently their really kinda funny
Miss Susie had a steamboat
the steamboat had a bell
Miss Susie went to heaven
the steamboat went to Hello (hell)
operator please give me number nine
and if you disconnect me
I'll kick you from
behind the refrigerator
there was a piece of glass
Miss Susie sat upon it
and cut her little (ass)
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom
zipping up their flies
are in the meadow,
the bees are in the park
Miss Susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the dark
is like a movie
a movie's like a show
a show is like a tv screen
and that is all i know
i know my ma
i know i know my pa
i know i know my sister
with the 80 acre alligator bra
OR
Miss Susie had a steamboat
the steamboat had a bell
Miss Susie went to Heaven
the steamboat went to hello (hell)
operator please give me number nine
and if you disconnect me,
I'll paddle your
Behind the refrigerator
there was a piece of glass
Miss Susie sat upon it
and broke her little (ass)
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
the boys are in the girls' room
pulling down their flies
Miss Susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the D-A-R-K D-A-R-K D-A-R-K
[fast] DARK, DARK, DARK
dark is like a movie
a movie's like a show
a show is like a TV screen
and that is all I know
I know I know my mother
I know I know my pa
I know I know my sister
with the alligator bra!
OR
Miss Susie had a steamboat
the steamboat had a bell
Miss Susie went to heaven
the steamboat went to...
(hell) Hello operator
please give me number nine
and if you disconnect me
i'll kick you from...
behind the refrigerator
there was a piece of glass
Miss Susie fell upon it
and cut her little...(ass)
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
Miss Susie told me everything
the day before she...
Died her hair in purple,
died her hair pink,
died her hair in polka-dots
and washed it down the...
Sink me in the ocean,
Sink me in the sea,
Sink me in/down the toilet,
But please don't pee on me!
OR
Miss Suzie had a steamboat.
The steamboat had a bell TOOT TOOT!
Miss Suzie went to heaven.
The steamboat went to,
Hell-o operator I'm dialing number 9
and if you disconnect me
ill kick your little,
Behind the refrigerator
I lay a piece of glass,
Miss Suzie sat upon it
and broke her little,
Ask me no more questions
I'll tell you no more lies,
The boys are in the bathroom
zipping up their,
Flies are in the meadow
the bees are in the park,
Miss Suzie kissed her boyfriend in the,
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K DARK DARK DARK!
Oh hello operator
I'm dialing number 10
and if you disconnect me ill sing this song again!
-Courtney ; 3/27/2008
Editor:
Courtney, thanks for sending in those different versions of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat". To make it easier to read the different examples, I separated them from each other after the word "OR" which you had capitalized in the message that you had submitted. I applaud you for being alert to the differences in words in the examples of this rhyme that you and your friends know.
When I was growing up, I assumed that everybody knew the same rhymes as my friends and I did, and everybody "did" them the same way as we did. Internet websites such as Cocojams demonstrate that some children's rhymes have multiple versions. These versions usually have the same tune, but have slightly different or significantly different words. I enjoy collecting different versions of the same rhymes. Maybe you do too!
I think it's interesting that these different versions that you sent in are from people who presumably live in the same neighborhood or who go to the same school. Usually, what I've found in my admittedly informal study of rhymes is that children/teens who are the same or similar age group, and who are the same gender, race/ethnic group, and who live in the same neighborhood and go to the same school recite the same version of a particular rhyme.
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A TUGBOAT (Version #16)
miss susie had a tug boat the tugboat had a bell choo-choo
miss susie went to heaven the tugboat went to
hello operator please give me number nine
and if you disconnect me i will chop of your
behind the 'fridgerator there was a piece of glass
miss susie sat upon it and broke her big fat
ask me no more questions tell me no more lies
the boys are in the bathroom zipping up their
flies are in the meadow bees are in the park
miss susie and her boyfriend are kissing in the
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K DARK DARK
dark is at the movies
the movies are a show
a show is like a tv show and that is all i know know know
i know i know my ma
i know i know my pa
i know i know my sister with the 80 mile bra
it's not too big it's not too small it's just the size of city hall
city hall's in portland portland is in maine
maine is in the united states and this song is insane
miss susie had a tugboat the tugboat had a bell
miss susie went to heaven the tugboat went to
hello operator please give me number ten
and if you disconnect me i will sing this song again
-lissandsara; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mJ_f8Vczok&feature=related ; August 30, 2008
Liss and Sara... Awesome Hand Clapping Games
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Versions #17)
[My older sister taught me this one. We're both white girls.]
Ms Susie had a steam boat
Her steam boat had a bell
Ms. Susie went to heaven
Her steamboat went to
Hell-o operator
Please give me number nine
If you disconnect me
I'll chop off your
Behind the 'frigerator
There lies a piece of glass
Ms. Susie sat upon it
and broke her big fat
Asssss-k me no more questions
Tell me no more lies
The boy are in the bathroom
Zipping up their
Flies are in the meadow
The bees are in the park
Ms. Susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the D-A-R-K D-A-R-K DARK
Darker than the ocean
Darker than the sea
Darker than the underwear
my mother puts on me
Now I know I know my ma
Now I know I know my pa
Now I know I know my sister
with the forty acre bra!
-Liz; 9/24/2008
Editor:
As a reminder, I've asked contributors of rhymes to include demographical information-including race/ethnicity-for the benefit of any folklore researchers who may want to determine if a rhyme or a version of a rhyme is more widely known among certain ages, genders, nationalities, races. Also folklore researchers might be interested in whether performance activities vary among people in these demographical groups.
It would be great if those who submit examples for possible posting on Cocojams would also include demographical information, particularly where the rhyme comes from (city, state if in the USA, city, nation if outside the USA) and when it was performed (year or decade such as 2003 or late 1990s).
It would also be helpful if you would include information about the gender (girls and/or boys) and race/ethnicity of the performers. In addition, it would be great if you added information about how you learned this rhyme (for example, from friends, or from an older sister).
Finally, information about how the rhyme is performed (such as with a partner, or in a circle with lots of people) would also be veryhelpful for people who study rhymes. Thanks again for sharing rhymes with Cocojams!
My thanks to Liz for remembering to include some of that information.
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Versions #19)
(Patty cake motions)
Ms. Suzie had a steam boat
Her steam boat had a bell Ding Ding (Pretend to pull cord that activates "ding ding" sound)
Ms. Suzie went to heaven
Her steamboat went to
HELLO Operator Gimme number 9!
And if you disconnect me,
I'll cut off your
BEHIND the 'fridgerator there sat a piece of glass
Ms. Suzie sat upon it and broke her little
AS-K me no more questions
I'll tell you no more lies
that's the thing Ms. Suzie said
the day before she died HEY!
-Alicia; 4/4/2009
The video for this version is no longer accessible to the general public.
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Versions #20)
Kids Dont jump rope to this song im in the fourth grade and we just sing it we dont do any movements to the song
Miss Suzie had a steam boat
The Steamboat had a bell
Mrs.Suzie went to heaven
The steamboat went to
Hello Operator
Give me number 9
if you disconnect me
I'll kick you from
Behind the refrigerator
there was a piece of glass
Miss Suzie sat upon it
And broke her little
Ask me no more questions
ill tell you no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom
Zipping down their
Flies are in the meadow
Bees are in the grass
The boys and girls
Are kissing in the
D-A-R-K D-A-R-K
Darker than the ocean
Darker than the sea
Darker than the black boy
That's chasing after me
Dark is like a movie
A movie is like a show
A show is like a T.V. set
And that is all I...
Know my dad is a robber
I know my mom is a spy
I know that I'm the little brat that
Told the F.B.I.
My mom gave me a nickel
My dad gave me a dime
My sis' gave me a girlfriend
And I know she's is witch
she made me wash the dishes
she made me wash the floor
she made me wash her underwear
So I kicked her out the door
I kicked her over London
I kicked her over France
I kicked her to Hawaii
Where she did the Hoola Dance!
-Guest; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=90418&messages=26 Folklore: Lady's alligator purse? Her own thread ; February 27, 2011
-snip-
Note the lines "darker than the black boy/ that's chasing after me". Since this is a risque rhyme, it's likely that this version was recited by White girls as the image of Black boys chasing them makes the action of boys chasing girls even more risque.
****
MISS SUSIE HAD A STEAMBOAT (Versions #21; #22)
Miss Suzie had a steeamboat, her steamboat had a bell.
When Suzie went to heaven, her steamboat went to
Hell-o operator, give me number nine.
And if you disconnect me, I'll kick your big
Behind the yellow curtain, there was a piece of glass.
When Suzie sat upon it, she cut her big fat
Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies.
The cows are in the pasture baking apple pies
- http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml ; retrieved March 28, 2011 and Bears Mom; http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080124075141AAeAhJ8 Who Remembers "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" , October 2007
Editor:
In the 1960s, "the yellow curtain" was a common referent for communist nations. Another referent for those nations was "the iron curtain". That referent also shows up in "Miss Susie Has A Steamboat" rhymes. Here's an example that includes the "iron curtain" phrase:
"Hello operator please give me #9 and if the line is busy I'll kick you right behind...the iron curtain there lay a piece of glass when Susie sat upon it she hurt her little...ask me no more questions I'll tell you no more lies...
Can't remember the rest....I'm surprised I remembered that much of it!!"
****
MRS D (Jump Rope Rhyme)
Mrs D
Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs F F I,
Mrs C, Mrs U, Mrs L T Y!
-Guest, Longrope; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56361; Folklore: Skipping Rhymes & Playground Games; 10/6/2006
Editor:
In April 27, 2009, a Mudcat member Tug the Cox wrote this comment about this same rhyme "A few years ago just about every primary age kid had no difficulty in spelling difficulty. This came from a rhyme in Roald dahl's matilda." http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=120435 ; Songs for the spelling of words
****
MY AUNTIE ANNA (Version #1)
my aunty anna used to play piano 24 hours a day.
[do] splits etc until one fall down and the other 1 [is the] winner!!!!!!
-my aunty anna; 7/15/2006
****
MY AUNTIE ANNA (Version #2)
We used to play a similar game during recess when I was about 8. Played with 2+ people, I learned it at the YMCA summer camp in Ridgewood, NJ, and the lyrics I knew were: Anna banana/ plays the piana/ all she could play was the 'Star Spangled Banna'/ OOPS (here, jump up with feet slightly wider apart) She's an idiot (start over from beginning, until one person's feet are so far apart she can't keep her balance in the split) Anyone who could do a straddle split almost always automatically won this game, because it was considered bad form to not have as deep a split as your opponent(s)
-Tori; 6/13/2007
****
MY AUNTIE ANNA (Version #3)
Clapping game:
My auntie Anna
Plays the piana [no, we don't usually pronounce it like that]
24 hours a day
SPLIT
[and with each "SPLIT" you move your feet a little bit further apart, then repeated the verse, still clapping. You had to try not to fall over - and, of course, try to stay on a level where you could still clap with your partner.]
-Viracocha (Scotland); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352 ; Lyr Req: Playground songs; 8/3/2007
****
MY BOYFRIEND GAVE ME AN APPLE (Version #1)
A clapping rhyme:
Myyyyyy boyfriend gave me an apple
My boyfriend gave me a pear
My boyfriend gave me a [pretend to kiss other person's cheeks x3]
And I threw him down the stairs
I threw him over London
I threw him over France [fran(t)ss]
I threw him over the USA
And he lost his underpants [note: 'underpants' is just to scan, we usually used 'pants']
IIIIII gave him back his apple
I gave him back his pear
I gave him back his [pretend to kiss other person's cheeks x3]
And he threw me down the stairs
He threw me over London
He threw me over France
He threw me over the USA
And I lost my underpants
There was another verse, but I honestly can't remember where it goes from here.
-Viracocha (Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in the early 1990s); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352&messages=48 Lyr Req: Playground songs; 7/30/2007
Editor: Many of these verses are often found in "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" rhymes.
****
MY BOYFRIEND'S NAME IS WINKLETOES (Version #2 of My Boyfriend Gave Me An Apple)
I was in primary school from 1989-1994 in the UK and these are the clapping games/songs I remember from that period:
‘My boyfriend’s name is Winkletoes and he lives in a town called Wrinklenose
With a curled up nose and wrinkled toes, this is how my story goes
One day he gave me peaches
One day he gave me pears
One day he gave me fifty pence and kissed me on the stairs
He took me to the movies
He took me to the fairs
And every time I turned my head, he kissed the girl next door to me
So I gave him back his peaches
And I gave him back his pears
I gave him back his fifty pence and kicked him down the stairs
I kicked him over England
I kicked him over France
I kicked him over Africa and saw his underpants’
-Katherine; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Pose; October 2, 2009
****
MY BOYFRIEND GAVE ME AN APPLE (Version #3)
i got another one my sister sung it: my boyfriend gave me an apple my boyfriend gave me a pear my boyfriend gave my a kiss on the lips and threw me down the stairs. i gave him back his apple i gave him back his pear i gave him back his kiss on the lips and threw him down the stairs.
the next day we went to the sweet shop to buy some bubble gum and when he wasn't looking i stuck it up his bum. then we went to the movies to watch a horror film and when i wasn't looking he kissed another girl. i threw him over london i threw him over france i threw him over belgium bridge and ripped his underpants. (pants is pronounced Parnts to go with france
-Guest, Kelly M; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=128 eena meena mackeracka (children's rhymes); 11/24/2011
****
MY BOYFRIEND IS A CHEATER
My boyfriend is a cheater, He's off with cousin Ri-ta, And when I ask him where he goes, He says he's off at Un-cle Moe's! I know he is a liar, So I spend his money at My-er, And when I bought a diamond ring, I started to dance and sing! It's over, move over, I'll take the dog Ro-ver, Who's taking the cat, And it's fur-ry mat? Don't start to lie, I know how and why, How could you do such a thing, And ruin our sum-mer fling! Like I said, it's over, move over!
Ages: 7-12 Gender: Girls Type: hand clap rhyme No. of people: 2 Instructions: Partners face each other, and clap their hands together then do a diagnoal clap to their partners hand, then clap hands together again and do diagonal clap the oposite direction repeat throughout the song, but on the last two syllables of every second line you clap both your hands with your partners (like a high ten). On the last line (Like I said, it's over, move over) you do a high ten for the first word (Like), point to yourself for the second word (I), then another high ten for the third word (Said), put your hands together and slap them against your partners for the next two words (it's o-ver) altogether there should be three slaps (two for over), keep your hands in the middle and clap your hands once for the sixth word (Move), and then for the seventh word (o-ver) your outside hands goes up and meets your partners outside hand then the same hand goes below and does the same thing.
-Nicole and Zoe, 12/30/2005
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER
Editor: I've given subtitles to "My Mother And Your Mother" (Boys Are Rotten") examples and "My Mother And Your Mother (What Color Was The Blood) rhymes in order to help differentiate their titles from each other. The My Mother And Your Mother (what color was the blood)" rhymes are usually Choosing it rhymes while the My Mother And Your Mother (boys are rotten) rhymes are usually hand clap rhymes. One example from the My Mother And Your Mother (what color was the blood) family is found on this page as the poster indicated that it was used as a jump rope rhyme .
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER ("Live Across The Street"; Version #1)
XOXOXOX
My mother and your mother
live across the street
eighteen nineteen Blueberry Street
Every night about half past five
they have a fight
and this is what they say
Boys are rotten
made out of cotton.
Girls are dandy
made out of candy
Boys that are beautiful
to get more stupider.
Girls that are wilder
To get more milder.
Boys drink beer
To get nowhere.
Girls drink Pepsi
To get more sexy.
-mostly girls ages 6-12 years; Millview Acres; Clairton, PA, 1999
Editor:
XOXOX serves as an introductory phrase for this rhyme. I believe that "XOXOX" means "hugs and kisses" as is its meaning when placed at the end of letters & notes.
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER (Live Across The Street; Version #2)
my mother your mother live accorss the street
18, 19 Blueberry street
every night they had a fight and this is what they said tonight
boys are rotten made out of cotton
girls are sexy made out of pepsi
boys go to jupiter to get more stupider
girls go to mars to be movie stars
boys drink coke to be a joke
girls drink pepsi to be more sexy
rumble-tumble strawberry shortcake
rumble-tumble strawberry shortcake
rumble-tumble strawberry shortcake
Freeze!
Devon Aster; http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/95/t/... ; February 12, 2003
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER (Live Across The Street; Version #3)
my mother your motha
live down da street
18, 19 marble street
and evry nite
dey had a fite
and dis is wat dey told me
girls are sexy drink lots of pepsi
boys are rotten chew on sum cotten
ishy wishy lollypop
ishy wishy woo
ishy wishy lollypop
da guyz luv YOU
-Duilz ; 10/28/2004; http://octopuses.chaoticinsanity.com/000518.php
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER ("Live Across The Street"; Rhyme Fragment; Version #4)
I remember these! I used to live in NY Long Island. I remember one vaguely...
My mother your mother ... 18 Street
had a fight and this is what they said all night
girls drink pepsi to get more sexy boys drink coke to learn how to smoke
girls go to college to get more knowledge boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider
girls eat candy to get more dandy boys....
I forgot the rest.... anyone help me out?
-Guest, Emma; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?; December 13, 2007
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER ("Live Aross The Street"; Version #5)
My mother your mother live across the street 18, 19 blueberry street every time when it is night the kids come out and start to fight: Boys are rotten made outta cotton, girls are sexy made out of pepsi, boys go to jupiter to get more stupider, girls go to college to get more knowledge. Wrap it up in toilet paper, send it down the escalator. 1st floor stop by your mama, 2nd floor stop by your papa, 3rd floor said you better watch out for the s s the t t the o o the p p spellssss stop. (And they pause to see who moves first)
-Guest KLC (East Harlem, New York City, New York); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?; July 11, 2008
Editor:
The "wrap it up in toilet paper" lines are most part of the "Mommy's Having A Baby" rhyme.
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER ("Live Aross The Street"; Version #6)
My mother, your father lived across the street
Eighteen, nineteen Broadway street
Every time they had a fight this is what they said st night
Boys are rotten made out of cotton
Girls are sexy made out of pespi
Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider
Girls go to college to get more knowledge
Mumble mumble clap clap
Mumble mumble stomp stomp
Mumble mumble kick kick
Mumble mumble jump jump
Mumble mumble freeze
5,6,7,8
To the front
To the back
To the side
To the Side
Front
Back
Side to side
Let me see you butterfly
Turn around
Touch the ground
Let me see you break it down
This of course looks so much better with the hand movements!!!!
-Guest Shelby; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300&messages=155 ; Children's Street Songs; 11/27/2008
Editor:
To the front, back, side to side" is a common verse in children's rhymes. Girls move to the beat of the rhyme as indicated by those words. The "butterfly" is an old R&B dance. "Break it down" means "to really show how well you can dance".
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER ("Live Aross The Street"; Version #7)
Oh I love this! I’m in my 20s now and I still have the overwhelming urge to turn to the person next to me and start playing a clapping game whenever I’m standing in a line. Fortunately I trained my younger brother to play with me many years ago so I still have someone I can do this with. It gave my father fits. Mwahahaha!
Here’s one I picked up when I lived in Alabama:
My momma, your momma
Live across the street
18, 19 Alligator Street
Every night they have a fight
And this is what they say
(clap clap clap)
Boys are rotten
Made out of cotton
Girls are sexy
Made out of Pepsi
Babies are ticklish
Made out of licorice
Soda pop
Mama pop
I love you!
-NomadiCat; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Prose;
October 2, 2009
****
MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER (What Color Was The Blood)
My mother and your mother were hanging up the clothes. Your mother hit my mother right in the nose. What colour was the blood? Red, black, red, black,....
i think the rope went fast on 'red, black...', and you jumped until you tripped the rope. does that one sound familiar to anyone?
-black walnut; 2/21/2000; http://www.mudcat.org/threads.cfm ; "Playground songs"
Editor:
Visit http://www.cocojams.com/content/choosing-it-rhymes for other examples from the Mother/Your Mother-What Color Was The Blood" family of rhymes.
****
MY MOM GAVE ME A NICKLE
My mom gave me a nickle
To buy a pickle.
I didn't buy a pickle
I bought some chewing gum.
Chorus:
Ooo la la la la chewing gum
Ooo la la chewing gum.
Ooo la la la la chewing gum
Ooo la la chewing gum.
My mom gave me a dime
To buy a lime.
I didn't buy a lime
I bought some chewing gum.
(Chorus)
-TwirlyTresses; http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=38901&page=4 Does anyone remember this?? (goofy kid-rhymes) February 6th, 2006
****
MY MOTHER SAID NEVER PLAY WITH GYPSIES (Skipping & Handclap rhyme)
Editor: This rhyme which documents prejudice against people who are referred to as "Gypsies" is included for its historical/folkloric value. I am absolutely opposed to prejudice against any groups or individuals.
MY MOTHER SAID NEVER PLAY WITH GYPSIES (Version #1)
My Mother said, I never should Play with the gipsies in the wood; If I did, she would say, You naughty girl to disobey. Your hair shan't curl and your shoes shan't shine, You gipsy girl, you shan't be mine. And my father said that if I did He'd rap my head with the teapot-lid. The wood was dark, the grass was green Along came Sally with a tambourine. I went to sea - no ship to get across, I paid ten shillings for a blind white horse. I up on his back And was off on a crack, Sally tell my mother that I shan't come back.
the only reference I could find so far was this one, from December 12, 1976 Times Herald Record
-ilza (United Kingdom); http://www.emule.com/2poetry/phorum/read.php?7,153869,154316 Lost Poetry Quotations; November 04, 2004
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MY MOTHER SAID NEVER PLAY WITH GYPSIES (Version #2)
All of the above [given here as Version #1), but I remember my mother teaching my sister an additional part:
"Disobey one, Disobey two, Disobey over Waterloo"
--Andy (United Kingdom); http://www.emule.com/2poetry/phorum/read.php?7,153869,154316 Lost Poetry Quotations; November 04, 2004
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MY MOTHER SAID NEVER PLAY WITH GYPSIES (Version #3)
This was the way my gran (born 1908) sang it to me ..
My mother said I never should
play with the gypsies in the wood
If I did she would say
Naughty girl to disobey, disobey, disobey
Naughty girl to disobey
I had a bonnet trimmed with blue
Why don't you wear it so I do
I do wear it when I can
To go out with my young man
My young man lives down there
Selling pop and ginger beer
Halfpenny cakes penny pies
Little piggies with the current eyes
Oh dear Johnny where have you been
Down in the alley courting Sally
Breaking windows picking up cinders
Oh what fun we had last night
Mrs Cooper dressed in black
Silver buckles down her back
I love her she loves me
Lock the door and turn the key!
-Guest, Karen, Cheshire, Uk ;http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=65824; Aussie Childrens' School Song origin?; March 17, 2009
Editor: Notice that the first two lines of the last verse are the same as the first two lines of the children's rhyme "Miss Mary Mack".
Visit the thread whose link is provided for more comments about this example and more versions of this rhyme. Also click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4mouHXqPQw to find a YouTube photo collage & original song based on this children's rhyme.
****
MY MOTHER SAID NEVER PLAY WITH GYPSIES (Version #4)
My mother said
I never should
Play with the gypsies in the wood
If I did, she would say
Naughty girl to disobey
And my father said that if I did he’d clap my head
With the teapot lid
My mother said
I never should
Play with the gypsies in the wood
The wood was dark
The wood was green
By came Sally with a tamborine
I went to sea no ship to get across
I paid ten shillings for a blind white horse
I upped on his back and was off in a flash
Sally tell my mother I shall never come back!
We always did the last line as loud and fast as possible, so we weren’t clapping so much as hitting each other’s hands really hard. Great days!
-Dolcina; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Pose; October 5, 2009
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MY MOTHER TOLD ME (Version #1)
My mama told me if I"d be goody
that she would buy me a rubber dolly
but don"t you tell her , Ive got a feller
or she won"t buy me a rubber dolly
-Guest, Skip; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=591; Rubber Dolly' October 30. 2002
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MY MOTHER TOLD ME (Version #2)
My Mommy told me, if I was goody
That she would buy me, A rubber dolly
My Auntie told her, I kissed a soldier
Now she won't buy me, a rubber dolly
[When I heard it, it was followed by this at a faster tempo]
Three six nine, the goose drank wine
Monkey spit tobacco on the street car line
the line broke, Monkey got choked
and they all went to Heaven in a little row boat
Clap clap.
Begonia; -http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090421070513AAamSaL ;
Name of a song? My Mommy told me, if I was goody? ; 2009
****
MY MOTHER TOLD ME (Version #3)
my mother told me,if i was good,that she would buy me, a rubber dolly. my aintie told her, i kissed a soldier now she wont buy me a rubber dolly
HalliesProductions -The Clapping Game, Shirley Ellis; February 2010
-HalliesProductions ; http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments=1&v=bgnCB7oni8o ; The Clapping Game Shirley Ellis
Editor:
This rhyme is often added to the end of the "3,5,9 The Goose Drank Wine" rhyme. See other examples of that rhyme and "The Clapping Game" video on this page under "Once Upon A Time"
It would be interesting to know if "My Mother Told Me" was combined with "3,6.9 The Goose Drank Wine" (or "Once Upon A Time The Goose Drank Wime") before Shirley Ellis' 1955 hit record. If anyone remembers this combination before that date, please share that information by writing cocojams17@yahoo.com. Thanks!
****
NINETENDO 64
See Concentration 64
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (robbers) Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #1)
Gosh ,I guess there are so many versions of all these. Here is what I remember:
Not last nite but the nite before,
24 robbers came knocking at my door
as i ran out, They ran in
hit me on the head with a bowling pin
I asked them what they wanted and this is what they said.
Spanish dancers turn around,
Spanish dancers touch the ground
etc, etc etc.
-mulfig; 5/29/1999 ; http://www.streetplay.com/discus/ Girl Games: Clap & rhyme Archive through June 8, 2000
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NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (robbers) Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #2)
Not last night,
But the night before,
Twenty-four robbers came
knocking at my door.
I asked them what
they wanted
and this is what they said:
Spanish dancer, do the
splits, splits, splits!
Spanish dancer, do the
twist, twist, twist!
Spanish dancer.
turn around.
touch the ground.
and out the back door.
Source: Veronica Chambers, Double Dutch, A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood (New York, Hyperion Books for Children, 2002; p. 49)
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (robbers; Version #3) Fragment
Not last night but the night before, 24 robbers knocked at my door. I got up to let them in and they all took a chair and began to sing.
- Judy, 10/5/2008
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (robbers; Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #4)
Not last night but the night before
24 robbers came to my door
They stole my watch and they stole my ring
and then they all began to sing
"Policeman, policeman, do your duty here comes (name) the American beauty!
She can wiggle; She can wobble;
She can do the split;
but she can't wear her dresses above her hips!"
Contributed by Toni Jaskoski; http://www.gameskidsplay.net/jump_rope_ryhmes/jump_not_last_night.htm
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (3 little pigs)
Not last night but the night before,
3 little pigs came knocking at the door,
the first had a trumpet, the second had a drum,
and third had a pancake stuck to it's bum
-rhyzla; 9/9/2005; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84508#1559841; Lyr Req: Pig with a pancake on his bum
Editor:
"Bum" is British English for "butt"/"behind".
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (3 little tomcats) Version #1
Not last night, but the night before,
Three old tomcats knocking at the door
One had whisky, one had rum
And one had a pancake stuck to his bum
-Snuffy; 2/21/2000; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352#182450 ; Lyr Add: ???
Editor:
My theory is that the "pancake stuck to his bum" (butt) served the purpose of a medicinal plaster.
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (3 little tomcats) Version #2
My grandmas version in the early 60's was;
Not last night but the night before,
Three Tom cats came knocking at the door.
One had a fiddle,
One had a drum,
One had a poker sticking up his bum!
(North East England, aprox 1962)
Never forgot it cos my mum went mad at her for teaching me a rude song!
-Guest,kath uk; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045&messages=107
Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme; June 28, 2010
Editor:
In British English, the word "rude" means "nasty" or "dirty".
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (3 little witches) Version #3
not last night but the night before
three wee witches came to the door
the first had a trumpet, the second had a drum
and third had a pancake stuck to it's bum
-Tam the man; 9/9/2005; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=84508#1559841 ; Lyr Req: Pig with a pancake on his bum
***
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (3 wee monkeys) Version #4
not last night but the night before
3 wee monkeys came t' the door
one wit a fiddle, and one with a drum
and one with a pancake stuck to 'es bum
-Guest scottsman. http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045 Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme ; March 29, 2011
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (with "ballerina turn around" verses) Version #5
Not last night but the night before
24 robbers came knocking at my door
I went downstairs to let them in
and this is what they said to me
Ballerina ballerina turn around
Ballerina ballerina touch the ground
Ballerina ballerina do the splits
Ballerina ballerina count to six
-Guest unknown; http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045 Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme ; May 31, 2011
****
NOT LAST NIGHT BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE (with "girls are sexy" verses) Version #6
Not last night but the night before,
Twenty-four robbers came knocking at my door,
Went downstairs to let them in,
This is what they said to me;
My name is...
Elvis Presley,
Girls are sexy,
Sitting in the background,
Drinking pepsi,
Having a baby,
Naming it Daisy,
Girls go 'Muah muah',
Boys go 'Wooh!'
Guest, http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045 Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme ; July 8, 2011
Editor:
Examples of the related rhyme "Last Night And The Night Before" can be found on this page. Some verses of "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" and "Down Down Baby" also include "(not) last night the night beore" verses. click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes to read those examples.
O,P
OOH AAH I WANNA PIECE OF PIE
Editor: Examples of this large family of rhymes are posted together regardless of their title or their first line. Very similar examples of these rhymes can be found in the "Take A Peach Take A Plum" section of this page. Examples of very similar rhymes can also be found in Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes under the name "ABC" (although that name may also refer to other rhymes).
The structure of those rhymes follows a pattern that I refer to as "defective exchanges". In that pattern, something that is defective is exchanged for something else which is also found to be defective and so on. Here are examples of this family of rhymes:
BYE N BYE, AH WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #1 of Ooh Aah I Wanna Piece of Pie)
Bye 'n' bye, Ah wanna piece of pie.
Pie's too sweet. Ah wanna piece of meat.
Meat's too red. Ah wanna piece of bread.
Bread's too brown. Ah wanna go t' town.
Town's too far. Ah wanna ketch a car.
Car's too fas'. Ah fall 'n' break mah ass.
Ah'll understan' it better bye 'n' bye.
- an excerpt from Richard Wright's 1938 story "Big Boy Leaves Home," from Uncle Tom's Children http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/w_right.html
****
****
OOH AH I WANT A PIECE OF PIE (Version #2)
I learned it at summer camp as a clapping game:
Winston tastes good just like a cigarette should
Just like an - ooh, ah, I want a piece of pie
Pie too sweet, I want a piece of meat
Meat too brown, I want to go to town
Town too far, I'll have to take a car
Car too black, I want my money back
Money too green, I want a limosine
..... I want some lemonade
Lemonade too sour, by now we have the power
To close our eyes and count to ten
Whoever messes up has to do it again.
And at this point, the clapping pattern got more complicated and the players closed their eyes and counted to ten.
-Guest, Chocolate Pi; 10/26/2000; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926 Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie ; October 10, 2000
****
WINSTON (Version #3 of Ooh Aah I Wanna Piece of Pie)
winston takes bageslika
cigarette not lika
oh ah, i wanna piece of pie
pie too sweet i wanna piece of meat
meat too rough i wanna ride a bus
bus too full i wanna ride a bull
bull too black i want my money back
money back too green i wanna jellybean
jellybean too red i wanna go to bed
bed not made i want some lemonade
lemonade too sour we got the power
to close our eyes and count to ten
whoever messes up starts over again
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!
-lissandsara; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mJ_f8Vczok&feature=related
August 30, 2008
Editor:
I believe that the first couple of lines are an example of folk etymology-the words were changed due to misremembering, misreading, or misunderstood what was heard. Those lines were probably "Winston taste bad/like a cigarette should"
The lines "winston takes bageslika/cigarette not lika" is a corrupted version of a line from a widely used commercial and ad for Winston cigarettes "Winston taste good/like a cigarette should". In light of the campaign against cigarette smoking, it's interesting to see that that line has changed to a put down of smoking.
See "Miss Susie Had A Tugboat (Version #15) for a video of this rhyme.
****
123 (Version #4 of "Ooh Ah I Want A Piece Of Pie")
123, My mama takes care of me.
My daddy watches ABC.
Ohh ahh! I wanna piece of pie.
Pie too sweet. I wanna piece of meat.
Meat too rough. I wanna ride a bus.
Bus too full. I wanna ride a bull.
Bull too black. I want my money back.
Money too green. I want a jelly bean.
Jelly bean not cooked. I wanna read a book.
Book not read. I wanna go to bed.
Bed not made. I want some lemonade.
Lemonade too sour. I wanna take a shower.
Shower too cold. I want a piece of gold.
Gold too shiny. I wanna pet a kitty.
Kitty too fat. Now that's the end of that.
Now close your eyes and count to ten.
Whoever messes up has to start all over again!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5....
- Guest, Georgia A; Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926#2593100; July 21, 2008
note all versions do not include brand names. Some have line take a peach take a plum and then go into the l like coffee I like tea verses
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OWWW IIIIII I WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #5 of Ooh Aah I Wanna Piece of Pie)
owww iiiiii,
i wanna peice of pie,
pie to sweet i wanna peice of meat,
meat to red i wanna go to bed,
bed not made i want some lemonade,
lemonade is sour to give us the power to try to count to ten,
who ever messes up must start over again!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10!
-Guest, Mary Grace; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926 Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie; December 23, 2008
****
123 MY MAMA TAKES CARE OF ME (Version #6 of Ooh Aah I Wanna Piece of Pie)
123 my mama takes care of me
my daddy sings do re me
oh ah i wanna piece of pie
pie too sweet i wanna piece of meat
meat too tough i wanna ride a bus
bus too full i wanna ride a bull
bull too mean i wanna jelly bean
jelly bean too red i wanna go to bed
bed not made i want some lemonade
lemonade too sour i wanna take a shower
shower to cold i wanna piece of gold
gold too pretty i wanna kiss a kitty
kittty too fat and thats the end of that
hey tomboy hey tomboy meet me on the corner on a saturday night
we can wiggle we can jiggle we can dance all night
close your eyes and count to 10 and if u mess up start over again
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
- Guest, sophie
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926&messages=37 ; Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie ; April 4, 2009
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OOH AAH I WANT A PIECE OF PIE (Version #7)
OK, I gotta join in because I came looking for just this discussion, and am surprised to not see the version I learned. I grew up in the Anacostia district of SE Washington, D.C. I was born in 1961 and vaguely recall that I learned this one from my older brother maybe between 1967 and 1970. I always assumed he got it from school, but we were pretty much the only whites on our street and the black girls next door spent a lot of time doing some skilled rope jumping with songs and chants, so maybe it came from them. The rhythm seems much too slow for skipping rope, though, unless they jumped at twice the meter or something. But it had a truly "boy sound" to it, always with a deep, growling voice like an alcoholic bum or something...can't imagine girls doing this one!
OOOH! AHH!
Wanna piece o' pie!
Pie too sweet,
Wanna piece o' meat!
Meat too tough,
Wanna ride a bus!
Bus too full,
Wanna ride a bull!
Bull too black,
Want ma' money back!
Money too green,
Go get Mr. Clean!
(with emphasis...)
Mr. CLEEAAN SEZ...(pause)
(start over at top and repeat, endlessly)
I had to do it for my 7-year-old son tonight, as I always do, when I got out the Mr. Clean to clean up a mess of his. Who knows, maybe I picked up some kind of marketing version of it!
- Guest, Robert ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926#2593100 ; Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie ; April 15, 2009
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OOH AAH I WANT A PIECE OF PIE (Version #8)
ABC
My mama has allergies.
It's easy as 123
Ooh, aah,
I wanna piece of pie.
Pie too sweet,
I wanna piece of meat.
Meat too tough,
Wanna ride the bus.
Bus too full,
Wanna ride a bull.
Bull too black,
I want my money back.
Money too green,
I wanna a jelly bean.
Jellybean not cooked
I wanna read a book.
Book not read
I wanna go to bed.
Bed not made
I wanna lemonade
Lemonade too sour
I wanna take a shower
Shower too cool
I wanna go to school
School too dumb
I wanna suck my thumb.
Thumb too dirty.
I wanna ride a birdy.
Birdy too slow
Amd that's all I know.
Close your eyes
And count to ten
Whoever messes up
Start all over again.
1 (clap partner's hand one time for each number)
2, 3 ,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
-Martha & Jackie;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROdiNkrmtnU&playnext_from=TL&videos=S7_ZN...
" ABC Hand Game" ; "two girls playing a hand game" [This video is no longer accessible]; | August 31, 2009
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OOH AAH I WANT A PIECE OF PIE (Version #9)
I play it like this- abc my momma's takin care of me my papa says do rei me.ooh,aah,i want a piece of pie.pie too sweet i want a piece of meat.meat too rough i wanna ride a bus.bus too full i wanna buy a bowl.(i know it's supposed to be ride a bull,but,oh well)bowl too black i want my money back.money back too green i want a jelly bean.jelly bean to red i wanna go to bed.bed not made i want a lemonade.lemonade too sour i wanna take a shower.shower to cold i wanna pot of gold.pot of gold
-cookieidiot546; YouTube video no longer accessible; 6/26/2010
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SNICKERS TASTE GOOD (Version #10 of Ooh Ah I Want A Piece Of Pie)
This is a more recent song than the others. It might have originated as a jumprope rhyme
Snickers taste good,
Like a, mmmm-candybar should.
Ooh, my,
want a piece of pie.
Pie too sweet,
want a piece of meat.
Meat too tough,
want to ride the bus.
Bus too full,
want to ride a bull.
Bull too black,
want my money back.
Money too green,
want a jelly bean.
Bean too red,
want to go to bed.
Bed too soft,
throw the pillow off.
Now close your eyes
And count to ten
And if you mess up
Start over again, so
One, two,
three, four,
five, six,
seven, eight,
nine, ten!
- Casey via her older sister Bridget Spitznagel (St. Louis, Missouri), http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~sprite/jmp.html#snickers Clapping Rhymes and Jumprope Jingles’ October 1997; retrieved September 12, 2010
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OOH AHH I WANNA PIECE OF PA (Version #11 of "Ooh Ah I Want A Piece Of Pie")
This is how I remember it from 1969 in Western NYS- and after seeing the other posts I have to laugh because we always said Pa instead of pie and it never made any sense to me-but most of these didn't anyway.....And I also can see a reference to the times-related to the bus being too black....
Ooh Ahh, Wanna piece of Pa
Pa too sweet
Wanna piece of meat
Meat too tough
Wanna ride a bus
Bus too black
Want my money back
Money too green
Make me wanna scream
"Your father's got a head like a submarine!"
- Guest, cknick (Western New York state) http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926&messages=37 Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie ; September 21, 2010
Editor:
Thanks, cknick, for that example of "folk etymology"! Folk etymology can occur when a word or phrase is misheard or misremembered, or when an unfamiliar word is heard or read and then changed to a more familiar word or phrase.
****
OOH AH I WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #12)
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jumped to bank to bankies
with ah eeps opps I wanna piece of pie.
Piece of pie too sweet. I wanna piece of meat.
Piece of meat too rough. I wanna ride a bus.
Bus too full. I wanna ride a bull.
Bull too black. I want my money back.
Money back too green. I want a jelly bean.
Jelly bean not cooked. I wanna read a book.
Book too red. I wanna go to bed.
Bed not made. I want some lemonade.
Lemonade too sour. I got that funky power.
- hanzie99, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpVeoxwDGcY&NR=1 ; October 02, 2010
Editor: This video was titled "Down By The Banks of The Hanky Panky. However, with the exception of the first 2 1/2 lines, the rhyme is a version of "Ooh ah, I wanna piece of pie". Other versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" can be found on this page.
Here's the video for this example:
hanzie99 | October 02, 2010
Down by the banks of the hanky panky, Tucson version,
****
OOH AH I WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #13)
OOH ahhh i want some pie?
talk to me and i'll send you to heaven.
red fish, blue fish,
READY SET GO!
Winston tastes good just like a cigarette should
Just like an - ooh, ah, I want a piece of pie
Pie too sweet, I want a piece of meat
Meat too brown, I want to go to town
Town too far, I'll have to take a car
Car too black, I want my money back
Money too green, I want a limosine
..... I want some lemonade
Lemonade too sour, by now we have the power
To close our eyes and count to ten
Whoever messes up has to do it again.
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
OOH AHH
T E N !
-Lauren ; http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100301102455AAzZ8rf ; October 2010
Editor:
This post also included the comment "leave below the best freakin riddle ever. OR PERISH."
****
OOH AH I WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #14)
i learned from my friend...
Winston taste good just like a ciggatrette should
oh, i, i wanna piece of pie
pie to sweet i wanna piece of meat
meat to rough i wanna ride a bus
but got a flat i want my money back
money back to green i want a jellybean
jellybean to red i want to go to bed
bed not made i want some lemonade
lemonade to sour i want to take a shower
shower to cool i want to go to school
school to dumb i want to suck my thumb
thumb to dirty i wanna ride a birdie
birdie to slow and thats all i know
so close your eyes and count to ten and whoever messes up starts all over again
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
-Guest,girl who plays this everyday at lunch!
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926&messages=41; Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie ; December 4, 2010
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OOH AH I WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #15)
Winston stays good just like a, candy should, just like a
Oooh Ahh
Want a piece of pie
pie too sweet
want a piece of meat
meat too tough
want to ride the bus
bus too full
want to ride a bull
bull too fat
want my money back
money back
money too green
want a jelly bean
jelly bean too red
want to go to bed
bed not made
want some lemonade
lemonade too sour
want to take a shower
shower too cool
want to go to school
school to dumb
want to suck my thumb
suck my thumb
suck my thumb
Guest, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926&messages=45 , Oh my, I want a piece of pie, October 20, 2011
Editor:
Note the change in wording from "bull too black" to "bull too fat". While I'm glad that this version (probably without conscious thought on the matter) refrains from wording that considers "black" as an automatic negative, the problem with that wording is that it means that being "fat" is automatically considered a negative.
****
OOH AH I WANNA PIECE OF PIE (Version #16)
Oh, My, I want a piece of pie, pie too sweet, I want a piece of meat, meat too rough, I want to ride a bus, bus to full, I wanna ride a bull, bull too black, I want my money back, Money back too green, I wanna jelly bean, jelly bean not cooked, I wanna read a book, book not read, I wanna go to bed, bed not made, I want some lemonade, Lemonade too sour; girl you got that superpower, brick wall; waterfall, girl you think you know it all; you don't I do; so poof* with the attitude poof*; peace, punch, captain crunch; thats right you better run, wait; come back, you need a tic- tack; not one; not two; but the whole six pack. Elbow, Elbow, Wrist, Wrist, Blow me a kiss.
-Guest ,Emily M., http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926&messages=47 May 17. 2012
-snip-
Note the paragraph format that this example is written in. I've noticed a number of online posts written in this format rather than in poetry form. Sometimes that is because online sites (such as YouTube) appear to automatically convert posts to paragraph form. But I'm aware that isn't the cae on that Mudcat site. I think that it's easier and faster to write online in paragraph form than in poetry form, and (because speed is highly valued) many people, particularly younger people) write blog posts in paragraph form, often with little or no punctuations.
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OH DON'T LAUGH WHEN THE HEARSE GOES BY (also known as "The Hearse Song")
There's also the hearse song, which is mostly what I learned from my friends, with a mixture of lines from my dad: Oh don't you laugh when the hearse goes by 'Cause you may be the next to die They wrap you up in a dirty sheet And drop you in a hole six feet deep (Dad) Oh the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out The worms play pinnochle on your snout (friends again) Your stomach turns a slimy green And pus pops out like shaving cream! You whip it up on a piece of bread, That's what you eat when you are dead -- Made by Nabisco!
-Ann N; 4/29/2007
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OLD LADY LEARY (Elastics)
Old Lady Leary Lit A Lantern In The Shed, When the cow kicked it over She winked her eye and said, There will be a hot time in the old town tonight, Fire Fire, Water Water, Jump Lady Jump, AHHHHH SPLAT!"
"SLAT" of course was when you landed with both feet on both elastics after an intricate series of ins and outs and overs, in progressive heights as describe above.
-Guest, Mrs Brown AUS; 4/2/2008; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=46932&messages=102; Child's Game: Elastics
Editor:
For directions for Elastic jumping, see "England Ireland" version #3 on this page.
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OMOLATA FEESTA
I enjoyed seeing all the different accounts of the "Como La Vista" family. Here's the version I learned at Girl Scout Camp Margaret Bates in Macedonia, Summit County, northeast Ohio, in 1969. The demographics were probably 95+% white, the counselors age 17-early 20s and the campers 9-12. I remember it as only a chant, without clapping or motions, though it seems a natural candidate for them. It's done by two people or groups, or a leader and group.
The first seven lines are said by one party then repeated by the other, the last two are in unison. The fifth, sixth, and seventh lines have a sort of melody, the eighth is chanted on a descending pitch, and the last shouted. Flea [repeated] Fly [repeated]
Flea fly flow [repeated]
Feesta [repeated]
Oomalata oomalata oomalata feesta [repeated]
O no no no-no na feesta [repeated]
Eeny meeny decimeeny oo-wat-a-watameeny exclameeny zylameeny oo-wat-a-wat [repeated] [Unison] Beep biddly oaten-doten bobo bedeeten-dotten shhhhhhh Flea!
As much variation as you get in folk lyrics in any language, when the words are nonsense all bets are off. Even if all the counselors who taught it to us pronounced the words exactly the same way, I'm sure we heard it differently, and none of us would have written it the same. But with all that, the different versions people have reported are recognizable to me. I'd love to compare recorded versions, though that will have to wait until I upgrade my equipment.
-Elizabeth ; 2/17/2008
[Note: I re-formated this comment/example for clarity.]
Editor:
My comments about the "Como La Vista" family of children's handclap rhymes are given below the example entitled "Abalata Cubalata" which can be found on http://cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes
My theory is that the words "Bo bo ski watten tatten" have their source in African American jazz scattin'. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scat_singing
"In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all."
Of course, I could be wrong about scattin as the source of this phrase or similarly written and spoken phrases.
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OM POMPEII
There was one hand-clap game I'll never forget- the clapping was slightly different than usual and it went (I've no idea how it was supposed to be spelled!):
Om Pompeii
Cally-ey
Cally oski
Om Pompeii
Cally-ey
Mr Turnip
Apple Turnip
Mr Turnip
Boom boom.
I am fairly sure this was a corruption of something that at one time actually made some kind of sense! In fact I think a number of ours were originally full songs that someone had half picked up.
-seren; January 22, 2008; http://www.ukskeptics.com/forum/showthread.php/2012-Playground-childhood...
Editor:
Visit http://www.cocojams.com/content/choosing-it-rhymes to find the exact words to this rhyme given as a portion of the example listed as "Ickie Ackie".
I agree with seren that this rhyme is a corruption (meaning a probably accidental modification) of an earlier rhyme or of earlier rhymes/songs. My theory is that "Om Pompeii" as given above has its source in the playground rhymes "Ackabaka" (also given as "Ickabacka"):
Ackabaka soda cracker
Ackabaka boo
In goes out
And out goes YOU.
-snip-
I also believe that the apparently well known (in the USA) children's cheerleader cheer "Firecracker Firecracker" also has its source in the "Ackabaka boo" rhymes (the word "firecracker" being folk etymology for the unfamiliar word "akabacka" and the word "boom" being substituted for the word "boo".
Visit http://www.cocojams.com/content/childrens-cheerleader-cheers to find examples of "Firecracker Firecraker".
ONE TWO THREE
One, two, three
Mother caught a flea.
She put in the tea pot
To make a cup of tea.
The flea jumped out -
Mother shouted out
"Here comes a copper (police man)
With his arse hanging out!".
-Bryn Pugh; (Great Britain) Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045&messages=92; 4/07/2010 (Skipping rhyme "jump rope rhyme)
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ONCE UPON A TIME (Version #1)
Once upon a time
The goose drank wine.
The monkey did the shimmy
One the street car line.
The line broke.
The monkey got choked.
And they all went to heaven
In a little row boat.
-various sources including Azizi Powell, memories of childhood in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s
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ONCE UPON A TIME (Version #2)
Our version is South Carolina was:
Once upon a time, a goose chewed wine
Billy goat a'settin' on the streetcar line
Streetcar broke, the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven on a nanny goat.
-Guest, WadeHP; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5088&messages=46 Once upon a time, the Goose drank wine.; November 4, 2003
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THREE SIX NINE THE GOOSE DRANK WINE (Version #3 of Once Upon A Time)
...I was in Southeastern Massachusetts when I learned this rhyme on the playground sometime in the mid 1960s. The way I learned it...
Three, six, nine, the goose drank wine
The monkey threw tobacco on the streetcar line
The line broke, the monkey got choked
And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat (clap, clap)
[with the second part...] *
My mother told me
If I was goodie
That she would buy me
A rubber dollie.
My auntie told her
I kissed a soldier
Now she won't buy me
A rubber dollie!
-Guest mamabear; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5088&messages=46 Once upon a time, the Goose drank wine ; November 30, 2003
Editor:
*I added brackets to this phrase to distinquish it from the actual rhyme. "My mother told me" is a stand alone rhyme, meaning it can be recited by itself.
Here's a video of a 1960s R&B song that is based on this children's rhyme:
clotho98 | August 23, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgnCB7oni8o "The Clapping Song" was recorded by Shirley Ellis in 1965, shortly after she hit it big with a similar song, "The Name Game". The song made it to the top ten on the charts.
Here are two comments from this video's viewer comment thread:
clotho98 (2009) - The lyrics are from an old "jumping rope" rhyme. We used it when I was in grade school in the 1960s for jumping rope and doing the "hand clapping game", before this song came out. My mother said she also used it back in the 1940s. Do kids nowadays even still do the hand clapping game?
**
storageheater (2009) - Yes! Well, I used to in the early 90s. And my friends who are now mothers teach their kids it too.
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THREE SIX NINE THE GOOSE DRANK WINE (Version #4 of Once Upon A Time)
Basically the same from the 1960's in Virginia:
Three, Six, Nine, The Goose Drank Wine
The Monkey Chewed Tobacco on the Street Car Line
The Line Broke, the Monkey got Choked
and They All Went to Heaven in a Little Row Boat...
Clap...Clap....
-Guest,IpedLnpadL; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5088&messages=46 Once upon a time, the Goose drank wine; April 11. 2004
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ONCE UPON A TIME (Version #5)
Once upon a time the goose drank wine the monkey played the fiddle on the sweet potato vine..The vine broke the monkey choked they all went to heaven on a billy goat I learned that verse from my Gradmother (Louisiana)
-Guest,Beckie In louisiana; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5088&messages=46 Once upon a time, the Goose drank wine ; January 14, 2010
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OO THE BEESTAY
Click http://cocojams.com/content/flea-fly-flow-cumala-vista-sources-and-examp... examples & videos of "Flea Fly Flow" songs
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ONCE UPON A TIME (Version #6)
Once upon a time the goose drank wine
the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line
the line broke
the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven on a billy goat!
-Guestt, Ashley, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5088&messages=46 Once upon a time, the Goose drank wine; April 6. 2010
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ONCE UPON A TIME (Version #7)
My Mom told me this version that she got from her grandmother:
Once upon a time
a goose drank some wine
a monkey played the fiddle
on the sweet potato vine
the vine broke
the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven
in a little row boat
-Guest (Louisiana) http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5088&messages=46 Once upon a time, the Goose drank wine ;August 22, 2010
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ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO
For examples, click http://www.cocojams.com/content/choosing-it-rhymes Cocojams Counting Out Rhyme
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ONE TWO THREE
One, two, three
Mother caught a flea.
She put in the tea pot
To make a cup of tea.
The flea jumped out -
Mother shouted out
"Here comes a copper (police man)
With his arse hanging out!".
[A skipping (jump rope) rhyme]
- Bryn Pugh ; http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045 Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme; April 7, 2010
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PANDA BEAR
panda bear panda bear turn around, panda bear panda bear touch the ground panda bear panda bear do some splits and kicks, panda bear panda bear climb up the stairs, panda bear panda bear clap ten times, panda bear panda bear say good night
(as you know i have based this on teddy bear although i did it quite differnetly, i have tried clapping and it is not as easy as it looks) (also when you sing the song you have to do what it says, such as jumping really high when climbing the stairs) ( and when the song finishes up with say good night you must run out then back in and then start over again.)
-sarah ; 3/10/2007
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PETER PETER PUMPKIN EATER
Peter peter pumpkin eater had a wife and couldn’t keep her
put her in a shotgun shell and shot her all the way to
hello operator give me number 9
and if you dont ill kick you in
behind the refrigerator there lays a piece of glass
if you sit on it you’ll cut your little
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
mary went to heaven chasing butterflies
Courtney; http://losemyway.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/hand-clapping-games/ No More 3x5's Hand Clapping Games ;November 23, 2010
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PIZZA PIZZA DADDY O
Visit this Cocojams page: http://www.cocojams.com/content/childrens-game-songs-and-movement-rhymes "Children's Game Songs & Movement Rhymes"
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PLAYMATE (Version #1)
This song starts with your left pinkie hooked into your friend's right pinkie, and vice versa. Swing your hands instead of clapping, through the word "playmate" which has to be stretched to three beats; then start a four-clap pattern immediately, and launch into "come.." on the third clap. Sort of difficult to describe. The lines thereafter should coincide with the start of the pattern, which means that a couple claps at the end of most lines don't get syllables. On the "more"s, stop the pattern and clap hands with your friend (left to right and vice versa). You can also stop to rub your eyes exaggeratedly on the "boo hoo"s if you feel really inspired.
See see oh playmate,
Come out and play with me,
And bring your dollies three,
Climb up my apple tree,
Slide down my rainbow
Into my dresser drawer
And we'll be jolly friends
For ever more more moremoremoremore.
See see oh playmate,
I cannot play with you.
My dollies have the flu,
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
Can't slide down rainbows
Into your dresser drawer,
But we'll be jolly friends
For ever more more moremoremoremore.
We were sadistic kids and liked singing this parody best.
See see oh enemy,
Come out and fight with me,
And bring your weapons three,
Climb up my poison tree,
Slide down my razor blade,
And through my dungeon door,
And we'll be enemies,
For ever more more shut-the-dungeon-door.
-Casey via her older sister Bridget Spitznagel (St. Louis, Missouri), http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~sprite/jmp.html#snickers Clapping Rhymes and Jumprope Jingles’ October 1997; retrieved September 12, 2010
Editor:
That beginning pattern of starting a handclap rhyme with "your left pinkie hooked into your friend's right pinkie, and vice versa. Swing your hands instead of clapping" appears to be common among the girls I observed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have also seen this same pattern done by children in various YouTube videos of handclap rhymes. In my opinion, when the partners stop doing this and change to a back & forth hand clapping pattern, that marks the end of those particular handclap rhymes' introductory lines.
****
PLAYMATE (Version #2)
"I have two daughters, 9 and 11, and they very much sing and chant street songs. Mostly used for clapping games, some jump rope, and some just for the heck of it. I can't recall them all but will do a little field research and see if I can capture a few."
Since I wrote that I talked my girls at dinner tonight. They supplied the following which has some tune to it. Done as a hand jive. Two versions, nice and not nice.
Playmate
Say say my playmate
Come out and play with me
and Bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
and we'll be playmates forever more.
Enemy
Say say my enemy
Come out and fight with me
And bring your devils three
Climb up my poison tree
Slide down my razor
Slam! into the dungeon door
And we'll be enemies forever more.
-Marc B; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300&messages=155 ; Children's Street Songs; 3/11/1998
-snip-
Here's a YouTube video of two girls chanting "See See My Playmate" while doing a handclap routine to that chant:
Posted by danaleeling
January 05, 2009
According to the poster's comment, these two girls in the video are Kosraean, from a small tropical island in the Pacific. I also cross-posted this video on Cocojams' sister website, jambalayah. Visit http://www.jambalayah.com/node/111 to read selected comments from that video's viewer comment thread.
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SEE SEE MY PLAYMATE (Version #3)
See-see my playmate
come out and play with me
and bring your dollies three
climb up my apple tree
slide down my rainbow
into my cellar door
and we'll be jolly friends
forever more 1, 2, 3, 4
when i was younger
i used to play with toys
but now i'm older
i play with b-o-y-s b-o-y-s b-o-y-s
boys boys boys
criss cross apple sauce
do me a favor and get lost
-Chanks; http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/95/t/... ; Skipping and clapping rhymes; February 12, 2003
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MY LITTLE PLAYMATE (Version #4)
My little playmate
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies, 3
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rain barrel
Into my cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends
Forever more!
My little enemy
Come out and fight with me
And bring your ..., 3
Climb up my poison oak
Slide down my razor blade
Into my dungeon door
And we'll be horrible enemies
Forever more!
I can't remember what the enemy was supposed to bring 3 of...I'm guessing it wasn't dollies though.
-Kari; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php; 8/1/2003
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CECE MY PLAYMATE (Playmate; Version #5)
cece my playmate
come out and play w/ me
and bring ure dollies 3
climb up my apple tree
slide down my rainbow
into my cellar door
and well be jolly friends
forever more 1234
when i was younger
i used to play w/ toys
but now im oooooooolder
i play w/ b-o-y-s b-o-y-s boys boys boys boys boys boys
criss cross applesauce do me a favor and get lost
-anonymous; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; 9/18/2003
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MY SAEMI (Version #6 of Playmate)
Song: My saemi, Why don't you play with me Under the apple tree With all my friends and dollys Under the apple tree Singing and playing Dollys
[Repeat as many times as you can]
-Ashleigh; 7/16/2006
****
CICI MY PLAYMATE (Version #7 of Playmate)
This is the version of what others have called the "Friend/Enemy" chant:
Cici my playmate
Come out and play with me
Under the apple tree
Where all the boys can see
Slide down the rainbow
Onto the kitchen floor
And feast on cookies
For evermore
Sorry my playmate
I cannot play with you
My brother's got the flu
Chickenpox and measles too
Slide down the drain pipe
Into the kitchen sink
And feast on spiders
For evermore
-nesxb74; http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=38901&page=4 Does anyone remember this?? (goofy kid-rhymes) February 6th, 2006
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SEE SEE MY PLAYMATE (Version #8 of Playmate)
Then there's the ever-classic,
See see my playmate
Come out and play with me
And bring your dolly friends
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
Into my pot of gold
And we'll be jolly friends
Forever more, more
Shut the door
I don't like you anymore
-Charlotte; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; 2/4/2007
****
PLAYMATE (Version #9)
My father (3/4ths white, 1/4 Cherokee), who was born in Oklahoma in 1924, taught me the Playmate song this way: Playmate, won't you come out and play with me, Bring out your dollies three, climb up my apple tree, Look down your rain barrel, slide down your cellar door, And we'll be jolly friends forevermore. It was a sunny day, She couldn't come out to play, With tears in her eyes, she did cry and I did hear her say, Playmate, I can't come out and play with you, My dollies have the flu, boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo Can't look down my rain barrel or slide down my cellar door, But we'll be jolly friends forevermore.
-Ann N.; 4/29/2007
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PLAYMATE (Version #10)
Black girls, Denver, Colorado - late 70's/early 80's 3 Say-Say Songs: (Say-Say Happy Song - sung upbeat) Say-say oh playmate Come out and play with me And bring your dollies-three Climb up my apple tree Slide down my rainbow Into my cellar door And we'll be jolly friends Forever more, more - shut the door (Say-Say Sad Song - Sung slowly, imitating crying) Say say oh playmate I cannot play with you My dolly has the flu She spit up in my shoe Ain't got no rainbow Ain't got no cellar door And we'll be jolly friends Forever more, more - shut the door (Say-Say Angry Song) Say say oh enemy Come out and fight with me And bring your pistols-three Climb up my poison tree Slide down my spider web Into my dungeon door And we'll be jolly enemies Forever more more, shut the door
-Jeanae; 6/14/2008
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PLAYMATE (Version #11)
i thought i learned it like this:
(it was a hand game)
(see see?) my playmate,
come out and play with me,
and bring your (jolly?) seed,
climb up my apple tree,
slide down my rainbow,
into my pot of gold,
and we'll be jolly friends,
forever more,
1-2-3-4, (clap clap),
when i was younger,
i used to play with toys,
but now i'm oold-er,
i play with
b-o-y-s,
boys boys boys boys,
boys boys boys boys,
criss-cross,
apple sauce,
do me a favor and
get,
lost.
-Guest; 12/15/2008; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300&messages=155; Children's Street Songs
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POLICEMAN POLICEMAN DO YOUR DUTY (Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #1)
Policeman, Policeman, do your duty.
Here comes Debby
An American beauty,
She can wiggle
She can wobble
She can do the split.*
But I betcha five dollars
She can't do this.
Lady on one foot, one foot, one foot
Turn all around, around, around.
Lady on two foot, two foot, two foot
Touch the ground, the ground, the ground.
Lady on three foot, three foot, three foot
Say your prayers, your prayers, your prayers.
Lady on four foot, four foot, four foot
Jump right out.
-Azizi Powell, Atlantic City, New Jersey, mid 1950s.
*Substitute the name or nickname of the girl who is jumping rope. "Do the split" was sometimes given as "do the flip" {meaning the acrobatic movements}. However, these words were changed to "do the twist" in the 1960s when that dance became popular. Btw, I've also seen this rhyme written as "Mailman, Mailman Do Your Duty" and "Postman, Postman, Do your Duty".
Editor:
Here's what I believe are the meanings of "one foot, "two foot" etc. Someone please correct me if I'm misremembering this: "One foot" means hopping. One foot touches touching the ground when you jump. Two foot" is jumping with both feet off the ground. "Three foot" is two hands touching the ground and then one foot . "Four foot" is jumping with both hands and both feet touching the ground.
****
POLICE LADY POLICE LADY DO YOUR DUTY (Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #2;)
Police lady, police lady.
Do your duty.
Here comes Keisha
with ah African booty.
She can wiggle.
She can wobble.
She can do the split.
But I betcha five dollars
She can't do this.
Lady on one foot, one foot, one foot
Turn all around, around, around.
Lady on two foot, two foot, two foot
Touch the ground, the ground, the ground.
Lady on three foot, three foot, three foot
Say your prayers, your prayers, your prayers.
Lady on four foot, four foot, four foot
Jump right out.
-TMP. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid 1980s
Editor:
I think the change from "policeman" to "police lady" is significant. When I was growing up, there were no female police officers that I knew of.
****
POOR PINOCCHIO
1. Poor Pinocchio he learned to suck his thumb, thumb
after thumb after thumb, after thumb after thumb.
Cross over *
2. Poor Pinocchio he learned to tie his shoe, shoe after
shoe, after shoe, after shoe . Cross over *
3. Poor Pinocchio he learned to climb a tree, tree after tree,
after tree, after tree. Cross over *
4. Poor Pinocchio he learned to shut the door, door after
door, after door, after door. Cross over *
5. Poor Pinocchio he liked to kick bee hives, hives after
hives, after hives, after hives. Cross over *
6. Poor Pinocchio he learned to pick up sticks, sticks after
sticks, after sticks ,after sticks. Cross over *
7. Poor Pinocchio he learned all about heaven, heaven after
heaven, after heaven, after heaven. Cross over *
8. Poor Pinocchio he learned to shut the gate, gate after
gate, after gate after gate. Cross over *
[and so on up to 11-use any word that rhymes with those numbers]
* When you say "cross over" you fold your arms crisscross over your chest, and the other girl you are doing the handclap with does the same thing at the same time.
-Natashia, age 13; Alberta, Canada; 10/21/2005
Editor:
See "When Billy Boy Was One", "When Pebbles Was A Baby" and "When Lucy Was A Baby" on this page for examples of what I call "life stage rhymes that are very similar to "Poor Pinocchio".
Q,R,S
QUACK DILLY OSO
Editor:
This hand slapping game is very similar to "Slap Billeola" , "Stella Ella Ola", and similar names.
The featured examples from this rhyme family are posted together regardless of their given title or their first line
QUACK DILLY OSO (Version #1)
quack dilly oso
quack quack quack
senyourico rico rico rico
flora flora flora
with ah 1 2 3 4 5
-African American girls; and African American boys usually ages 7-12 years (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), collected by Azizi Powell in November 2001
This game appears to be remembered from at least the mid 1980s; this example was
See "Slap Billy-Ola" below for performance directions.
Here's an old Sesame Street video clip of children performing a version of "Quack Diddley Oso". I'm having difficulty transcribing this rhyme.
Sesame Street - Girls play a clapping game
Posted by wattamack4
July 08, 2007
Also, see videos on this page of a closely related hand clap game "Stella Ella Ola" (or similar sounding names).
****
QUACK DILLY OSO (Version #2)
i work with 1st graders the whole summer long and they love them!
[another rhyme was posted and then this one]
Quack Diddily Oso is also a favorite
there are many versions to it
quack diddily oso quack quack quack
from sandiego ego ego ego
delore delore
they spilled it on the floor-a
1-2-3-4
*better with lots of people person who's hand gets slapped on 4 is out of the game
--Guest, mcr; 8/7/2006; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097#1022419 :
"RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?"
Editor:
Guest, mcr's referent to a person's hand getting "slapped on 4" is an indication that this rhyme is performed as a circle hand game.
Here's the way that I have seen this game played {and that I have played it} in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area: Starting with a designated person, while everyone chants the rhyme, one person after another stays in place but slaps the hand of the person who is standing to their right. The person whose hand is slapped when the number four is recited, is out. When the game gets down to two people, those two stand facing each other and perform a partner handclap routine, with each person alternating slapping the palm of the other person's hand. As in the circle version of the game, the person whose hand is slapped when the number 4 is recited is out, and the remaining person is the winner.
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QUACK DIDDLY OSO (Version #3)
This is the version of "Quack-diddly-oso" that I and all of my friends learned back in kindergarten or earlier. We played it all the time pretty much up to junior high. Never heard any other version played in this area. (Puget Sound/Seattle region.)
Quack diddly oso
quack quack quack,
Si semorico, rico rico rico,
Flo-ra Flo-ra, flora flora flor, fa-lora!
One, two, three, four!
Same rules as listed for "Stella Ella Ola" only when you get down to two people, you clasp your right hands between you like you're shaking hands, and you each hold up your left hand to make "walls" on either side of the clasped right hands. Then you swing your clasped right hands back and forth, hitting one of the "walls" (left hands) at each beat. The person who's left hand is hit on four loses. (Oh, and every round is chanted a little faster, until you can barely keep up when you're down to two. I guess it's these sort of games that teach us Northwesterners to talk so fast when we grow up!)
-Lisa P. ; 12/20/2007
Here's a video of another group playing this hand slapping elimination game:
Quack Diddly O' So
TiDoSTAR | February 10, 2007
Greese cast party
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QUACK DIDDLY ARMORE (Version #4 of Quack Diddly Oso)
*I have no idea how we got this version of the chant, but we called it Quack Diddly Almore. Maybe someone heard it wrong, I don't know* Quack Diddly Almore quack quack quack! singin hey, chicky chicky chicky chicky chicky chat! Flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, go! 1 2 3 4 5!
-Jayla S., 5/31/2008
Editor:
Thanks, Jayla S., for sending in that version. It's possible that someone could have misheard, misread, or misremembered the words to "Quack Diddly Oso", but then again, there really are no right or wrong versions of children's rhymes. There are just different versions of rhymes.
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QUACK DILLY OSO (Version #5)
Quack dilly oh so, quack quack quack, hit it, senorita your mama smells like pizza, fello fello fello fello fello, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ,7, 8,9, 10 (on ten the person tries to hit the other persons hand if they get um that person is out if they miss then the person trying is out. This is usually done in a circle so they one left at the end is the winner.)
-Guest KLC,(East Harlem, New York, New York, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 ; Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes? ; July 11, 2008
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CLAP DIDDLY OSO (Version #6)
I learned this one growing up
Clap diddly oso, clap, clap, clap,
Say seniorita -Rita -Rita Rita.
Flora, Flora, Fa-lora, fa-lora, fa-lora!
One, two, three, four!!!!!
-aveman3; "Stella Ella Ola"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&NR=1 ; 4/2009
Editor:
This example was given as a YouTube viewer comment. The version that the video uploader chants and the video itself are posted below on this page as Version #8 of "Stella Ella Ola". Until I saw this version I never considered the possiblity that the word "Quack" may have originally been "Clap". Now that I think of that, it seems reasonable to me. But I guess we'll never know for certain whether "clap" was the "original" word or what "diddly oso" means.
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QUACK DIDDLY OSO (Version #7)
I learned it "Quack diddly oso quack quack quack singing sam-a-rico rico rico rico flora flora flora flora flora 1 2 3 4" Anyway, it's quite amazing to see the variations throughout the country.
-wbasc; "Stella Ella Ola"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&NR=1 ; 4/2009
Editor: This example was given as a YouTube viewer comment. The version that the video uploader chants and the video itself are posted on this page as Version #7 of "Stella Ella Ola".
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A QUACK A DILLY OMO (Version #8 of Quack Diddly Oso)
This is so great to read - I love how oral tradition has changed and modified it - the song has different dialects :)
In upstate NY, I learned:
A quack a dilly oma
quack quack quack
Hey chico, chico,
Chico, chico, Chack
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow
Follow 1-2-3-4
For ours 4 was the "get out" number with the same right hand to left hand clapping. Once down to 2 players though, the after singing the number "4", the chanting went "i declare a thumb war - kiss. bow. begin" and the thumb war determined the ultimate winner.
As a music teacher now in CT, I pass on my version to my students - though I had no idea until now that it existed in so many different variations. Can't even remember where I learned it but I've been teaching it since working at camps in high school.
-Guest Erin; http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066&messages=64 ; Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola; July 5, 2010
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CROC A DILLY OH MI (Version #9 of Quack Diddly Oso)
I'd never heard it before my kids just started singing it. In southern Massachusetts, they sing it like this:
Croc a dilly oh mi quak quak quak
Say sinco sinco, sinco sinco sak
Follow, Follow
Stick your head in Je-llo
Dye your hair ye-llow
Eat a marshme-llo
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!
-Guest; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066&messages=66 ; Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola; July 26, 2010
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QUACK DIDDLY OSO (Version # 10)
quack diddly oso
quack quack quack
singing sam a rico rico rico rico
flora flora flora flora flora
1234
-TheDelaney121 (viewer comment) ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHTc4h-rR08 Quack Diddly O' So ; July 2010 [That video is shown above]
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QUACK DIDDLY OSO (Version # 11)
quack dilly o so quack quack quack from san diego eggo eggo waffles delora delora potatos on the floora go 1 2 3 4 kick your brother ou the door 5 6 7 8 who do we appreciate me me american idol 1 2 3 4 end
KK; http://losemyway.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/hand-clapping-games/ No More 3x5's Hand Clapping Games; March 11, 2011
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RED WHITE AND BLUE (Skipping rhyme ; jump rope rhyme)
Red, White and Blue-
The dirty kangaroo
Went behind the dustbin
To do a number two.
(dustbin = trash can ; I don't need to explain number two, do I ?)
--Bryn Pugh; (Great Britain) ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045&messages=92 Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme; 4/07/2010
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REESES PIECES BUTTER CUP
I have another Hand Clap that I like. It's called Resses Peices Butter-Cup! It goes like this: Resses Peices Butter-Cup Come On Girl(or your name) Show your Stuff: My Back Aches, My Skirts Too Tight, My Hips Shake From Left To Right: Left To Right, Left-Left To Right-Right, Left To Right, Left-Left To Right! (By: **!!Enforcers Cheer Girl!!** Date Recited: ?-2007 Recited By: Me, My Friends, A Lot Of Other People, And Cheerleaders Around The World (Boys And Girls)
-Cheer Girl; 2/11/2007
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RED WHITE AND YELLER
Red, White and Yeller
Me mother had a feller.
The feller died, me mother cried
Red, White and Yeller.
[A skipping rhyme]
- Bryn Pugh ; http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045 Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme; April 7, 2010
Editor:
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/gross-out-rhymes to find another "Red, White and __" rhyme from Bryn Pugh. He indicated that these rhymes came from his "misspent childhood".
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REGISTER FOR SCHOOL (jump rope rhyme)
Register, Register, Register for school
My name is Mary and I want to go to school
Capital M-a-r-y
And don't forget the Golden Rule!
(Of course, you'd insert your own name!)
- L8 4 School, http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=332173 ,05-19-2011, 07:34 PM
-snip-
The probably related rhyme "School School Don't Be Late" is found below.
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REPORT CARD REPORT CARD (Jump Rope Rhyme)
It was a Jump Rope song when I was in elementary school. I'm in middle school now. (2000-2003) Florida Ive seen Boys do it but its mostly girls.
Report Card Report Card
What did you get?
A B C D F (The A B C D F go on until you mess up , the letter you mess up on , is basically the grade you get)
-Lori, 4/20/2008
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RIBENA SASSATINA
Ribena.
Sassatina.
Big Boy
Crazy girl.
[increase the rhyme's tempo]
Ribena.
Sassatina.
Big Boy.
Crazy girl.
Statue! [strike a dramatic pose]
(Baby!) * [pronounced "Bay Baay!]
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDBE1wRZrJU; weeneilly's daughter & son Wolverhampton, UK; July 20, 2010 transcribed by Azizi Powell on 7/28/2010
* "Baby!" may be an optional addition to this rhyme
Weeneilly alerted me about this video's posting via a YouTube personal message. In that message he shared with me that "Ribena" is a brand name for a non-carbonated soft drink sold in the United Kingdom.
Here's that video:
weeneilly | July 20, 2010
The Queen and the Joker with a different rhyme: Ribena, Sassatina. From their playground in Wolverhampton, UK.
-snip-
This same video is posted along with comments on http://thevicarswife.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/playground-rhymes-2-ribena... , This blog is hosted by the mother of "the Queen and the Joker".
Also see the entry for "Coca Cola" on this page for another rhyme that is performed by "The Queen and the Joker".
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RICH MAN, POOR MAN (Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #1)
Rich man, poor man
beggar man, thief.
Doctor, lawyer,
Indian chief
-Azizi P.; childhood memories of Atlantic City, New Jersey; 1950s
Editor:
I remember hoping that when I missed it would be on the words "rich man"; "doctor", or "lawyer" because when you miss that was the description of the man you were going to marry. I now know that the other children and I didn't realize that we were being racist when we connected being a thief with Indians (in this context, meaning Native Americans). Now I know that we also were being racists when we hoped not to miss jumping on "Indian" and "Indian chief" because we had come to believe (from all those Western television shows) that being an Indian was just as bad as being a "beggar man". It's significant that we didn't even think that being married to an Indian chief, the leader of a group of Indians, was a good thing. The only leaders who mattered to us were presidents or kings and queens. And we didn't think any of them were People of Color (though we didn't use that term in the 1950s).
I hope that children nowadays are more enlightened than I was way back then.
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RICH MAN, POOR MAN (Jump Rope Rhyme; Version #2)
We also used the old "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief; Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief" rhyme with jump rope. The jumper called out only one type of man per jump. Whatever man you called out when you missed was the type you were going to marry when you grew up.
-Ann N.; 4/30/2007
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ROCKIN ROBIN
See Tweedleelee on this page
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RONALD MCDONALD (Version #1)
Ronald McDonald
was ah Hamburger
Ronald McDonald
was ah hamburger
Ooh! Wishie Washie
Ah hamburger
Ooh! Wishie Washie
Ah hamburger
It tasted good, like
Ah hamburger
It tasted good, like
Ah hamburger
Ice cream soda
with a cherry on top.
Now shake it baby
Ah boom bang!
-Donetta A.(who said her younger sister taught it to her around 1976, 1977 in Pittsburgh, PA); collected by Azizi Powell, early 1990s.
Editor:
In the repeated phrase "a biscuit", the word "a" is pronounced "ah". This is the usual way that many African Americans pronounce the word "a", a least informally
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RONALD MCDONALD (Version #2)
Ronald McDonald
loves ah__ hamburger *
Ooh she she wah wah
ah___ hamburger
I fell in love
With ah __
Hamburger
Big Mac
Quarter Pounder
Icey coke
Milk shake
Sundaes
and apple pie.
You deserve a beak today
so get up and get away
At McDonald's!
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
* __ signifies a pause for one beat before saying the next word
-T.M.P.; mid 1980s; Pittsburgh, PA . T.M.P., my daughter, is an elementary school teacher. She has shared with me that to date (2008) African American elementary school age girls & boys in her school still "do" this exact same "song" to handclaps, particulary during school bus rides to field trips}
The first lines up until "you deserve etc" is a recitation of the exact words of that McDonald's commercial. "You deserve a break today/so get up and get away/at McDonald's" is sung in the same tune and the same way as that commercial."
"And the dish ran away with the spoon" is recited; That line is from a Mother Goose rhyme (Which one??). I asked my daughter why she added that line to this rhyme and she said "Because it fit". :o)
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RONALD MCDONALD (Version #3)
This is a song two girls used to do together facing each other. It was kind of a combination handclap/dance routine. Whenever you said "a biscuit" you shook both hands in front of you as if you were flicking off water. And on the "going down" bit, you got down leaning back as far as you could, and came back up on the "coming up" part. And you ended in a karate pose. I'm posting this because I can't remember the rest of the movements, and it's driving me crazy! I did this in elementary school (mostly black kids, but some whites and latinos) in Boston during the early-mid 90s.
Ronald McDonald had a biscuit
Ronald McDonald had a biscuit
Oooh, chee chee wah wah a biscuit
I had a boyfriend a biscuit
he was so fine a biscuit
like a cherry pie a biscuit
now watch me, now watch me, now watch me do my thing
I said a popcorn cherry pie
bang bang choo choo train
chally wally shake my body
tutti frutti shake my booty
uh i'm goin down uh into the ground
uh i'm comin up uh like hot stuff uh
she push me down uh into the ground
uh i'm comin up uh to kick your but
i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i thought you did karate!
-Tierney; 2/36/2009
Editor:
I've heard African American girls recite this rhyme from the mid 1980s to 2009. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). I've also heard this rhyme recited with a slightly faster tune by an African American woman in her mid 30s from Cleveland, Ohio. But I'm sorry that I can't describe the hand clap movements that were/are done with this rhyme.
See "Shimmy Shimmy China" below for a rhyme with similar lines as the ending of this rhyme. Also see "Down Down Baby, I Know Karate" on the "D" page of Cocojams' Handclap section for a hand clap rhyme with a similar ending.
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SAY SAY MY PLAYMATE
see Playmate above on this page
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SCHOOL SCHOOL DON'T BE LATE (jump rope rhyme)
~School, school, don't be late
sign your name at the golden gate
Capitol _ _ _ _ (spell out your name)
Kinder
1st
2nd
3rd
4th During the grades we would jump out and then have
5th have to jump back in!
6th
etc....
-Saphire, http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=332173 "I remember",
05-19-2011
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SCOTLAND IRELAND (Elastics / Chinese Jump Rope)
we played it in my primary school in Canberra (North Ainslie primary),in the mid 60s and called it elastics.
i remember
Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales,
don't step on the monkeys' tails,
England, Ireland, Scotland, France
don't step on the monkeys' pants...
- freda underhill (Australia) ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=46932 Child's Game: Elastics ; January 23, 2004
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SHE'S MY ONE BLACK, TWO BLACK
Example #4
The song comes to me from somewhere in my past, I have no recollection but after the fe fi stuff I remember this.
She's my
one black
two black
shoe shine
shoe black
chocolate to the bone
if you see that gal
comin'
down the street
better leave that gal alone
she's got eyes like diamonds
teeth like pearls
guys don't cha mess
with that girl
she's my
one black
two black
shoe shine
shoe black
chocolate to the bone
-posted by Guest, rusty on http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=65298&messages=79 Origins: Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah, November 15, 2009 [Be aware that this Mudcat comment thread contains songs with lyrics that have the "n word" completely spelled out as do a number of other Mudcat folk music threads.]
-snip-
This comment implies that the "words" fe fi [fo fum?] were said before the rest of this rhyme.
As a matter of clarification, I don't believe that "She's My One Black, Two Black" rhyme/song has anything whatsoever to do with the song "Origins: Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" unless "She's My One Black, Two Black" has the same tune as that the song medley "I've Been Working On The Railroad" (which is the name that is given to the two or more songs that include the "someone in the kitchen with Dinah" verse). That guest who posted the example above on that particular Mudcat discussion thread may have added to that thread by mistake. It's also possible that-for whatever reasons/- the words to that song medly being discussed reminded him (or her) of that "She's One Black Two Black" rhyme/song.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/examples-of-rhymesong-shes-my-on... for a post about that song that I published on my pancocojams cultural blog.
I'd love to know if anyone knows this rhyme/song.
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SHIMMY SHIMMY CHINA
Shimmy Shimmy China
I can do karate
Shimmy Shimmy China
Oops I'm so sorry.
Shimmy Shimmy China
Sittin on a bench
Tryin to make a dollar
Out of 65 cents
She* missed
She* missed
She missed like this like this like this.
-various African American girls & boys; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and surrounding communities & Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 1990s
Editor:
See the comments that I posted for the related rhymes "Ching Ching China" , "Choo Choo Charlie", and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes
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SHIMMY SHIMMY CO CO PA
See the examples of "Down Down Baby" on this page.
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SKETTERS AND BEG BUGS
See examples on this page under "I Woke Up Sunday Morning"
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SLIDE (Also know as "Slide Baby")
Editor: In some versions of Slide, the clappers count to a certain number such as the number five.
One
One two
One two three
One two three four
One two three four five.
Sesame Street - Two Girls clap out five
Posted by wattamack4
August 10, 2007
In other versions of slide such as this one below, no words are spoken.
ldssplash1
June 10, 2009
**
Editor: In other versions of "Slide" such as the one performed in the video "Hand Clap by the Parreño Sisters" that is posted on this page under "Lemonade, Crunchy Ice" the numbers 1-10 are said while doing the corresponding handclap clap routine.
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SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME
Here is a song i always sing with my friends on the bus. (to the tune of the song from shrek): Somebody once told me the world was macaroni so i took a bite out of a tree. It tasted kind of funny so i spited out a bunny and the bunny started swearing at me.
(There is handclapping and foot stomping in this song.)
-kennedy d.; 2/16/2009
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STELLA ELLA OLA
Editor: This competitive circle handclap game is known by a number of different names. Members of this rhyme family are posted together regardless of their given name or their first line. Also see "Quack Dilly Oso" rhymes on this page for examples from a very closely related family of rhymes.
STROLLA OLA OLA (Version #1)
Strolla olla olla
Slap, slap, slap.
With ah "s" cheeka cheeka
cheeka cheeka flap jack.
Fah lay, fah lay,
fah lay, fah lay , fah lay
With ah 1- 2- 3- 4- 5.
-African American girls & boys (ages 6-12 years), Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 10/2000; also my daughter, Tazi M. Powell's childhood remembrances of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; in the mid 1980s
Editor:
"Strolla Ola Ola", "Stella Ella Ola" and other rhymes with similar names belong to the same family of handclap games. In my opinion, "Quack Dily Oso" belongs to this same "family". Folks who are interested in finding more examples of "Stella Ella Ola" and related rhymes as well as reading and/or participating in a discussion about the origin of these rhymes are encouraged to click on this hyperlink: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066&messages=30 Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola
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SLAP BILLY-OLA (Version #2)
Slap billeola slap, slap, slap, slap.
Sandarico, rico, rico, rico
With ah 1-2-3-4-5.
-African American girls & boys and Vietnamese girls (ages 8-11 years); Alafia Children's Ensemble, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Garfield neighborhood); Collected by Azizi Powell 10/2000
Editor:
This rhyme is related to "Stella Ella Ola" and rhymes with similar names. It may be played as a partner handclap rhyme, with three people or two sets of partners. When there are more than four people, this rhyme is played as a circle game. Here are the directions for "Slap Billy-Ola" when it is played as a circle game:
The group forms a circle. Someone in the group is designated the start position for the slapping movement. Before starting the chant, the group also decides which number will be the last number chanted [(ote that it is "4" in this example, but I've often seen it be the number "5". Having too high a number would spoil the anticipation of the final elimination "slap"). The group then begins the game by chanting the words to this game in unison. The chanting remains the same tempo throughout the entire game. At the same time that the group begins to chant the words, the person in the designated starting position uses his or her left hand to gently slap the right hand of the person standing to the right of him or her. The slap corresponds to one separate word of the chant. ("Hit It" is an optional part of the chant. This phrase counts as one word; the person's hand is slapped after the word "it"). The person whose hand is slapped at the end of the rhyme (on the last number chanted) is out. That person leaves the circle and the rhyme begins again. When there are only two people left from the group, these two stand in front of each other and alternate slap each other's hands. The chant is repeated until there is no one left. That person is the winner.
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STELLA ELLA HOLA (Version #3)
There was also a fun clapping game:
stella ella hola,
clap clap clap
singing es chico chico, chico chico chap
singing es chico chico
velo
velo
velo velo velo,
saying 1 2 3 4 5 [on 5, whoever clapped last would be out]
you would sit in a large circle, and put your hands 1 on top of the person beside you, the other hand below.- when the person beside you clapped their hand onto yours, you would repeat the clap, with each sound. If your hand was hit on 5, you would be out - you could lift your hand really fast and the person would clap themselves out instead)
-Emma; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; November 16, 2004
Regrettably, this site isn't available any longer.
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #4)
Stella ella hola,
Clap clap clap
Say s chico chico, chico chico slap
Ssy s chico chico
Hello, hello
The toilet overflows.
Say 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10!
- stephstories, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VupeOqtpdoU&feature=related ; Stella-ella-ola? ; November 13, 2006 (transcription from the video by Azizi Powell, 1/29/2011)
Editor:
As a result of visiting his or her YouTube page, I learned that that video uploader is from the USA. From watching this video I got the sense from the video that this rhyme was taught to Asian young adult females and males by Americans who were either working or volunteering in that country. I gathered this because it seemed that the Asian participants were usually unsure of the rhyme and its hand clapping activity, especially at the end. Also, ongoing background comments from a male seemed to be explaining how to play this game to the other participants and asked at least one participants how they felt when they got out.
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #5)
Stella Ella Ola
Clap Clap Clap
Singing S Tella Ola chicko chicko clap clap
Fallo Fallo Fallo Fallo Fallo
Is what I remember my sister singing.
-Guest Jake, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066#1370542 "RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola"; 6/5/2007
Here's a video of this rhyme with the last three remaining players. Notice the performance activity that is used when there are only two players left. This is just one way of choosing the winner.
Stella Stella Ola
Uploaded by lemon143gurl on Jun 21, 2007
ppl play stella stella old...last 3
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #6)
Stella Ella Ola
Clap Clap Clap
Say yes chico chicko chicko chicko chap
Say yes chico chico
Hello hello, hello hello hello
Say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7,8, 9
-wadaferal; "Stella ella ola"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loltwWPM0Uo&feature=related ; 7/2008
Here's that video:
Editor:
I gathered from watching this video that these two men are either working or volunteering in another country or in the USA and are teaching this game to the girls. In response to a question from a viewer about whether he spoke Spanish, wadafera. the video uploader wrote "yes actually im mexican , but we were in canada, in a summer camp =)": (posted in 2009)
This video is the way I've seen this game played (and also joined in playing it). The girls & boys (as well as the teens & adults). The participants always stood up in a circle to play this game. In contrast, the video accompanying Version #8 on this page shows teens sitting down in a circle and playing this game.
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #7)
stella ella ola clap clap clap sing it s chiga chiga chiga chiga chat chat s chiga chiga love love love love love love 5 4 3 2 1
-dropdeadxhaylee; "Stella Ella Ola"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&NR=1; 8/22/2008
Here's that video:
"playing stella ella ola at my sweet 16 birthday party :D "
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #8)
Hello! I'm a high school teacher in Toronto and my students taught me this version of Stella-Ella-Ola this week. They're in grade 9 or 10 and learned this version in Toronto when they were in elementary school (i.e. in the last 10 years). Stella-Ella-Ola, quack quack quack Say YES! Chico chico, chico chico chack Say YES! Chico chico, fellow, fellow, the toilet overflows Say 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-----10! Love your site!
-Muni ; 10/25/2008
Editor:
Muni, I appreciate your compliment about this website. Cocojams has become the 'go to' website for examples of English language children's playground rhymes & cheers because children, teens, and adults send in examples of rhymes they know. Thank you all!
Here's a cute video of Stella Ella Ola:
Stella Ella Ola
Uploaded by ysschool on Jun 2, 2010
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #9)
the song changes from place to place, in Pittsburgh its
stella ella olla
clap clap clap clap
S chika chika
chika chika slapjack
go slow go slow go slow
1 2 3 4
-1234t1234 (viewer comment);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&feature=related "Stella Ella Ola"; 3/2009
STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #10)
Here's the comment that I wrote in response to the example given here as Version #9 commevidais post:
@i1234t1234. I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania & in the Garfield neighborhood & other mostly African American neighborhoods I've it this way-
Strolla olla olla
Slap slap slap
With ah "s" cheeka cheeka
cheeka cheeka flap jack
Fah low, fah low
fah low, fah low fah low
With ah 1- 2- 3- 4- 5.
-Azizip17; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&feature=related "Stella Ella Ola"; February 2010
Editor:
i1234t1234 posted another comment in response to mine:
Like i said it changes where the above is how everyone i know learned it. I think its neat how it changes from place to place.
i1234t1234; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&feature=related "Stella Ella Ola"; February 2010
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #11)
lol mines is
Stella Ella Ola
Quack Quack Quack
s chica chica
chica chica slap jack
falay falay
falay falay falay
with a 1, 2, 3...
lol mines is all wrong but this is what most of us say in Pittsburgh lol
-lydiad452; March 2010
Editor:
I wrote a couple of comments on that thread addressed to lydiad452 and other readers, Here are those comments:
@lydiad452 I'm also in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From what I've heard, kids in East Liberty/Garfield mostly say
Slap Billyola
slap slap slap
sendorico
rico rico rico
with ah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5."
They also sing "Strolla Ola Ola 123" [with the rest of the words I gave]. And, "Quack Diddly Oso Quack Quack Quack" [the same words afterwards]
This just goes to show that there can be a number of different versions of a rhyme in the same city & maybe even the same neighborhood at the same time. :o)
-Azizip17 March 26, 2010
[Note: Unfortunately, I posted the wrong begiining words to Strolla Ola Ola" It's Strolla Ola Ola Slap Slap Slap". But I didn't correct that on YouTube because I had already posted to that thread a number of times.]
**
Here's my second comment:
"I meant to add that people usually think that the way they learned a rhyme is the right way to sing it. But these rhymes don't have any right or wrong words. There are versions that were made up earlier than others, but still the only thing stopping a person from changing the words to playground rhymes is peer pressure-and it's very difficult to go against that. But when you hear or read another version, that doesn't mean that your version or someone else's version is wrong. Enjoy!"
-Azizip17; March 26,2010
**
Here's a response that lydiad4521 wrote back to me:
@Azizip17 lol i have a few friends from homewood (which is next to east liberty) that say it like that
-lydiad4521 day ago
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #11)
woah we did it such a different way at camp a few years back
Stella ella ola clap clap clap
sing it yes chiga, chiga, chiga chiga, chat chat
yes chiga chiga love love, love, love love 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
weird lol
-pryncess1997http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loltwWPM0Uo&playnext=1&list=PL1391D346AAB12A1F ; Stella ella ola clap clap clap say yes chico chico ; May 2010
Editor:
Here's a response to this comment from another viewer:
@pryncess1997 yeah i learned how to do it this way though there are lots of types t gets confusing
-christina46981; August 2010
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STELLA ELLA OLA (Version #12)
I'm from manitoba, Canada and we would sing the rythm like this :
Stella stella hola
Clap clap clap
Say es chico chico
Chico chico
Craker jack
Es chico chico
Balogne,balogne
With cheese and macaroni
Say 1,2,3,4,5
-Guest Julia, "Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola" http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066&messages=61 ; June 2, 2010
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STELLA STELLA OLA (Versions #13)
For me its
Stella Stella Ola, Clap Clap Clap singing S Chica Chica Chica Chica Clap singing S Chica Chica Fellow Fellow Fellow, Fire 12345
-enajaehryc ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb3oV0B1g0&feature=related ; "Stella Ella Ola"; ; January 2011
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STELLA STELLA OLA (Version #14)
did you know its actually. Stella stella ola clap clap clap say yes chika chika chika chika chat say yes chika chika boloney boloney cheesy macooni fire 1 2 3 4 5!
-9mcneil; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loltwWPM0Uo&playnext=1&list=PL1391D346AAB... Stella ella ola clap clap clap say yes chico chico ; January 2011
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STELLA ELLA OLA & CROCODILLY OH MY (Versions #15 & 16)
In my school there are a bunch of different ways..
Stella Ella Ella/Ola
Quack Quack Quack
Singing S teega teega,
teega teega shack shack!
follow follow follow follow follow-a/ valo, valo, valo, valo, volora
1 2 3 4 FIVE / 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TEN /
OR
Crocodilly oh my
Quack Quack Quack!
Say sicko sicko
sicko sicko sock sock!
follow,follow,
stick your head in jello,
your face is turning yellow,
1 2 3 4 FIVE! / 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 TEN!
Guest guest; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066&messages=66 ; Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola; January 28, 2011
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SWEETIES IN THE JAR (Jump Rope Rhyme)
Sweeties in the jar, Sweeties in the jar, Pick them out, pick them out, Sweeties in the jar.
Sausages in the pan, sausages in the pan, Turn them over, turn them over, Sausages in the pan.
Biscuits in the tin, Biscuits in the tin, Shake them up, Shake them up, Biscuits in the tin.
Fire on the floor, Fire on the floor, Stamp it out, Stamp it out, Fire on the floor.
Ghosties in the house, Ghosties in the house, Shoo them out, Shoo them out, Ghosties in the house.
-black walnut; 2/21/2000; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352 Playground songs
T,U,V
TAKE A PEACH TAKE A PLUM
Editor: Rhymes in this family often start with an introductory phrase but include the line "take a peach (piece) and a plum/take a piece of bubble gum". These rhymes also often include the line "ooh ah/ I wanna piece of pie". I'm including examples in this rhyme in this section regardless of their beginning line or title.
Some VERY similar examples of these rhymes can be found in the "Oah Aah I Wanna Piece Of Pie" section of this page. Rhymes from those two families can be considered "kissing cousins" or they might actually be considered the (almost) exact same family. :o)
TAKE A PEACH TAKE A PLUM (Example #1)
Shake, shake, shake
Eeny meeny
That's a queeny
Ooh ba Thumbalina
Ah cha ca che Liberace
Oh baby I love you
Yes I do.
Take a peach
Take a plum
Take a piece of bubble gum
No peach
No plum
Just a piece of bubble gum
Oooshe ahshe
Oooshe ahshe
I want a piece of pie
The pie too sweet
I want a piece of meat
The meat too tough
I want to ride the bus
The bus too full
I want to ride the bull
The bull too black
I want my money back
The money too green
I want a diamond ring.
{Source Barbara Michels, Bettye White, Apples On A Stick,
The Folklore of Black Children (Houston, Texas; 1983, p. 17)
Editor:
See examples of "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" and "Ooh Ah" on this page for other versions of children's rhymes that include many of these words.
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TAKE A PEACH, TAKE A PLUMB (Example #2)
here's one we used to play at school. (some words are not really words but are pronounced that way, this is not really the beginning to the song but the middle because I didn't know how to pronounce those words)
Take a peach take a plumb take a piece of bubble gum
No peach no plumb just a piece of bubble gum
Oche Iche, I want a piece of pie
The Pie to sweet
i want a piece of meat
the meat to rough
i wanna ride the bus
the bus to full
i wanna ride the bull
the bull to black
i want my money back
my money to green
i want a jelly bean
the jelly bean to white
goodnight sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite
if they do get a shoe an beat the black and blue
down by the river with the hangy pangy
where the bulldog jumped from bang to bang
there set a
A
E
I
O
U
That's all there set a
A
E
I
O
U
Listen to the beat
-R.S.; Octoblog; November 7, 2003
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TAKE A PIECE, TAKE A PLUM (Example #3)
Ziz Zag zag
take a piece take a plum
take a piece 0f bubble gum
do you like it?
do you love it?
do the alabama shake it
shake it up
shake it down
shake it all around
Spying on my boy friend - baby
didn't do the dishes - lazy
jumped out the window - crazy
and thats the facts of boys boys boys
-Miranda R. ; 12/5/2004
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TAKE A PIECE, TAKE A PLUM (Example #4)
take a piece, take a plum take a piece of bubble gum. no piece, no plum no piece of bubble gum. i like coffee, i like tea, i like the preety boy and he likes me so step back dumb boy, you dont shine, i'll meet you round the corner and beat your behind. last night, the night before, i met my boyfriend at the candy store. he bought me ice cream, he bought me cake, he bought me home with a stomach ache. i said "mama, mama, i feel sick. call the doctor QUICK,QUICK,QUICK! doctor, doctor before i die. i close my eyes and i count to five. 1..2..3,4,5 i'm alive." see that house on top of that hill? that's where me and my boyfriend live. cook that chicken, burn that rice. com on baby, lets shoot some dice!
-lesa; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ,"Schoolyard games", April 10, 2005
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OH GOSH SHE'S CRAZY (Example #5 of "Take A Piece, Take A Plum")
Oh gosh she crazy
Oh gosh she crazy
Take a piece
Take a plum
Take a piece of bubble gum
No piece, no plum, no piece of bubble gum
I like coffee
I like tea
I like a color boy and he likes me
So step that white boy you don't shine
I'll take you 'round the corner and beat ya behind
Last night, the night befo'
I met my boyfriend at the candystore
He bought me ice-creme, he bought me cake
He bout me home with a stomach ache
I say momma momma I feel sick
Cal the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor doctor if I die, I'll close my eyes and I'll count to 5
1,2,...3,4,5
See that house on top of that hill
Thats where me and my boyfriend live
Cook that chicken, stir that rice
C'mon baby lets shoot some dice
-Guest,183756823%Diva; Playground songs; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352; 1/28/2008
Editor:
The word "color" In the line "I like a color boy and he likes me" is folk etymology for the now retired racial referent "Colored". Note the floating verses in this rhyme that are also found in the "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" rhymes.
I've posted a comment about the use of "colored", "Black" and other racial referents in the "Down Down Baby" rhyme section on http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes . Also, here's a link to a post on my pancocojams blog about this racialized rhyme* http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-co...
*I coined the term "racialized rhyme" to refer to children's playground rhymes that previously didn't mention race that now mention that descriptor.
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SPADES (Example #6 of "Take A Piece, Take A Plum")
the spades go eenie meaning pop zuchinni
oh ah, oobaleenie
atchie katchie liveratchie say the magic words
a peach a plum a half a stick of chewing gum
and if you want the other half
this is what you say
amen amen a men of san diego hocus pocus alerocus
ses ses ses boom bah
rivers rivers rah rah rah
boo boo boo
criss cross apple sauce
do me a favor and get lost
while your at it drop down dead
either that or lose your head
banging on a trash can
banging on a tin can
you can i can nobody else can
sitting around, with nothing to do, along comes grandma
and gootchie gootchie goo!
- lissandsara; YouTube video no longer accessible; August 30, 2008
Editor:
"The Spades" was the title given to this YouTube video. The video of the two girls reciting this rhyme is found in the entry for "Miss Susie Had A Tugboat (Version #15)
"The spades go" or "the space goes" are introductory phrases that are found in several children's recreational rhymes. In my opinion "the spades" mean "the Black people" [say and/or perform this rhyme this way]. "The space goes" are folk etymology versions of "the spades go". Therefore, "the space go" can be said to have the same (original) meaning as "the spades go".
"Spades" is a usually derogatory referent for Black people. However, I don't think that this word is meant to be derogatory in this context. Actually, "this is how the Black people sing or dance" phrases in songs might even be said to be complimentary to Black people in that those phrase allude to the fact that people are holding up Black people as models for singing and dancing a certain way. A number of such phrases can be found in minstrel, music hall, and vaudeville songs. Unfortunately, many of those songs have derogatory referents for Black people such as "darkies" and "the n word". Although the "spades go", "the space go" and "the Blacks go" (which I have found in a few playground rhymes), derive from that minstrel tradition, I don't believe that they are meant to be negative.
I think that most children are unaware about the meaning of the words that they chant. If they think of "the spades go" or "the space goes" at all, they probably think ithat that phrase isn't suppose to mean anything.just repeat chants from rote memory and don't spend time thinking about what each word means.
Several other "the spades go" and "the space goes" rhymes are posted in the "Down Down Baby" rhymes section on http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes
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ENI MINI DISAPENNY (Example #7 of Take A Peach Take A Plum)
Eni mini disapenny
Oh ah thumballini
Achi kachi liberachi
I love you
O baby yes I do
Take a peach take a plum
Take a piece of buubble gum
No peach no plum
Just a piece of bubble gum
Ooh ah I wanna piece of pie
The pie's too sweet
I wanna piece of meat
The meat's too rough
I wanna take the bus
The bus' too full
I wanna ride a bull
The bull's too black
I wanat my money back
The money's too green
I wanna jelly bean
The bean's too red
I wanna go to bed
The bed's too long
I wanna wear a thong. (whisper)
- Guest Sarahlu; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26926#2593100 ; Lyr Req: Oh my, I want a piece of pie ; January 27, 2009
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TAKE A PIECE, TAKE A PLUM (Example #8)
The saints* go:
eenie meenie popsakini
ooh aah oobelini
otchie kothchie liberace
say the magic words:
a peach, a plum, a half a stick of chewing gum
and if you want the other half, this is what you say
amen, amen, amendiego sandiego
hocus pocus dominocus
sis sis, sis boom bah
rivers, rivers, rah rah rah
boo boo boo
criss cross, applesauce
do me a favor and get lost
while you’re at it drop dead
either that or lose your head.
sitting on a trash can
I can, you can, nobody else can
sitting around, nothing to do
along comes grandma**, cootchie coochie coo!***
*or “spades”… mmm racist overtones.
** or “fat lady.” right.
***accompanied by tickling, of course.
-l'zhiu; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Prose :
October 2, 2009
-snip-
The word "piece" as a substitute for "peach" is an example of folk etymology.
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OH GOSH HE'S CRAZY (Example #9 of "Take A Peach Take A Plum)
oh gosh he's crazy
oh gosh she's crazy
take a piece take a plum
take a piece of bubble gum
no peace no palm
know piece of bubble gum
I like coffee I like tea
I like the colored boy he likes me
so stop that white boy
he don't Shine
taken around the corner
and I beat his behind
last night the night before
I met my boyfriend at the candy store
he bought me ice cream he bought me cake
he brought me home with a stomach ache
I said Mom Mom mama I feel sick
call the doctor quick quick quick doctor ect.
- localemopuppy123, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0KMFSj-FrQ&feature=related "Fun Hand Games"
September 2012
-snip-
This example could have been posted under the entries for "I Love Coffee I Love Tea".
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes for examples of that rhyme.
Notice the racialized reference in the lines "I like the colored boy he likes me
so stop that white boy". Click for additional examples of & my comments about racialized
examples of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" rhymes
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STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE (Jump Rope Rhyme)
Strawberry shortcake
cream on top
Tell me the name
of your sweetheart
Two on time
Follow me
To the bottom of the sea
One three five seven
All good children go to heaven
When we get there we'll all shout
(___) (___), you get out!
-Branjor; http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add... Anybody remember jumprope rhymes?; July, 21,2006
Editor:
I believe that this is a combination of three different rhymes.
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TEDDY BEAR TEDDY BEAR (Jump Rope Rhyme; Example #1)
When I was growing up the jump rope song to Teddy bear lullabye went like this:
Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around,
teddy bear, teddy bear touch the ground,
teddy bear , teddy bear go upstairs ,
teddy bear , teddy bear say your prayers,
teddy bear teddy bear turn out the light,
teddy bear , say good night.
We also did actions while jumping, ie: turned around in a circle,
touched the ground, picked up high knees to go up stairs,
folded hands to say prayers, flicked a finger to turn out the light,then jumped out of the rope to the side to say goodnight, this ended your turn. That sure was alot of fun! I came to this site to learn others to teach my daughter.Thanks alot everyone!
-Guest, ginger; 3/16/2004; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300; "Children's Street Songs"
Editor:
I remember saying this same rhyme as a child while jumping rope the same way you describe (Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1950s).
Here's a video that includes that rhyme and several others:
One Potato Two Potatoes
Posted by BFIfilms
February 13, 2008
Video Summary
"Filmed over a 12-month period, this study of children's games played in London streets and playgrounds stands out for its freshness and spontaneity; it remains an important companion piece to Peter and Iona Opie's classic studies of children's games and rhymes.
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TEDDY BEAR TEDDY BEAR (Jump Rope Rhyme; Example #2)
In London in the late [19]40s it wasn't a Ballerina, it was
Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around
Teddy bear, teddy bear touch the ground
Teddy bear, teddy bear go up stairs
Teddy bear, teddy bear say your prayers (hold hands together)
Teddy bear, teddy bear turn out the light
Teddy bear, teddy bear say goodnight
Goodnight
I seem to remember doing it skipping in a long rope
-Mo the caller ; Req: Playground songs"; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352&messages=48 Lyr ; 8/1/2007
Editor:
In London, England where Mo the caller lives, the terrm "skipping" rope is used instead of "jumping rope". Mo's comment about "Ballerina" refers to an example posted in the "B" section Cocojams' Handclap Rhyme section.
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TEN LITTLE ANGELS (Example #1)
Ten little angels
dressed in white
tryin to get to heaven
on the tail of a kite.
But the kite string broke
and down the fell.
Instead of goin to heaven
they went to
Nine little angels {repeat the rest of the words}.
Eight little angels...
Seven little angels...
Six little angels...
Five little angels...
Four little angels....
Three little angels...
Two little angels...
One little angel
dressed in white
tryin to get to heaven
on the tail of a kite.
But the kite string broke
and down she fell
instead of going to heaven
she went to
HELL!
-Azizi Powell (childhood memories, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s)
Editor:
I believe that the source for "Ten Little Angels" and its variant rhyme "Ten Little Devils" is the first verse of an early 20th century or earlier African American secular {non-religious} folk rhyme or dance song called "Raise A Rucus Tonight". That rhyme is included in Thomas W. Talley's now classic 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise. Here's that verse with asterisks used in place of letters of the racially offensive "n word":
Raise A "Rucus" Tonight
Two liddle N****** all dressed in white, (Raise a rucus to-night.)
Want to go to Heaben on de tail of a kite, (Raise a rucus to-night.)
De kite string broke, dem Ni******* fell; (Raise a rucus to-night.)
Whar dem N******* go, I hain't gwineter tell. (Raise a rucus to-night.)
-Thomas W. Talley: Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise & Otherwise (Port Washington, N.Y, Kennikat Press, Inc. edition, 1968; p. 90; originally published 1922, The Macmillan Company)
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/african-american-secular-slave-songs for a sound clip of a version of this song.
On that same Cocojams page, I also suggest that an old floating verse that is found in some versions of "Raise A Ruckus Tonight" marks that version as being part of the large "Frog In The Well" family of songs. Among those song are "Frog Went A Courting", "Keemo Kimo" and "King Kong Kitchie". It's my position that the contemporary song and hand clap rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" is an off-shoot of the "Frog In The Well" family. Numerous versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" rhymes are found in this Cocojams page: http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes
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THREE LITTLE ANGELS (Example #2 of Ten Little Angels)
Three little angels, all dressed in white
Tried to get to Heaven on the end of a kite
The Kite string broke and down they all fell
Instead of going to Heaven, they all went to
Two little angels......
One little angel.... Instead of going to heaven, they all went to
Three little devils, all dresses in red
Tried to get to Heaven on the end of a thread
Thread-string broke and down they all fell
Instead of going to heaven they all went to
Two little devils....
One little devil, all dressed in red
Tried to get to Heaven on the end of a thread
Tread string broke and down they all fell
Instead of going to Heaven they all went to BED!
-campfire; 5/17/1999 http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm ; Counting Songs
Editor:
For another example of "Three Little Devils", visit this website:
http://odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=3&t=913 Seedy Songs and Rotten Rhymes - the poetry of the playground.
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TEXICO (Version #1) Jump Rope rhyme
I am watching a friend's three kids today, and I heard them in the basement (playroom) skipping rope...Here is one that is new on me:
Texico, Texico, all the way to Mexico
Do the splits, splits
Chinese Kicks, kicks
Turn around, round
Touch the Ground, ground!
-Neighmond; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56361; Folklore: Skipping Rhymes & Playground Games; February 3, 2003
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TEXACO (Version #2) Jump Rope rhyme
(This one started with "cradles")
Texaco Texaco
OVER (start twirling the rope overhead) the hills to Mexico
Spanish dancers do the splits
Spanish dancers wiggle their hips
Spanish dancers turn around
Spanish dancers touch the ground
Spanish dancers get out of town (the jumper would jump out)
Standing outside the rope as it was twirling and jumping into it was called a run-in. Twirling the rope toward the jumper was "front doors," and twirling it away from the jumper was "back doors." It was harder to do a run-in back doors than front doors.
"Cradles" was swinging the rope back and forth just above the ground. Swinging it so that it almost went overhead but not quite was called "high waters." The most complex single rope twirl was called "TVs." It went two cradles-front doors-two cradles-back doors-cradles-front doors, etc.
Jumping with two ropes twirling inward was called "double Dutch." Twirling them outward was called "double Irish." The ropes were twirled left-right-left-right in a steady rhythm. If you twirled them both at the same time, you ended up with "eggbeaters," and that was the sign of an inept twirler.
By the way, when I was a little girl jumping rope in Wisconsin, I never would have imagined that inner city girls on the East Coast would make double Dutch into a competitive sport, complete with acrobatic and dance moves, such as vaulting over the twirlers to start jumping.
When I went to China in 1990, I learned that Chinese children DO play Chinese jumprope. It became popular when I was in fifth and sixth grade. It was sort of like cat's cradle for your feet. The girls at either end anchored the giant rubber band, and to be successful, you had to go through a series of maneuvers, jumping around among the bands.
-Lydia Leftcoast; http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add... Anybody remember jumprope rhymes?; Apr-30-2005
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TEXICO (Version #3) Jump Rope rhyme
Texico, Texico (cradles)
Over the hills to Mexico (on the word "over" the rope begins going all the way around and continues doing this until the end of the rhyme)
Where the Spanish dancers do the kicks, the kicks (do kicks)
Where the Spanish dancers do the splits, the splits (jump with legs apart)
Where the Spanish dancers twirl around, around (twirl around)
Where the Spanish dancers jump up and down, up and down (jump high)
Where the Spanish dancers get out of town (jump out of the ropes)
-Sarah; http://www.gameskidsplay.net/jump_rope_ryhmes/jump_texico.htm; retrieved August 22, 2010
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TEXICO (Version #3) Jump Rope rhyme
Texico, Mexico all the way to Texico (swinging rope on ground)
where they do the splits, splits, splits (spread legs as if to do splits)
and high heel kicks, kicks, kicks (bend knees)
and turn around, round, round, (spin)
and touch the ground, ground, ground (bend down and touch ground W/
fingers)
and they eat red hot chili peppers (spin rope quickly)
-no name given; http://www.gameskidsplay.net/jump_rope_ryhmes/jump_texico.htm; retrieved August 22, 2010
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THAT'S THE WAY
"That's the Way (I Like It)" is a line that is lifted from K.C. & The Sunshine Band's 1975 hit Disco record. That line is often included in English language playground rhymes such as "Brickwall Waterfall" and "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train".
Examples of these rhymes on Cocojams' Schoolyard Taunts page http://cocojams.com/content/schoolyard-taunts
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THE BLACK SHIP
Oh that’s a black ship
on top the black black ship
That is my bonnie (bonnet)
My bonnie mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
Do you see a black ship sailing?
It got my bonnie.
“My bonnie” said this girl.
“My bonnie” said that girl.
No way! Yes way!
No way! Yes way!
No way! Yes way!
No way! Yes way!
All right. Here is your bonnie.
Let’s have a party
In your black boat.
That is the end of the story.
-Julie and Abigal; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMTOTzGDHyQ; reposted on Cocojams.com on August 31, 2010
Here's that video:
anne2matthew | February 25, 2008
Julie And Abigail were having fun, clapping with their own rhymes during our stay in Jakarta.
****
THE DR PEPPER SONG
I drink Dr. Pepper don't you know.
It's the most favorite thing that I love so.
I drink Dr. Pepper everywhere I go.
I'm a Pepper. You're a Pepper.
Would you like to be a Pepper too?
Be a Pepper. Drink Dr. Pepper.
Be a Pepper. Drink Dr. Pepper.
Mein L.(age 10) and Phoebe L. (age 8) ; (Alexandria, Virginia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swe99oRW4wY&feature=related ; January 19, 2010 (transcribed by Azizi Powell 4/8/2010)
Here's the video:
Dr. Pepper Hand Clapping Game
Posted by joelamountain
January 19, 2010
"My daughters met a couple kids at the beach when we were on vacation. The older, a girl, taught them a hand clapping game. But instead of singing the familar "Miss Mary Mack," the clapping was done to the tune and words of an old Dr. Pepper television commercial ("I'm a Pepper"). I've since been thinking about how a 30+ year old commercial, which probably has not aired in years, can live on in childhood games like this. Did it happen naturally? Did the Dr. Pepper company create the game and spread it among our children? Or is there something else going on? All I know is that the folks at Dr. Pepper have succeeded."
end of quote
Editor: The two girls introduced themselves before they began their performance of this handclap rhyme. I believe that they said that their names are Phoebe & Maine. They indicated that they learned the rhyme from a girl named Kiara who lives in Houston, Texas. Kiara, in turn, said she learned it from her teacher. Incidentally, the girls indicated that they were in Mexico when they learned this rhyme. So that rhyme was taught to children from a teacher and then the rhyme traveled from Houston, Texas by way of Mexico to wherever these girls live (and who knows where else before that and after that-thanks, in part to the Internet :o)
****
THE GIRLS IN SPAIN
we had a clapping rhyme that went:
The girls in Spain
Put their knickers in champagne
And the boys in France
Do a hula-hula dance
And the dance they do
Is enough to tie a shoe
And the shoe they tie
Is enough to tell a lie
And the lie they tell
Is enough to ring a bell
And the bell they ring
Goes "DING-A-LING-A-LING!"
The Girls in Spain" WASN'T a clapping game between two people, it was in a ring of about 5 people.
-Viracocha; [Sian] {from Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in the early 1990s} reposted with permission from http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18352&messages=48 Lyr Req: Playground songs; 8/2/2007
Editor:
This rhyme is part of the large "There's A Place On Mars" family of rhymes. Several examples of those rhymes are posted below on this page.
****
THERE'S A PLACE ON MARS
Examples of this rhyme are posted here regardless of their title.
THERE'S A PLACE ON MARS (Version #1)
Coca Cola .. Came to town
Diet Pepsi ... Come on down
Theres a place on mars where the women smoke cigars
Every puff they take is enough to kill a snake
When the snake is dead they put roses on its head
When the roses die . they put diamonds in its eyes
When the diamond break .. they begin to make a cake
When the cake is done ... it'll be 1991
- heather; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; 3/18/2006
****
IN THE LAND OF MARS (Version #2)
In the land of mars
where the ladies smoke cigars
and the smoke they make
is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead
they put roses in its head
when the rose has dies
they put diamonds in his eyes
when the diamonds fade
in the year of seventeen seventeen seventeen EIGHT
-steve http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; 12/3/2006
****
THERE'S A PLACE ON MARS (Version #3)
there is a place on mars where the women smoke cigars and the guys wear bikinis and the children sip Marines when a snake is dead you put Mustard in his eyes when the mustard dries you put Diamonds his eyes when the diamonds break. it's time to bake a cake when the cake is done its 1991 FREEZE
-no name; 1/22/2007
IN THE LAND OF MARS (Version #4)
In the land of mars where the babys smoke cigars and the men wear bikinis and the women drink martinis and the stuff they drink is enough to kill a mink when the mink is dead they put flowers in its head when the flowers die they put diamonds in its eyes when the diamonds break its enough to bake a cake when the cake is baked its 1991, 92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99, 2000!
We sang that in elementary school in Pennsylvania.
-Aubri; 4/15/2007
****
THERE'S A PLACE IN MARS (Version #5)
There's a place on Mars
Where the women smoke cigars
And the men wear bikinis
???
Every breath you take
Is enough to kill a snake
When the snake is dead
You put flowers on his head
When the flowers die
You put diamonds in his eyes
When the diamonds crash (crack?)
You put mustard on his back
When the mustard fade
You call the queen of spades
When the queen ???
-Alecia and Arianna; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ9PPA7MaJk&feature=grec_index ; April 25, 2009; transcribed by Azizi Powell September 5,2010
Here's that video:
sweetpaisley | April 25, 2009
Alecia and Arianna doing hand games..Eliott in the back ground annoyed..lol
Editor:
I believe that the 2nd rhyme that the girls chant (starting at .025 of that video) is a version of "The Simpsons". My transcription of what I think the girls are reciting is posted as Version #3 of that rhyme.
****
IN THE LAND CALLED MARS (Version #6 of There's A Place Called Mars)
in a land called mars;
where the women smoke ciggars,
& the men wear bikinis,
& the children drink martinis,
every breath youu take is enough to kill a snake;
when the snake is dead,
they put roses 'round its head,
when the roses die,
they put diamonds 'round its eyes,
when the diamonds break,
nobody should shake!...
-TropicalJul; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhiIUj4cu6s&feature=related ; May 2010;
video transcibed by TropicalJul in electronic message to Azizip17 on September 5, 2010
Sorry, that video has been removed from YouTube.
****
ON THE PLANET MARS (Version #7 of In The Land of Mars)
So many might not remember this one but I stilll remember it cause its catchy:
On the planet Mars
Where the baby smoke cigars
And the men wear bikinis
While the women sell martinis
Every step you take
Ther's enough to kill a snake
When the snake is dead
You put mustard on its head
When the mustard dry
You put diamonds in its eyes
When the diamonds break
It will 2018
-keke; http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games ; 2010; assessed August 29, 2010
****
ON THE PLANET MARS (Version #8)
with the same game as down by the banks: [of the Hanky Panky]
On the planet Mars where the ladies smoke cigars
every puff they make is enough to kill a snake
when the snakes are dead they put roses in their heads
when the roses die they put diamonds in their eyes
when the diamonds break they say: “5, 6, 7, 8, let me see your booty shake!” (you’re out if hit on shake)
-bippity; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Prose: November 4, 2009
****
THUMB MACARONI THATA
Thumb macaroni
thada thada thada tee tee tee
thada thada tee tee tee 123.
And if you are 3 you have to move your hand before it is slapped.
-Raymond D. Sweet, March 12, 2013
-snip-
It occurs to me that this rhyme "sounds like" the lightly competitive circle hand slapping games "Stella Ela Ola", "Quack Diddleoso", and "Slap Billeola".
I'm curious to know if Thumb Macaroni Thata's performance activity is like those games (which are also like the "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" hand slap game.
****
THE SIMPSONS (Version #1)
Bart Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Homer and Marge
That’s not all-
Bart’s in double trouble
Bart Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Homer and Marge
That’s not all-
Bart’s in double trouble
Criss Cross
Apple sauce
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Freeze!
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
For the last time
Freeze!
- Tamia; 12 year old African American girl, Maryland) Oct 29. 2005; collected by Marimba for Azizi Powell
****
THE SIMPSONS (Version #2)
clap
lisa simpson, bart simpson, homer simpson, bart
B-A-R-T B-A-R-T B-A-R-T BART
i said a deep da deep da deep trouble
i said a deep da deep da deep trouble
-Anietie;
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2204285338&topic=2724&post=25803#t... ; October 7, 2006
****
THE SIMPSONS (Version #3)
Sin Sin Sin
We do twist (tricks?)
And I do twist (tricks?)
And Maggie Maggie Maggie twist (tricks)
And Mart is double trouble
Mart is double trouble
Criss cross
The apple sauce
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Now freeze 1 time
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Now freeze
- Alecia and Arianna; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ9PPA7MaJk&feature=grec_index ; April 25, 2009; transcribed by Azizi Powell on September 5, 2010
This video is reposted under "There's A Place On Mars", Version #4
****
THE WASHING CLOTHES SONG
the washing clothes song that someone suggested:
Down in the jungle where nobody goes
there's a boogie woogie washer woman washing her clothes
with a boogie woo here and and boogie woo there,
a boogie woogie washer woman washing her clothes
doobity bop o a boogity woogie,
doobity bop o a boggity woogie,
doobity bop o a boogity woogie...
a boogie woogie washer woman washing her clothes
-Janice (Los Angeles, Ca); from girls scouts around 1992; 10/12/2006
****
TWEEDLEELEE (also known as "Rockin Robin" or "Tweet Baby", etc.) Version #1)
Tweedleelee
(Treetop)
Tweedleelee
(My Prop)
Tweedleelee
Popsicle, popsicle
Your butt stinks
He rocks in the tree top
all day long
huffin and ah puffin
and ah singin his song.
All the little birds on Jay Bird street
Love to hear the bird go
Tweet Tweet Tweet!
Rockin Robin
Tweet Tweetdalee
Rockin Robin
Tweet Tweetdalee
I went downtown *
To get ah stick of butter.
I saw James Brown
layin in the gutter.
I saw a piece of glass
stickin in his butt.
I never saw a Black man
run so fast.
Mama's in the kitchen
cookin rice.
Daddy's outside
shootin dice.
Brother's in jail
raisin bail.
Sister's on the corner
Selling Fruit Cock Tail.**
Rockin Robin
Tweet Tweetdalee
Rockin Robin
Tweet Tweetdalee
-African American girls and boys ages 6-13 years old; Pittsburgh, Pa, 1999, Northview Heights [The Buddy Program; a coed after-school program for elementary school children]; collected by Azizi Powell, 1999
* Some children reported that this line could also be "I went to Giant Eagle to get a stick of butter". "Giant Eagle" is the name of the largest supermarket chain in Pittsburgh area.
** The words "Fruit Cock Tail" were emphasized with the girls switching their butts in to the beat of each syllable of this phrase. I've also seen girls touch the back of their butts while saying those syllables.
Editor:
The source for the "Tweetdalee" (and similar sounding refrains) handclap rhyme was The Jackson 5's 1972 R&B song "Rockin Robin". That version of this song begins with the refrain "tweed lee ldiddly dee" or some such words. One common introductory phrase for this rhyme is "Tweet Baby/Tweet Baby/ My momma said". Here's a link to a YouTube clip of the Jackson 5 performing that song on an American television station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4VCUbL7jsc&feature=related
Some African American women in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have told me that they recited this rhyme in the 1970s basically the same way it is given above. During my cultural presentations on children's rhymes with children who attended after-school programs [mostly in the housing projects of Pittsburgh, PA area from 1998-2003], I would ask the group what handclap 'songs' or cheers did they know.
I learned early on that I would get a blank stare if if I asked children and pre-teens what "rhymes" which is why I switched to the referents "handclap songs or cheers". At times, I would ask groups of children/pre-teens or individual children/pre-teens if they knew a particular rhyme by name. At other times, I would wait to see what rhymes the children would come up with without prompting. My experiences with these cultural sessions leads me to believe that during that time "Tweeleelee" was one of the most widely known children's rhymes, if not the most widely known children's rhyme among African American children in that area. "Miss Mary Mack" was also a well known hand clap rhyme. But my sense was that "Miss Mary Mack" wasn't as appreciated as much as "Tweeleelee" was. Another handclap rhyme that appeared to be as well known and as well liked as Tweeleelee was "Mama Mama Can't You See". Examples of both these hand clap rhymes are posted on this page.
Although it was usually girls who volunteered to recite & perform handclaps to this {and other rhymes}, usually the boys who were present in the room who were around 10 years of age and under, would also join the female group members in enthusiastically reciting this rhyme. I should note that, sometimes when I specifically asked about this rhyme, a child or children would tell me that it was "dirty". I would say something like "It's okay. I'm just trying to collect examples of handclap "songs" kids know. I used the referent "songs" because I found out that is how children refer to these rhymes. Because they were concerned about the words of this rhyme, often the adult supervisors of these after-school or summer sessions for elementary school age girls & boys, would suggest that the children "sing other songs." But sometimes, particularly if the supervisor was under forty years old, she would sing along with the children. Although I've collected "dirty" versions of this rhyme, I've decided not to post them on this website.
"Tweedleelee" (or similar sounding names) still appears to be widely known among African American children & youth in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and other African American communities in the USA in 2008. Some people recite these lines as an introduction to the actual rhyme- "Swing Swing Swing/ By the river and the sea" or similar sounding lines.
In my area (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), African American children don't say that they "play" handclaps. They say that they "do" handclaps.
There are several YouTube videos of teens and young adults performing the "Rockin Robin" handclap:game. These games are usually done by 4 people whose feet don't move from where they are standing but who perform up & down/over & under movements while alternately clapping hands with the other people who are playing the game. Here's a very short video which demonstrates these movements:
Rockin' Robin
KatiiV3nom
February 20, 2009
"My friends and I after school: Kari(orange), Jalen(brown), Jetrin(navy blue), Me(black). Shake, shake, shake to the bottom of the lake!"
****
TWEEDLE TWEEDLE DEE (Version #2)
...remember hand games....
tweedle tweedle dee
treetop
tweedle tweedle dee
treetop
tweet baby tweet baby
your mama says
she rocks in a treetop
all day long
huffin and puffin
and saying a song
all the little birds
james bell street
love the little robins
go tweet tweet tweet
rockin robin
tweet tweet tweet
rockin robin
tweet tweet tweet
i went down town to get a stick of butter
and saw james brown sitting (people cursed on my block) in the gutter i took a piece of glass and stuck it up his (you know what)
i never saw a (kids are mean) run so fast.
we even played that in college.
hmmm...those hand games were violent and had curses in them, huh?
holla at me if you remember
- MaMaBuddha (Harlem, NY); 7/31/2000, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/archive/index.php/t-5627.html ; "Remember When"
Editor:
I've tried to contact the greekchat forum for permission to post this example, but I've had no success. I will remove this example if notified to do so.
BTW: In every "performance" of this handclap rhyme that I've seen, when they say the "fruit cocktail" words to "sister on the corner sellin fruit cocktail", the words "cock" and "tail" are chanted separatedly, and the girls stick their butt to the side and pat it. It didn't take me too long to figure out that the girls meant that sister was selling something other than fruit.
****
TWEEDLE LEEDLE LEEDLE (Version #3)
Tweedle leedle leedle
Tweedle leedle leedle
Tweedle leedle lee, treetop; tweedle leedle lee (repeat), twist it baby, twist it baby, your breath stinks, so--Rockin Robin song.
Afterwards the rhyme continues with "Mama's in the kitchen,
cookin' friend chicken, Daddy's in the bed, halfway dead, Brother's in school actin' like a fool, Sister's in the corner sayin' fruit-cock-tail."
>Ethnicity: Samoan/Filipino
>Grew up: Norfolk, VA USA
>Learned hand games: Elementary school, age 5-10
-Janette C ; 4/28/2004
Editor:
The phrase "tweedle leedle" and similar phrases are approximations of birds tweeting This might be a duh! statement, but it took me a while to figure that out :o).
**
Here's a video of two little girls singing this chant:
Tweet Baby
bkmamii | May 25, 2008
The girls playing waiting for the train
****
TWEET TWEET A LEE (Version #4)
A tweet a tweet a bumble bee
She rocks in the tree top all day long
Huffin and puffin and singing that song
All the little birdies on Jacob st.
Love to hear that song go TWEET TWEET TWEET
rockin robin
tweet tweet-a-lee
rockin robin
tweet tweet-a-lee
Mommas in the kitchen
making fried chicken
dads in bed
half way dead
sisters in skool
acting like a fool
brothers in jail
trying to post bail
rockin robin
tweet tweet-a-lee
rockin robin
tweet tweet-a-lee
-socalgal89; 6/16/2005; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php
****
ROCKIN ROBIN (Version #5)
There was also the street Rockin Robin that I heard/played in the same [Boston summer] camps.
Tweedily diddly dee(3x)
tweet tweet, your breath stinks.
Rockin' in the treetop all day long
huffin' and a puffin' just singin' that song
all the little birdies on jail bird street
love to hear the birdies go tweet tweet tweet
Rockin' robin tweet tweet tweet
Rockin' robin tweet tweet tweet
All the little birdies on jail bird street tonight
tweet tweet tweet
Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' rice
Daddy's on the corner, shootin' dice
Brother's in jail, raisin' hell
Sister's on the corner selling fruit cock tail
Rockin' robin tweet tweet tweet
Rockin' robin tweet tweet tweet
All the little birdies on jail bird street tonight
tweet tweet tweet
-Guest, Spain (Boston, Mass); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350&messages=221 ,I'm Rubber. You're Glue: Children's Rhymes, 5/30/2006
****
TWEET BABY TWEET BABY (Version #6)
Tweet baby tweet baby,
my mama said:
shes rocking in the tree top
all day long
huffing and a puffing and singing that song
all the little girls on dainburn street
love to hear the birds go tweet tweet tweet,
rocking robin tweet twirly
rocking robin tweet twirly.
Batman and robin flying in the air
batman lost his underwear
batman says I don't care
mamas gonna buy me a brand new pair,
rocking robin tweet twirly
rocking robin tweet twirly,
I went down town to get a stick a butter
all i saw was james brown sitting in a gutter
took a piece of glass shoved it up his ahhhhh...
never saw a motha sucka run so fast (crazy isnt it)
rocking robin tweet twirly
rockin robin tweet twirly,
went to the movies to see king kong
all I saw was a rubber ding dong
rocking robin tweet twiyly
rocking robin tweet twirly,
mothers in the kitchen cooking rice,
poppa's in the bathroom shooting dice,
brothers in jail raising hell,
sister's in the corner selling fruit cocktail
rocking robin (some children sing other parts not to sure what they are, the words were the same since I was young but now they add things that relate to their time)
-Guest KLC,(East Harlem, New York, New York, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 ; Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes? ; July 11, 2008
Editor:
In response to my request for demographical information, KLC posted this information on that same Mudcat thread:
"The children that play these games range from 5 - 12 years old. Both boys and girls play these games but girls are more into it and know a lot more hand games then the boys. The children that I see playing these games are Hispanic, African American, Carribean, Caucasian and Asian because that is the population that I serve at my program."
-snip-
Here's a video of another version of the rhyme "Rockin Robin" . This version includes lines from "I Woke Up Sunday Morning." Examples of that song/rhyme are posted on this Cocojams page: http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes
Rockin' Robin part 2
Posted by OMGxxWeeWaa
July 01, 2007
"science class, last day of school"
****
TWEE LEE LEE (Version #7)
Tweeleelee
Tree top
Twee lee lee
My lock
Popscicle popscicle
Your butt stinks.
He rocks in the treetop all day long
Huffin' and a puffin' and singin' that song.
all the little birdies on Jerry Berry street
love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet.
Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' fried chicken. [or cookin that rice]
Daddy's at the store shootin' some more.
Brother's in jail ringin that bell.
Sister around the corner eatin fruit cock tail.
I went to the store to get a stick of butter
I saw Chris Brown singing in the gutter .
I got a piece of glass and stuck it up his ass [see note]
I never knew a Black man had to run so fast.
-Deszmeir, (African American girl, age 9, Garfield section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ; May 2009, collected by Azizi Powell, 5.2009
Note: Deszmeir stopped before saying the word "ass" and said that that was a "bad" word. I assurred her that it was okay for her to say that word in front of me for the purpose of my writing down this rhyme, and she then continued reciting. This has been my experience often when I'm collecting this rhyme. I've never had it happen with any other rhyme that I've collected.
****
TWEE LEE LEE (Version #8)
Twee lee lee
Tree top
Twee lee lee
My bra *
Popscicle popscicle
Your breath stinks.
He rocks in the treetop all day long
huffin' and a puffin' and singin' that song.
all the little birdies on jay bird street
love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet.
Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' rice.
Daddy's outside shootin' dice .
Brother's in jail ringin that bell.
Sister's outside playing fruit cock tail.
I went to the store to get a stick of butter **
I saw Chris Brown*** singing in the gutter .
He had a piece of glass stuck up his sssh****
I never knew a Black man run so fast.
-Naijah S. (African American girl, age 9, Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ; January 14, 2011; collected by Azizi Powell, 1/14/2011
Editor:
I had the good fortune of collecting several examples of rhymes from Naijah who came early with her mother and younger sibling to an African storytelling program that I did in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
*I specifically asked Naijah did she know the rhyme "Twee lee lee". She said yes, she had been thinking of that rhyme [to share with me], but it wasn't a good rhyme. I said yes, I know what she meant, but I asked her to share that rhyme with me for the sake of the collection. Without any further hesitation, Naijah began reciting that rhyme.
Naijah was very reluctant to say the word "bra". When I reassured her that it was alright to say it for the sake of this collection, she spelled out that word. I repeated it out loud to make sure that that was the right word, and Naijah said that was right but that some of the girls who do this (and she said only girls did these rhymes) didn't like saying that word.
**Naijah ended her recitation with the "Mama's in the kitchen verse". I asked her did she know another verse, and she said yes, but that it wasn bad. I again asked her to share "for the sake of this Internet collection".
***Naijah said that some girls say "James Brown" and others say "Chris Brown". She then said that line using the name of "Chris Brown" (who is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor).
**** Naijah said that this was a bad word. I asked her did she know what it was. She said yes, but that when they said this part, she and all her friends said "Sssh! (meaning "Be quiet").
****
ROCKIN ROBIN (excerpt), Version #9
the new one is
"ching ching ching to the rythm to the beat,
were gonna rock to the tree top
all night long
huffin n a puffin n a singing that song,
all the lil birdies on daver's street
huffin and a puiffin singin tweet tweet tweet,
rockin robins ,
tweet-tweet a-leet,
rockin robins,tweet-tweet a-leet,
momma's in the kitchen,cookin fried chicken,
daddy's in bed,half-way dead,
sister's in school acting all cool/like a fool,
brother's in jail eating fruit cock tail.!!
- Larasgun3 ; http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=VjGAwEEBn0c , 2011
Note: a common version that I've read since 2005 or so is "brother's in jail/drinkin ginger ale".
****
TWEE TWEE TWEE (Version #10)
Editor: This is a Jamaican version of "Twee Twee Twee" that was posted this YouTube video comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpexeCmzKjM&context=C4073e20ADvjVQa1PpcFP... by a Jamaican woman who wrote:
"mi did love fe play twee twee twee when mi did smaller
-babygirl200922, January 2012
-snip-
in response to my request for the words, that commenter wrote the following:
TWEE TWEE TWEE
twee twee twee, and the way we go,
so rocking in the tree top,
all the days long,
rocking and puffing and singing the song,
all the little girls from JBC,
like to here the robin go twee twee twee,
go wash bagie,
twee twee twee
jonny and i went to the beach
jonny bruk a bottle and throw it on me,
mom told dad,
dad told mom,
mom got a beaten with a mmm stick,
so freezy american cheese,
don't skin your dirty teeth
colgrate is very cheap.
-babygirl200922, March 2012
-snip-
That example includes a version of the stand alone rhyme "Johnny Broke A Bottle" which is also found in some children's rhymes in the USA and in other English speaking nations.
I think the Jamaican children doing hand claps were saying a different version of the "Rockin Robin" rhyme than that posted above, but I'm not sure.
Jamaican Ring Games
ochoriostube | June 13, 2009
Clord playing ring games with children of the Epworth All Age school
-snip-
It appears that the Jamaican definition for "ring games" includes hand clap rhyme routines and other children's movement activities that isn't done in a ring. This is different from the USA use of the term which only referred to "circle games".
The way these Jamaican children and woman perform this hand game is very similar to the American way this game is played, except for the hand shaking at the beginning.
****
ROCKIN ROBIN (Version #11)
Zing zing zing
Like a washin machine
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Love to hear the robin sing
Tweet tweet tweet
Rockin robin
We gonna rock to the treetop
All night long
Hustlin and bustlin
And singing that song
Mama in the kitchen stirring that rice
Daddy on the corner shooting them dice
Brother in jail ringing that bell
Sister on the corner selling fruit cocktail
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Love to hear the robin sing
Tweet tweet tweet
Rockin robin
Tweet tweet twee
Rockin robin
Wow looking back there were some questionable lyrics lol
But every girl I ever met during my entire childhood knew this and other rhymes and were an excellent way to break the ice and make friends or chase away boredom. :-) memories.
-Guest,80s Baby, Sweetie, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653&messages=26, Lyr Add: Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes,
June 24, 2012
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S-T-O-P
This game is most fun with upwards of 5 or so children. Sit/stand in a circle with arms comfortably outstretched. Each child should lay there right hand on the upturned palm of the child to their right. (This only sounds complicated )
While spelling s-t-o-p each child uses his right hand to hit the hand of the child on their left. It'll end up in a chain reaction. Naturally it just doesn't go around spelling stop After you spell the word, the next child in line to receive a hand slap (B) will be out if the child whose to do the hitting (A) can succesfully make a hit.
This is where the fun is because child B can move his palm to dodge the hit... the only restriction is that child B's hand must rest on A's left palm. Umm we used to disallow child A from faking a hit... and like child B could only dodge around 3 times before being out. If child A misses three times they're out, and naturally if child B gets hit then they're out.
- Xavier Murphy; "Games played by children in Jamaica". http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/intro/childgames.shtml , Published May 1, 2002
retrieved October 29, 2010
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TWO LIPS (Version #1)
The spades go two lips together
Tie them forever
Bring back my love to me.
What is the meaning of this?
For all the fellows I've kissed
They tell the story
the story of l-o-v-e.
-Debbie O ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350 I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes; December 29, 2006
Editor:
"The spade go" in this rhyme is an introductory phrase. The actual rhyme begins with the words "two lips". Introductory phrases usually have different hand actions than the actual rhyme. The usual motions I've seen for the introductions are the partners swinging their clapsed hands back and forth (with their arms stretched out in front of them) or clapsing their pinkies and swinging them back & forth.
"The spades go" is sometimes given as "the space goes". "Spades" was/is a somewhat deregotory referenence for "Black people", though It's likely not to be known as such by the children who are chanting this rhyme or relating memories of chanting it. In the context of this rhyme it means "this is how the Black people say or do this rhyme. I'm aware that "the spades" when used as a racial referent is usually considered to be derogatory.
More comments about "the spades" and "the space" are found in this Cocojams page: http://www.cocojams.com/content/text-analysis-down-down-baby-movie-big .
The words "two lips" is also given as "tulips" (the flower). "Tulips" may be the word which was originally used. In that case the "tie them together" phrase makes sense in that tulips may have been tied together as a potion to help bring one's love back.
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TWO LIPS (Version #2)
I remember most of the "Two lips" clapping song:
Two lips together
Tie them together
Bring back my love to me
What is the me-ee-ee-ning
Of all these flow-ow-ow -ers
This is the sto-o-o-ry
The story of love
From me to you
Our hearts go bumpity-ump-bump
Bumpity-ump-bump
Over the love of you
That's all I can recall.
-Guest, Kat; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350; I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes ; February 11, 2007
Editor:
"See Examples of "Take A Piece, Take A Plum") and "Down Down Baby" on this page for more "the space goes" introductory phrases..
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TWO LIPS (Version #3)
Nobody has mentioned my favorite one, which had a more complicated clapping pattern than most of the rest:
The spades go:
Two lips together, tie them forever
Bring back my love to me
What is the me-ee-eaning
Of all these flo-ow-owers
They tell the sto-o-ory
The story of love
From me to you
My [someone] bought a new car
He painted it red with a star
He crashed it into a rock
And now he’s dead, oh yes sirree
(and lots of other verses I don’t remember)
- DemiGoddess; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Pose; October 2, 2009
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ACE OF SPADES (version #4 of The Spades Goes Two Lips)
Does anyone know a hand clapping song called (I think?) "Ace of Spades"? It goes like this:
Ace of spades goes two lips together,
down and forever
bring back my love to me
what is the meaning meaning meaning
of all the flow-ow-ow-ow-flowers
they tell the sto-o-o-o-story
the story of love from me to you
Then I think it goes back to Ace of Spades, but I don't remember if there are any more verses, and I don't remember the specifics of the hand clapping.
Anyone out there know anything more?
Thanks!!!
-ratgirl ; http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games ;May 10, 2010
Editor:
Sometimes folk processed versions of children's rhymes are created by children to make more sense of the rhyme. The "ace of spade" is a card in the deck of playing cards. Adding the "ace of" to the word "space" helps confer meaning to the word "spade" which most children would not know means "Black people".
It should be noted that "the spades go" suggest that people thought (and may still think) that Black people knew (know) how to do some of these handclap routines better than non-Black people, perhaps because Black people (African Americans) is the population where many of these syncopation playground rhymes came from.
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TWO LIPS (Version #5)
Words we sang were:
Tulips together
Tied up forever
Bring back my love to me
What is the
--Meaning
of all these
---Flowers
this is the
---Story
of love to me (cha cha cha!)
- Madeline N; 5/22/2011
-snip-
Editor:
Madeline sent me a sound file of this rhyme, but unfortunately, I can't embed it on this page. Here's the comment that she included with the above words:
"Hi! I was fascinated to read your analysis of this rhyme, including the prefix "the spades go..." I am white and grew up with mostly other white kids in Wantagh, NY in the early 1960s. For us it was a syncopated melody, with "cha cha cha" added at the end. I don't remember a lead-in like "the spades go", but there was a slowed-down 3 beat lead-in to the tune, (bom, bom, bom...) that is then repeated in the other 3 syllable sections. "Meaning" "Flowers" and "Story" were all sung on 4 notes, down-up-down-up. I don't know music notation or I'd send you the actual tune. We definitely knew there was a play on words, or at least confusion in our own minds, between two lips and tulips. I remember it as a song, not a hand clapping game, although we played a lot of those as well..."
-snip-
In response to my questions about this explanation, Madeline clarified that "The "bom, bom, bom" was sung on 3 rising notes. The 3 words were a 4 note sequence each, no bom bom bom-- that was only at the beginning."
****
TWO LIPS (Example #6)
The first comment on your "Mailbox" page ("TWO LIPS TOGETHER") particularly caught my attention, because the handclap rhyme in question is also my own favorite -- but it had NEVER occurred (until today) to me that
1) "the spades" might mean anything other than garden spades (didn't make sense, but you don't necessarily worry about that when you're a kid)
and
2) that the words I was singing might be "two lips" rather than "tulips"... what a revelation! My mind is well and truly boggled!
In my head, I always pictured garden spades and tulips when I sang this song...
I learned a slightly different version from the one (from the Mudcat thread "I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes") you've posted on your website, so here it is -- in case you're interested:
The spades go tulips togeh-ther
tie them togeh-ther
bring back my love to me.
What is the me-hee-hee-ning
of all these flah-ha-ha-wers
they tell my staw-haw-haw-ree,
my story of love, from me to you.
I saw the ship sail away,
it sailed three years and a day,
it took you far, far away,
from the story of love, from me to you
My heart goes thump ah de ump bump,
bumpah de ump bump,
oh-ver the sight of you.
You are my one and only,
I love you pa-ssio-nately,
this ends my staw-haw-haw-ree,
my story of love, from me to you.
Cha cha cha!
I sang this at Girl Scout camp (Camp Narrin, in Ortonville, in Oakland County Michigan) in the late 60s and early 70s. (I remember us all being allowed to stay up late to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon -- on a small black & white TV perched high up in the "mess hall" -- one summer, must have been 1969...)
Narrin's intake area would have covered southeastern Michigan, and a lot of girl scouts from "the Metro Detroit area" will have attended, though I wonder how many actually from Detroit, as I don't remember there being many of my fellow campers who were black.
-Vickie F; January 25, 2013
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UNDER THE BAMBUSHES
Under the bambushes, under the sea (boom boom boom)
True love for you my darling, true love for me
When we get married, we’ll raise a family.
A boy for you, a girl for me
Johnny on the ocean, Johnny on the sea
Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me.
I told ma, ma told pa
And Johnny got a hiding with a HA HA HA.
-styleygeek; http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Pose; October 6 2009
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UNO DOS EEE ESSA
Uno dos eee esssa. I said a east. A west. I met my boyfriend at the candy store. He bought me ice cream. He bought me cake. He bought me home with a belly ache. Mama mama, I'm so sick. Call the doctor. Quick quick quick. Doctor doctor will I die. Just count to 5 and you'll be alive. 12345, I'm alive.
I heard this sometime in the mid to late 1980's in Northern Virginia where I went to elementary school.
-Terrassa, Octblog; March 12, 2004
Editor: This rhyme is probably a part of the "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" family of rhymes. I believe that the line "uno dos eee esssa" is folk etymology for the Spanish numbers uno, dos, tres (one two three). This phrase probably serves as an introductory line. See my comment about the website "Octoblog" that I posted in Example #4 of "Down Down Baby".
W,X,Y,Z
WE ARE THE ___ GIRLS
Editor:
"We Are The ___ Girls" is the name of a particular family of playground rhymes. Those rhymes might also be called by the catch-all name "We Wear Our Hair In Curls" which is the second line of the majority of these rhymes. Most of the examples start with "We are the ___ [insert name of group or city] Girls". It appears that all of these examples use the tune of the music hall/vaudeville song "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay", which incidentally was lifted from a song in sung in the late 19th century in a notorious African American brothel in St. Louis. Missouri. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta-ra-ra_Boom-de-ay
The "too old for toys/but not to old for boys" lines (or adaptations of those lines) that are found in some versions of this playground rhyme probably can be traced to the " not too young, I'm not too old/ Not too timid, not too bold" lines in the Henry J. Sayers version of "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Der-E".
The Cocojams collection does not include any of the numerous sexually suggestive versions of "We Are The ___ Girls."
An adaptation of this playground rhyme gained notoriety when it was spontaneously chanted by drag queens during what is now called the Stonewall Riots [New York City, 1969]. For more information about that historical event, click
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots
Also, for more commentary about this playground rhyme and for other examples of this rhyme, including the Stonewall example, click thttp://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101
WE ARE THE MILLIFIELD GIRLS (Version #1)
We are the Millfield girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear our dungarees
Right up above our knees
We wear our fathers' shirts
Instead of mini skirts
And when it comes to boys
We treat them just like toys
We neither smoke nor drink
That's what our parents think
But when they're out of sight
We do it day and night
-Jonathan V; 2007
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071104023000AAle8Ch
Editor:
See examples below of this rhyme as well as examples on this page "Playmate" for other versions of the lines "when it comes to boys/ we treat them just like toys". Adaptations of those lines are also found in the "I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag" lines in some "Michael Jackson" versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".
****
WE ARE THE CATTY GIRLS (Version #2)
We are the catty girls
We wear our hair in curls.
We wear our dungarees
rolled up above our knees.
We wear our sweaters tight.
The boys say that's alright.
We are too old for toys
But we're just right for boys.
-Barbara Ray, (African American) from her memories of her childhood in the Buff area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid 1950s; collected by Azizi Powell, 1996
Editor:
This example differs somewhat from most of the other versions that I've read online. Most of those other versions mention the girl's neighborhood, city, or group and not what the girls considered to be an admirable attribute or some other shared characteristic or favored product. However, it's possible that the pattern of naming one's group, neighborhood, or city is a later evolution of this rhyme.
I think that the "catty" word that Barbara Ray remembers using in the first line of that version means "sassy" and "tough" and not "vicious" or "spiteful". It's possible that this more positive image of being "catty" was influenced by the comic character "Cat woman" from the Batman comic book series. But I'm really not sure how whether these girls would have known about that comic book character. (Note that the Batman television series which sometimes featured Catwoman didn't begin to air until the mid 1960s.)
****
WE ARE THE PEPSI GIRLS (Version #3)
In the 1950's in Takoma Park, Maryland, we were singing (and jumping rope as we danced to)
We are the Pepsi girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear our dungarees
Rolled up above our knees
We wear our mothers' skirts
We wear our fathers' ties
And when we meet a guy
We simply roll our eyes.
-Carly Gewirz; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101 We Wear Our Hair In Curls; August 23. 2009
*****
WE'RE SCOIL MHUIRE GIRLS (Version #4)
we're scoil mhuire girls!
we wear our hair in curls
we wear our dungarees above our sexy knees!
sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la
we're scoil mhuire girls!
we wear our hair in curls
we wear our daddy's shirts over our mini-skirts!
sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la
we're the scoil mhuire girls! we wear our hair in curls
and when it comes to toys
we'd rather play with boys!
sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la
we're scoil mhuire girls!
we wear our hair in curls we don't smoke or drink
that's what our teachers think!
sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la
- http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=2235037070 retrieved August 26, 2009 (This page is from a social networking blog in Ireland)
-snip-
Editor:
Notice the "sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la" which is a clue that this rhyme uses the "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" tune.
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WE ARE THE __ GIRLS (Version #5)
When i was in primary school we used to sing this version:
We are the _ girls,
We wear our hair in curls,
We wear our dungarees,
Up to our sexy knees,
We don't smoke or drink,
Thats what the teachers think,
And when it comes to boys,
We treat 'em like toys.
We used to use it as a school chant at matches and stuff, with actions and everything! Teachers didn't seem to see the funny side, but t'was fun.
- Guest, Laney ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101 Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls ; April 21, 2010
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WELCOME TO MCDONALDS
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes for examples this rhyme (also known as "Big Mac", "McDonald Hand Game" and other titles). Also click http://cocojams.com/content/childrens-parodies-0 for parody examples of "McDonalds Is Your Kind Of Place:.
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WHEN BILLY BOY WAS ONE
Two people sit facing each other. I'll do my best to describe the handclap motions... Cross down - start by crossing both hands over your chest, with your finger tips touching your shoulders, then uncross them and smack your thigh's. Your left hand will smack your left thigh and right hand, right thigh. The next step is to clap. When you clap, you begin singing the song. (For example: (cross down) (Clap), When Billy Boy was one..... (now begin claping with your partner - your right hand claps with their right hand - then you clap your hands together, next your left hand claps with your partner's left hand, then you clap your hands together. Repeat until the verse is over. When you start the next verse, begin again with cross down, slap your thighs, When Billy Boy was two...etc.
Verses: When Billy Boy was one, he learned to suck his thumb. Thumb Billy, Thumb Billy, half past one.
When Billy Boy was two, he learned to tie his shoe. Shoe Billy, Shoe Billy, half past two.
When Billy Boy was three, he learned to climb a tree. Tree Billy, Tree Billy, half past three.
When Billy Boy was four, he learned to close the door. Door Billy, Door Billy, half past four.
When Billy Boy was five, he learned to swim and dive. Dive Billy, Dive Billy, half past five.
When Billy Boy was six, he learned to pick up sticks. Sticks Billy, Sticks Billy, half past six.
When Billy Boy was seven, he learned to pray to heaven. Heaven Billy, Heaven Billy, half past seven.
When Billy Boy was eight, he learned to roller skate. Skate Billy, Skate Billy, half past eight.
When Billy Boy was nine, he learned to tell the time. Time Billy, Time Billy, half past nine.
When Billy Boy was ten, he learned to catch the hens. Hens Billy, Hens Billy, half past ten. Cross down, then end!
-Jackie; 8/28/2007
****
Editor:
Although I've chosen to post them separately, all of the consecutive age rhymes that beginning with "When ___ Was A Baby" are part of the same family of rhymes. I've changed the spacing of most of these examples to make them easier to read.
****
WHEN I WAS A BABY
In Brooklyn, in the late 50s and very early 60s:
When I was a baby, a baby, a baby
When I was a baby boom boom boom
It was crying this-a-way
Crying that-a-way
Crying this-a-way
Boom boom boom
(This goes through "child," "teenager kissing," then I think "when I got married" and then "had a baby" then "when my husband died" ending with
When I died, dies, died,
When I dies boom boom boom
It was six feet under, six feet under, six feet under boom boom boom.
-Guest; 7/27/2007; http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055 Folklore: Play Ground Hand Jives; 5/16/2007
****
WHEN MISS LUCY WAS A BABY
This is a recent import (or possibly invention) that one of Casey's friends taught her in the interests of annoying fellow school bus riders. I think they are still in the process of adding verses. It involves symbolic hand motions (no hand clapping or rope jumping). Here the verb "went" is the past tense of "to go", in its current slang sense: to speak, sound, or otherwise emit noise. "Kiddo", a sort of diminutive of "kid", is used for its extra syllable.
When Miss Lucy was a baby,
A baby, a baby,
When Miss Lucy was a baby,
She went like this:
Waaaah! (Rub your eyes)
When Miss Lucy was a toddler,
A toddler, a toddler,
When Miss Lucy was a toddler,
She went like this:
Waaaah!
Gimme a sucker!
When Miss Lucy was a kiddo,
A kiddo, a kiddo,
When Miss Lucy was a kiddo,
She went like this:
Waaaah!
Gimme a sucker!
(whining) Mommy! I want a balloon!
When Miss Lucy was a teenager,
A teenager, a teenager,
When Miss Lucy was a teenager,
She went like this:
... sucker!
Ooh! (put one forearm diagonally across chest)
Ah! (do the same with the other arm)
Lost my bra!
Left it in my boyfriend's car!
When Miss Lucy was a teacher,
A teacher, a teacher,
When Miss Lucy was a teacher
She went like this:
... car!
Who stole the chalk?! (shake finger menacingly)
When Miss Lucy was a grandma
A grandma, a grandma,
When Miss Lucy was a grandma,
She went like this:
... chalk?!
Oh, my aching back! (put hand on back)
-Casey via her older sister Bridget Spitznagel (St. Louis, Missouri), http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~sprite/jmp.html#snickers Clapping Rhymes and Jumprope Jingles’ October 1997; retrieved September 12, 2010
Editor:
Even though the poster indicates that no handclapping or jumping rope is done with this rhyme, I'm including this example here because of its close similarity to other "When __ was a baby" rhymes. The indentations were done by the original poster. The words indented appear to be quotes.
****
WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY (Version #1)
I am 25 now and was recently playing a hand game with my 6 year old cousin at a family gathering and was thinking about some of the games I used to play as a little girl. I am a Black female from Easter North Carolina. One I remember yet have no idea where it came from was called Pebbles and it basically followed the life of this girl. Each section of life had some type of hand gesture you had to do with it. and you had to remember the whole thing as it added on new lines. It basically went like this
When pebbles was a baby, a baby a baby When pebbles was a baby she went like this cry cry. (then the group would act like they were wiping their tears)
When pebbles was a toddler, a toddler a toddler when pebbles was a toddler she went like this cry cry, tie my shoe. (then we would wipe our tears, and reach down and touch our shoes)
When pebbles was a 5 year old, a 5 year old, a 5 year old when pebbles was a 5 year old she went like this cry cry, tie my shoe, i want this i want that (you would do the previous motions plus point at left then right)
When pebbles was a teenager, a teenager, a teenager when pebbles was a teenager she went like this cry cry, tie my shoe, i want this i want that, Ohh Ah I lost my bra I must have left it in my boyfriends car. ( on this part you would do the previous motions then also cross your hands over your chest and sort of shake your hips)
This is a long song there is way more too it but it takes her through motherhood and then being a grandma and finally the end of her life. I think its basically to see who can and can't remember all the things that happened before. Its been a really long time since I did this one.
-Erica ; 1/3/2008
Editor:
I wonder if the name "Pebbles" came from the name of the baby girl in "The Flintstones" cartoon?
"Peebles" is played as the second game in this handclap video. The first game "Tarzan" is often played as a choosing game.
Tarzan and Pebbles (hand games)
Melvanism, Published on Jun 7, 2012
Try this and I bet you will have fun!! Enjoy!!
****
WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY (Version #2)
When Pebbles was a baby, a baby, a baby, When Pebbles was a baby, She used to go like this: Wah wah!
When Pebbles was a toddler, a toddler, a toddler, when Pebbles was a toddler, She used to go like this: Wah wah, suck my thumb!
When Pebbles was a schoolgirl, a schoolgirl, a schoolgirl, when Pebbles was a schoolgirl, She used to go like this: Wah wah, suck my thumb, gimme a piece of bubble gum!
When Pebbles was a teenager, a teenager, a teenager when Pebbles was a teenager, She used to go like this: Wah wah, suck my thumb, gimme a piece of bubble gum, Ooh Ah lost my bra, left it in my boyfriend's car!
When Pebbles was a mother, a mother, a mother, when Pebbles was a mother, She used to go like this: Wah wah, suck my thumb, gimme a piece of bubble gum, Ooh Ah lost my bra, left it in my boyfriend's car, oh no my water broke!
When Pebbles was a grandma, a grandma, a grandma, When Pebbles was a grandma, She used to go like this: Wah wah, suck my thumb, gimme a piece of bubble gum, Ooh Ah lost my bra, left it in my boyfriend's car, oh no my water broke, What'd you say, I can't hear you!
When Pebbles had a heart attack, a heart attack, a heart attack, when Pebbles had a heart attack, She used to go like this: Wah wah, suck my thumb, gimme a piece of bubble gum, Ooh Ah lost my bra, left it in my boyfriend's car, oh no my water broke, What'd you say, I can't hear you, HELP ME, HELP ME!
When Pebbles was dead, dead, dead, When Pebbles was dead, She used to go like this: I'm dead!
- http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml ; assessed on 10/15/2008
****
WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY (Version #3)
its like this
when pebbles was a baby a baby she went like this wahh wahh
when pebbles was a toddler a toddler she wenr like this wahh wahh suck my thumb
when pebbles was a kid a kid she went like this wahh wahh suck my thumb give me a peice of bubblegum
when pebbles was a school girl a school she went like this waahh wahh suck my thumb give me a peice of bubblegum teach teacher i have to go the bathroom
when pebbles was a teenager a teenagers she went like this waahh wahh suck my thumb give me a piece of buble gum teacher teacher i ahve to go the bathroom uhh ohh i lost my bra must of left in my boyfrinds car
when pebbles was a mother a mother she went like this wahh wahh suck my thumb give me a pieceof bubblegum teacher teach i have to go the bathroom uhh oh i lost my bra must of left in my boyfreinds car brush your teeth comb your hair and dont forget clean underwear
when pebbles was a grandma she went like this wahh wahh suck my thumb give me a peice of bubble gum teacher teacher i ahve to go the bathtroom uhh ohh i lost my bra must of left in my boyfriends car brush your teeth comb your hair and dont forget clean underwear ahh wheres my cane wheres my cane
when pebbple went to heave was to heaven went like this wahh wahh suck my thumb give me a peice of bubble gum teacher teacher i ahve to go the bathroom uhh ohh i lost my bra must left in in my boyfriends car brush your teeth comb ur hair and dont forget clean underwhere ahh where my cane wheres my cane boo boo im dead and thats the end
the dead parts not right but that how i sang it does anyone now the teenager part cuz its not uhh ohh i lost my bra must of left in my boyfriends car parts not right i cant think of that part its something tottally different
-GUEST,kkdmtp2129; http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=56 "Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby"; February 20, 2010
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WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY (Version #4)
Well this a different version of pebbles this is how i used to play it
pebbles is a baby a baby a baby pebbles is a baby and she went like this :wah wah (act like your crying)
pebbles is a toddler a toddler a toddler pebbles is a toddler she went like this:wah wah (act like your crying),want my bottle (act like your sucking your thumb)
pebbles is a kid a kid a kid pebbles is a kid she went like this:wah wah(act like your crying),want my bottle(act like your sucking your thumb), tie my shoe (pretend to tie your shoe)
pebbles is a teenager a teenager a teenager pebbles is a teenager she went like this : wah wah (act like your crying),want my bottle(act like your sucking your thumb), tie my shoe(pretend to tie your shoe),ooo la la (shake your hips)
pebbles is a grownup a grownup a grownup pebbles is a grown up she went like this : wah wah (act like your crying),want my bottle(act like your sucking your thumb),tie my shoe(pretend to tie your shoe),ooo la la (shake your hips), kiss kiss(blow two kisses)
pebbles is married married married pebbles is married she went like this: wah wah(act like your crying),want my bottle(act like your sucking your thumb), tie my shoe(pretend to tie your shoe), ooo la la(shake your hips) ,kiss kiss(blow two kisses),go to your room (shake your finger as if your scolding someone)
pebbles is old old old pebbles is old she went like this:wah wah(act like your crying),want my bottle(act like your sucking your thumb)
,tie my shoe(pretend to tie your shoe),ooo la la(shake your hips), kiss kiss(blow two kisses),go to your room(shake your finger as if your scolding someone),ouch in my back(hold your back as if it hurts)
pebbles is dead dead dead dead pebble is dead she went like this:wah wah(act like your crying),want my bottle(act like your sucking your thumb)tie my shoe(pretend to tie your shoe),ooo la la (shake your hips),kiss kiss (blow two kisses),got to your room(shake your finger as if your scolding someone),ouch in my back(hold your back as if it hurts),FREEZE!!!(obviously FREEZE!!! the one who most lasts frozen wins)
PS: All the actions are done while you speak
-Guest Momo; Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=64; 5/25/2010
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WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY (Version #5)
a girl in the middle is pebbles
when pebbles was a baby a baby a baby when pebbles was a baby she used to go like this "wah wah"(rub eyes)
when pebbles was a kid a kid a kid when pebbles was a kid she used to go like this "tie my shoe"(lift shoe)
when pebbles was a teenager a teenager a teenager when pebbles was a teenager she used to go like this "ohhh ahh i left my bra in my boyfriends car he don't care i don't care at least i got his underwear"(cover chest with arms)
when pebbles was a mom a mom a mom she used to go like this"(smack hand)don't touch that"
when pebbles was a grandma a grandma a grandma she used to go like this "ooh my achin back"(hold back like old person)
when pebbles was an angel an angel an angel she used to go like this "o look at my pretty wings"(flap your hands like wings)
when pebbles was a devil a devil a devil she used to go like this(run around and chase group who ever is caught is pebbles next)
(instead of pebbles you could use the name of the girl in the middle)
-Guest?; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=69 Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby ; November 10, 2010
Editor: This version of "When Pebbles Was A Baby" is a circle game and not a hand clap game. However, for continuity, I'm posting it with the other examples of this rhyme instead of on the Cocojams game song & movement rhyme page.
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WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY (Version #6)
when pebbles was a baby a baby when pebbles was a baby she used to go like this: wahwah
when pebbles was a toddler a toddler when pebbles was a toddler she used to go like this: wahwah suck my thumb
when pebbles was a schoolgirl a schoolgirl when pebbles was a schoolgirl she used to go like this: wahwah suck my thumb gimme a piece of bubblegum
when pebbles was a teenager a teenage when pebbles was a teenager she used to go like this: wah wah suck my thumb gimme a peice of bubblegum ohh ahh i lost my bra left it in my boyfriends car
when pebbles was a mother a mother when pebbles was a mother she used to go like this: wahwah suck my thumb gimme a peice of bubblegum ooh ahh i lost my bra left it in my boy friends car honey its coming!
when pebbels was a grandma a grandma when pebbles was a grandma she used to go like this: wahwah suck my thumb gimme a peice of bubblegum ooh ahh i lost my bra left it in my boy friends car honey its coming!my boils need numing!
when pebbles had a heart attack a heart attack when pebbles had a heart attack she used to like this: wahwah suck my thumb gimme a peice of bubblegum ooh ahh i lost my bra left it in my boy friends car honey its coming! my boils need nummbing. HELP ME HELP ME!
when pebbles was dead was dead when pebbles was dead she used to go like this: im dead
- Icepop ; http://roughdraft.typepad.com/dotmoms/2004/05/theres_a_song_i.html ;May 03, 2009
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WHEN MISS SUZIE WAS A BABY (Version #1)
when miss suzie was a baby a baby a baby when miss suzie was a baby she went like this weh weh
when miss suzie was a toddler a toddler a toddler when miss suzie was a toddler she went like this weh weh gimme a sucker
when miss suzie was a child a child a child when miss suzie was a child she went like this weh weh gimme a sucker mommy mommy tie my shoe
when miss suzie was a teenager a teenager a teenager when miss suzie was a teenager she went like this weh weh gimme a sucker, mommy tie my shoe, ooh aah I lost my bra I think I left it in my boyfriend's car
when miss suzie was a parent a parent a parent when miss suzie a parent she went like this weh weh gimme a sucker, mommy mommy tie my shoe, ooh aah i lost my bra I think I left it in my boyfriend's car, shut up kids im on the phone im tryin to get your father home:
when miss suzie was grandma a grandma a grandma when miss suzie was a grandma she went like this weh weh gimme a sucker, mommy mommy tie my shoe, ooh aah i lost my bra i think i left it in my boyfriend's car, shut up i'm on the on the phone tryin to get your father home, cane cane where's my cane i need my cane where's my cane
when miss suzie was in heaven in heaven in heaven when miss suzie was in heaven she went like this weh weh gimme a sucker, mommy mommy tie my shoe, ooh aah i lost my bra i think i left it in my boyfriend's, car shut up kids im on the phone tryin to get your father home, cane cane where's my cane i need my cane where's my cane, look at my beautiful halo and shiny dress.
-http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml; assessed on 10/15/2008
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WHEN SUZIE WAS A BABY (Version #2)
From what I remember it was:
Whan miss Suzy was a baby a baby a baby when miss suzy was a baby shw went like this, waa waa
Whan miss suzy was a toddler a toddler a toddler when miss suzy was a toddler she went like this, waa waa, tie my shoe.
It continued untill it ended up like this:
Baby: waa waa
Toddler: tie my shoe
Child: give me back my dollie
Teenager: Oh Ah lost my bra in my boyfriends car
Adult: Hey girls look at my ring
Mother: Rock a bye baby
Grandmother: Oh my achy breaky back
Then me and my friend's added on verses that we liked
Dead: I'm flying I'm flying
Ghost: I'm invisable
At the end we say: I'm back!
- Guest http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=56 "Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby"; January 29, 2010
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WHEN SUZIE WAS A BABY (Version #3)
Man, the way y'all remember it was somewhat different than when I did it.
When Ms Susie was a:
Baby she went like this: Wah Wah
Toddler she went like this: Tie my shoe
Kid she went like this: Gimme cookie
Teenager she went like this: Oh dear! Oh my! I left my bra in my boyfriend's car. It's not here, it's not there...I think I lost my underwear!
Mother she went like this: Go to your room!
Grandma she went like this: I'm still young at heart!
Dead she went like this: -Silence-
Angel she went like this: I can fly!
Devil she went like this: It's hot in here!
And thats all.
-Guest Marie; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=66 ; Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby; March 29, 2010
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WHEN MISS SUZIE WAS A BABY (Version #4)
When miss suzie was a baby, a baby, a baby, when miss suzie was a baby she went like this waa waa give me a cookie
When miss suzie was a kid, a kid, a kid, when miss suzie was a kid she went like this
waa waa give me a cookie, tie my shoe
When miss suzie was a teen, a teen, a teen, when miss suzie was a teen she went like this
waa waa give me a cookie, tie my shoe, ooh ahh lost my bra must've left it in my boyfriend's car
When miss suzie was a mom, a mom, a mom, when miss suzie was a mom she went like this
waa waa give me a cookie, tie my shoe ooh ahh lost my bra must've left it in my boyfriend's car, go upstairs and clean your room dont come down till the afternoon
When miss suzie was a grandma, a grandma, a grandma, when miss suzie was a grandma she went like this
waa waa give me a cookie, tie my shoe ooh ahh lost my bra must've left it in my boyfriend's car, go upstairs and clean your room dont come down till the afternoon, hello sonny hello sonny hello sonny
When miss suzie was an angel, an angel, an angel, when miss suzie was an angel she went like this
waa waa give me a cookie, tie my shoe ooh ahh lost my bra must've left it in my boyfriend's car, go upstairs and clean your room dont come down till the afternoon, hello sonny hello sonny hello sonny, HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH!!
-Guest Person; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=66 ; Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby; August 1, 2010
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WHEN MISS SUZIE WAS A BABY (Version #6)
UK 90's version.
When Susie was a baby, a baby Susie was she went a 'goo-gah a goo-goo-gah!'
When Susie was a school girl, a school Susie was she went a 'Miss, Miss I can't do this I got my nickers in a great big twist.
When Susie was a teenager, a teenager Susie was she went a 'Ooh ahh I lost my bra in my boyfriends car- his car is black his car is white, I left it there on a Saturday night.
When Susie was a mother, a mother Susie was she went a rock a rock arock around the clock! (Rock arms and spin in a circle)
Ect. the other verses are like the previous posted other than susie being a ghost instead of going to hell.
-Guest Rachel ;
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=66 ; Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby; August 15, 2010
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WHEN MISS SUZIE WAS A BABY (Version #7)
When Miss Suzie was a baby, a baby, a baby... when Miss Suzie was a baby she went like this: wah wah.
When Miss Suzie was a kid, a kid, a kid... when Miss Suzie was a kid she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker!
When Miss Suzie was a teenager, a teenager, a teenager... when Miss Suzie was a teenager she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker, oooh lala lost my bra.
When Miss Suzie was a mother, a mother, a mother... when Miss Suzie was a mother she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker, oooh lala lost my bra, shh baby's sleeping.
When Miss Suzie was a grandma, a grandma, a grandma... when Miss Suzie was a grandma she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker, oooh lala lost my bra, shh baby's sleeping, ack my aching back.
When Miss Suzie was a ghost, a ghost, a ghost... when Miss Suzie was a ghost she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker, oooh lala lost my bra, shh baby's sleeping, ack my aching back, boo BOO!
When Miss Suzie was a devil, a devil, a devil... when miss Suzie was a devil she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker, oooh lala lost my bra, shh baby's sleeping, ack my aching back, boo boo, pointy horns to poke your eye.
When Miss Suzie was a angel, a angel, a angel... when Miss Suzie was a angel she went like this: wah wah, gimmie sucker, oooh lala lost my bra, shh baby's sleeping, ack my aching back, boo boo, pointy horns to poke your eye, on wings I fly! ... ... ... ... FINALLY!
(Clapping through the whole thing but actions to mimic what she says.
Balled fists for wah wah. Hand out to get lollipop for gimmie sucker. Crossed arms over chets for oooh lala lost my bra. Finger on lips to shh for shh baby's sleeping. Grabbing a hand at your lower back and bending forward for ack my aching back. Surprise hands for boo boo. Places hand on top of head with pointy fingers out as horns for pointy horns to poke your eye. And lastly hands on your shoulders and wave for wings for on wings I fly.)
-Guest, Leigh - Edmonton, Alberta [Canada] ; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480&messages=77 ; Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby; 1/30/2012
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ADDITIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMPLES OF HANDCLAP, JUMP ROPE, AND ELASTIC VIDEOS:
Multiple Person Handclap (USA?)
Hand-clap games
stepheel23' April 16, 2007
"I got pretty good, but I am pretty sure I was the one slowing the kids down".
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Elastic Game With The NZ (New Zealand) Girls
topgun2311; March 24, 2008
"Elastic Game With Janna, Annie, Rachel and Dugald"
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Chinese Jump Rope
mizflipster
July 01, 2008
"Dan, John, Lisa, & Kriz play chinese jump rope
Editor: Warning! Playing this game can be dangerous.
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Jamaican Handclap Game
Posed by edntiri ; May 11, 2007
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Australian Girls Handclap
Posted by bodgiefahey; November 12, 2006
"australian girls clapping song more at http://www.warrenfahey.com"
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