List Of African American "Call The Doctor" Songs & Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post lists the titles of from a number of African American songs & rhymes that includes lines that include or allude to having sent for or called for a doctor because of malnutrition, or because of a stomach ache not related to malnutrition, or because of an accident or an injury. These examples are given in those specific sub-categories along with excerpts of their verses and the publication date of that particular example.

Enter the song name in the pancocojams search engine to find the specific pancocojams post or posts about a particular song or rhyme in this list or click the tags underneath this post for additional pancocojams posts about this subject.

For the most part, I've retained the dialectic English that was used in some of these examples, although I strongly believe that those songs or rhymes shouldn't be sung that way now. However, I've substituted "the n word" for the referent for Black people that was fully spelled out in some of those examples.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to those unknown people who composed these songs. Thanks also to the collectors of this song, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

DISCLAIMER: This doesn't purport to be a complete listing of all the songs in this category. Please suggest other titles in the comment section of this post.

By "African American" songs and rhymes, I mean those compositions that are particularly known to have been sung or chanted by African Americans, although non-African Americans may also have sung or chanted them.

I don't claim that all of the songs and rhymes in this list were originally composed by African Americans, or that all of the later versions of those songs and rhymes were composed by African Americans. To be clear, I recognize that some of the songs and rhymes that are featured in the 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes by the African American collector Thomas W. Talley and the 1925 book On The Trail Of Negro Folk Rhymes by Anglo-American collector Dorothy Scarborough were originally composed by White people. Both of those collections document songs and rhymes that were sung or chanted by African Americans in their original form or in slightly or heavily revised forms. However, the source songs for those particular songs & rhymes may have been composed by Anglo-Americans. In the case of many 19th century black-faced minstrel songs, although those songs are credited to one or more White composers, it's sometimes difficult to tell if those named composers had originally lifted portions of those songs from Black persons, on or off the plantation.

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SUB-CATEGORY #1: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF MALNUTRITION
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their publication dates, with the earliest known examples given first.

Example #1: Shortnin Bread
"Three lil [the n word plural]
lyin in bed
Two wus sick
An t'other 'most dead
Sent fo' de doctor
An' de doctor said
"Give dem [the n word plural]
Some short'nin' bread!"

Source of excerpt: Dorothy Scarborough, editor, On The Trail Of Negro Folk Songs, originally published in 1925

****
Example #2: Pork Chop Blues
"I went to the doctor, the doctor said, “Boy, what’s the matter with you?
That doctor looked around at me: I said “Doctor, what I need?”

The doctor shook his head and said
“You need the pork chop poultice an’ the stew an’
veg. in’ your stomach three times a day."

Source of excerpt: Sam Collins - "Pork Chop Blues" record, 1927

****
Example #3: Pork Chop Blues
"Doctor Haigh came into the front of my bus, an' set down on my wheel*
An' just about the time when mother walked in, this is what he said.
You need some pork chop poultice an' some pork n' beans, good greasy [in your] stomach three times a day"

Source of excerpt: The Two Charlies- "Pork Chop Blues" record, 1936

****
SUB-CATEGORY #2: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF A STOMACH ACHE NOT RELATED TO MALNUTRITION
Example #1:
"Grandma Grandma sick in bed
Called the doctor and the doctor said
Get up Grandma! You ain't sick
All you need is a hickory stick"

Source: floating verse in various playground rhymes
-snip-
In this rhyme the grandmother is being accused of faking her illness. Because the wood was hard, branches from hickory trees were often used to beat people. Some later versions of this rhyme substitute "peppermint stick" for "hickory stick".
This example may also belong in the List #1 (Malnutrition) category.

****
Example #2:
"Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!

Source: playground rhyme: "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store"
-snip-
I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.

****
SUB-CATEGORY #3: "CALL THE DOCTOR" BECAUSE OF AN ACCIDENT OR AN INJURY
Example #1:
Dey sent fer de Doctah
An' de Doctah he come.
He come in a hurry,
He come in a run.
He come wid his instriments
Right in his han',
To progue an' find
Dat forty-fō', Man!

Source of excerpt: Song entitled "Forty Four" in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes originally published in 1922.

****
Example #2:
"Miss Lucy called the doctor.
Miss Lucy called the nurse.
Miss Lucy called the lady
with the alligator purse."

Source: playground rhyme "Miss Lucy* Had A Baby"
*(or some other female name)
-snip-
I strongly suspect that this rhyme referred to formal and informal health care people's treatment of Diptheria (i.e. the reference in many of those rhymes to "bubble in his throat".) Click for my comments about that theory.

however, since the doctor was ostensibly called because the baby tried to eat the bathtub, this example could also be placed in sub-category #3.

****
Example #2:
"Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!

Source: playground rhyme: "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" [The girl ate too much candy]
-snip-
I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.

Dey sent fer de Doctah
An' de Doctah he come.
He come in a hurry,
He come in a run.
He come wid his instriments
Right in his han',
To progue an' find
Dat forty-fō', Man!

****
Editorial Comment:
The children's chant "Five Little Monkeys" (jumping on the bed) might be included in Category #3 as the doctor was called because the monkeys fell off the bed. However, I don't believe that "Five Little Monkeys" is particularly known to be sung or performed by African Americans. But early versions of the chant that is now known as "Five Little Monkeys" used the "n word" plural or "darkies" as referents for Black people instead of the word "monkey". And "monkey" itself is a word which has also been used in the past and the present as an offensive referent for Black people.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-racist-roots-of-five-little-monkeys.html for a post on "The Racist Roots Of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed".

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Examples of "I've Never Been To College" & "I've Never Been To Frisco" Verses in Children's Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents examples of and commentary about the "I've never been to college" verse in children's rhymes. Alternative forms of that verse begin with the line "Ain't never been to college" or "Ain't never been to 'Frisco" (I've never been to Frisco").

The content of this post is provided for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured on these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.

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STANDARD FORM OF THIS RHYME
"I've never been to college" is the first line of a verse that appears at or near the end of a number of African American originated children's rhymes. The standard lines to this rhyme are

Ain't never been to college (or "I've never been to college)
Ain't never been to school (or "I've never been to school)
But when it comes to boogie (or "Boogie Woogie")
I'm an educated fool (or "I can boogie like a fool" or a similar line)

-snip-
"Boogie" = dancing
"Boogie Woogie" is a style of fast paced partner dancing similar if not the same as the (Lindy Hop/Swing dancing of the late 1920s) and the fast dancing of the 1950s.

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SPECULATIVE SOURCE
My guess is that this verse is an adaptation of the 19th century song "Old Jesse" which was collected by the Anglo American folklorist Dorothy Scarborough and included in her 1925 book On The Trail Of Negro Folk Songs (pp 71-72). Here's that song (presented with explanations given in parenthesis). Note: That book spells out what is now known as "the n word". For the purposes of this post I've written that word as "N__".

Chorus:
Old Jesse was a gemman {gentleman}
Among de olden times.

Verse 2
N__ never went to free school,
Nor any odder college.
An' all de white folks wonder whar
Dat N_ got his knowledge.
He chawed {chewed} up all de Bible.
An' den spat out de Scripter,
An' when he 'gin {begin} to arger {argue} strong,
He were a snortin' ripter!
-snip-
According to Dorothy Scarborough, the song "Ole Jesse" is from Alabama. This song shouldn't be confused with another traditional African American plantation song entitled "Uncle Jesse."

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CHRONOLOGICAL EXAMPLES (The featured lines of this verse are given in italics.)
1952, New York City
This verse was included in a review of the vinyl album 1, 2, 3 and a Zing, Zing, Zing, although the rhyme itself wasn't identified in that review:
"While conducting research in his hometown of New York during the summer and fall of 1952, [Tony] Schwartz compiled a large number of recordings in west Midtown Manhattan (his particular subject area was two blocks wide and 20 blocks long)...Since children from diverse cultural backgrounds are sampled, a wide variety of songs and games are presented to the listener. From clapping games played by children between the ages of eight and 12 to camp songs sung at a housing project by preteen youngsters, the breadth of these recordings is definitely broad and the words are certainly entertaining. For example, one young girl rattles off the following passage with a relaxed and swinging lilt: "I never went to college, I never went to school, but when it comes to boogie I'm the educated fool."
http://www.allmusic.com/album/1-2-3-and-a-zing-zing-zing-street-songs-games-of-the-children-of-new-york-city-mw0001162154

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1950s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [African American girl Barbara Ray, collected by Azizi Powell, 1998]
AUNT JENNY DIED
Soloist:
Aunt Jenny died. .
Group:
How did she die?
Soloist:
She died like this. [The soloist makes a funny pose such as raising one of her legs and raising her arm at the same time & freezing in place.]
Group:
She died like this. [The group tries to exactly imitate the soloist's pose]
Soloist:
She died like that. [The soloist strikes a new pose]
Group:
She died like that.
[The group tries to exactly imitate the soloist's pose. The soloist and the group repeat the same sequence with the mention of other relatives until "momma" is mentioned]
Soloist:
My momma livin'.
Group:
Where she livin'.
Soloist & group in unison:
Well she lives in a place called Tennessee.
Jump up Tenna Tennessee [The entire group performs the movements as indicated by the words]
Jump back Tena Tennesse
Jump in Tena Tennesse
Jump out Tena Tennessee
Well, I've never been to college
I never been to school.
But when it comes to boogie [On the word "boogie", while still standing in place, the entire group does a hip shaking dance movement; Participants don't have to do the exact same movement]
I can boogie like a fool.
You go in, out, side to side.
You go in, out, side to side.
-snip-
I collected this rhyme from Barbara Ray as part of her response to a voluntary, written survey on children's rhymes that I conducted with fellow staff at my [then] work site. Barbara wrote that girls stood in a circle or semi-circle while chanting this "song". She later performed "Aunt Jenny Died" for me during a break at our work site.

For what it's worth, I don't have any memory of this rhyme from my childhood in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1950s.

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1973 Pointers Sisters, children's rhyme as a preface to the Jump Blues song "Wang Dang Doodle"

Walkin down the alley alley alley
Shakin your jelly jelly jelly
swingin your partner partner partner
Ladies and gentlemen
Children too
These brown babies gonna boogie for you
We gonna turn around
We gonna touch the ground
We gonna step back, and step back, and
boogie on down.
Hands up, ah cha cha chacha
Sam boom! Ah cha cha cha cha
To the front
To the back
To the side side side
To the front
To the back
To the side side side
I never went to college
I never went to school
But when I came back
I was an educated fool

This rendition continues with the "Sams Boom!" lines chanted faster and faster. The group then began singing the "Wang Dang Doodle song. Here's that video:

The Pointer Sisters: Wang Dang Doodle



SafariCreations, Uploaded on May 22, 2009
-snip-
"Wang Dang Doodle" begins at 1:32 of this video. The children's playground rhyme that the Pointer Sisters chanted is a version of "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Too".

An adapted United Kingdom version of the "Ladies and Gentlemen, Children Too" rhymes is found at http://www.skip-hop.co.uk/dancing-and-movement-skipping-rhymes-c91.html. Here's that version of that rhyme with no date given :
Lord and ladies
Children too
This young lady will dance for you.
She is going to turn around.
She is going to touch the ground.
She’s going to boogie woogie
Till her drawers fall down.
She never went to college
She never went to school.
And now she’s back
She is a nasty fool.

****
1973 from Shimmy Shimmy Coke-Ca-Pop! by John Langstaff & Carol Langstaff(Doubleday & Company, Inc.,) p. 15

Oh, you never went to college,
You never went to school.
But when it's time to boogie,
You can boogie like a fool!

****
1980, vinyl record Afro-American Tales & Games Told by Linda Gross, Traveling Storyteller
http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW77865.pdf

Chitty, chitty, bang bang
I can do karate
Chitty. Chitty, bang bang
I can shake my body
Chitty. Chitty, bang bang
I can shoot somebody*
Chitty. Chitty, bang bang
Oops, I can shoot somebody

Aunt Dinah died
How did she die?
She died like this (repeat)
Aunt Dinah died
How did she die?
She died like this (repeat)
Aunt Dinah living!
Where she living?

Oh she living in a country called Tennessee
She wears short short dresses
up above her knees
She shakes that shimmy where ever she goes

Hands up, tootsie, tootsie, tootsie
Hands down- tootsie, tootsie, tootsie
Turn around tootsie, tootsie, tootsie
Touch the ground tootsie, tootsie, tootsie

Now I never went to college
And I never went to school
But when it comes to boogie
I can boogie like a fool
To the front to the back to the side side side (repeat)

*I heard this line as “I can hurt somebody” in Pittsburgh area around 2001-2005
On “oops I’m sorry” the partners try to flick each other on the forehead. That line is followed by “I can tell my mommy”.

Although these rhymes are given as one rhyme, they may be recited as independent separate rhymes.

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1987 Step it Down: Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage
by Bessie Jones, Bess Lomax Hawes , p. 31, p. 32 (available on Google Books)
Head and Shoulders Baby
Head and shoulders baby; 1-2-3
Head and shoulders baby; 1-2-3
Head and shoulders baby
Head and shoulders baby
Head and shoulders baby.
Head and shoulders baby; 1-2-3
I ain’t been to Frisco
I ain’t been to school
I ain’t been to college
But I ain’t no fool
To the front
To the back
To the side side side
To the front
To the back
To the side side side
-snip-
Additional verses following the same pattern:
Milk the cow...

Throw the ball...
-snip-
I believe that the very similar verse beginning with the line "I've never been to Frisco" is a variant later form of the "I've Never Been To College" verse. As of this date, I've only found "I've never been to Frisco" verse in versions of the African American originated children's movement song "Head And Shoulders Baby".
"Frisco' = San Francisco (California)
-snip-
Here's an example of this rhyme performed by an adult elementary education class:

Head and Shoulders Baby



Vincent Bates, Uploaded on Apr 1, 2011
-snip-
Directions for playing as a partner hand game [hand clap game]
"Cross R on 1
Cross L on 2
Cross R on 3
Jump front on “front”
Jump back on “back”
Jump right left right (both feet) on “side side side”
-snip-
Milk the cow = perform an up and down tugging motion with both hands held up in front of your body

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RELATED LINKS
Additional examples of the "I've Never Been To College" verse can be found in these pancocojams blog posts:
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/05/ladies-and-gentlemen-children-too.html for information about and examples of that playground rhyme

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/08/aunt-jenny-died-childrens-playground.html

and
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/front-back-side-to-side-in-childrens.html

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Bill Cosby Show Hand Clap Segment (I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases an episode of the Bill Cosby Show in which twin girls perform a hand clap routine of the rhyme "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store". The words to that version of this rhyme is also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: the Cosby Show S01E22 Slumber party



King Bob, Published on May 22, 2014

Slumber Party

Rudy invites all of her friends over for a slumber party...
-snip-
Twin girls perform “I met my boyfriend at the candy store” hand clap rhyme beginning at 10:33 to 13:08

Trivia:
Singer Alicia Keys with very short hair appears is in this episode. She's one of the girls at Rudy’s slumber party.

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Here are the words to that version of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store":

Uno, dos, siesta*
I said a-east, a-west
I met my boyfriend at the candy store
He bought me ice cream, he bought me cake
He brought me home with a belly ache
Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
-Kyle Bryant & Dana Bryant ; (performing hand clap game on Season 1, Episode 22 of The Cosby Show; 1984; The Slumber Party, transcription from http://www.tv.com/the-cosby-show/slumber-party/episode/6816/summary.html

*"Uno, dos, siesta" is a folk etymology form of "uno dos tres" (Spanish for "one, two, three". "Siesta" is a Spanish word that means "nap" in English). "Folk etymology" occurs another word or phrase is substituted for another word or phrase because of misremembering, misunderstanding, or as an attempt to make sense out of an unfamiliar word or phrase.

I've heard girls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania say "I'm alive/and on channel 5" (although there is no actual channel 5 Pittsburgh television station.) Another relatively common ending for this rhyme that I've seen online is "6,7,8,9, 10/ I'm dead again".

Click this page of my cocojams.com cultural blog for more examples of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store": http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes

Note that this e was also performed as a jump rope rhyme. It seems to me that by at least the late 1960s in the United States most jump rope rhymes had converted to hand clap rhymes. I think part of the reason for this is that people stopped hanging clothes outside to dry. Girls used portions of those clothes lines for jumping rope (individual or group jumping), and with the increased use of clothes dryers, there were fewer jump ropes. In contrast, no equipment is needed to play hand clap games, and they can be played anywhere.

I disagree with those who think that this rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. Instead, I believe that the girl stomach hurt because she ate too much candy and other sweets.

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ADDENDUM
Here's a video of girls from Liberia, West Africa in a Ghanaian refugee camp performing "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store":

Three African Clapping Games from Liberia - Africa Heartwood Project



HeartwoodAfrica, Uploaded on Aug 9, 2011

Here is a collection of three Liberian clapping games performed by the children we support in our Refugee Orphan Home at Buduburam in Ghana, West Africa. Try them for yourself! The children are speaking traditional Liberian Pidgin-English which they commonly refer to as Coloqwa (KOH-loh-kwah).

-snip-
Here's comments about this rhyme from the video's uploader:

Clapping Game #2 (1:02-1:28):
Title: Oh Mama
Performed by: Felicia & Victoria; Promise & Jackerline; Temoh & Princess)
(We are going "cera", in "cera", in "cera" - used to establish the rhythm)
Oh Mama, Mama!
Oh Papa, the war!
The war has make in the Burkina Faso.
I say East, the West.
I met my boyfriend in the ice cream shop.
He bought me ice cream on my wedding day.
Mama, Mama. I'm so sick.
Take me to the doctor, shall be quick quick quick.
Shall be quick quick quick.
Doctor, doctor. Will I die?
No my dear, you will live forever more.
Forever more!
-snip-
I'm assuming that staff or volunteers from the USA taught this rhyme to these children. Americans visiting, volunteering, or working in other nations is one way that playground rhymes are spread throughout the world. However, notice how the beginning portion of this rhyme is changed to reflect the children's circumstances. It's interesting that the West African nation of Burkina Faso is mentioned and not Liberia. I wonder if there are refugees from that nation in that camp as well as refugees from Liberia.

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Examples of "Hollywood Swinging" Hand Clap Rhymes From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents four text examples of "Hollywood Swinging" hand clap rhymes that I collected between 1998-2008 from African American girls (ages 7-12 years) in various sections of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These examples demonstrate how different textual versions of a rhyme or cheer may be chanted during the same period of time within the same city. The content of this post also demonstrates how the words of a rhyme performance activity for a rhyme or cheer can change over a period of time, and how the performance activity of a rhyme or cheer can also change over a period of time.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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WHAT "SWINGING" MEANS IN THE CONTEXT OF THESE 'HOLLYWOOD SWINGING" PLAYGROUND RHYMES
In my opinion, the word "swinging" in "Hollywood Swinging" rhymes means that there is always something going on (always some fun thing to do) in Hollywood. "Hollywood" refers to the "famous district in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is prominent for its place as the home of the entertainment industry, including several of its historic studios. Its name has come to represent the motion picture industry of the United States. Hollywood is also a highly ethnically diverse, densely populated, economically diverse neighborhood and retail business district. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS RHYME
The earliest example of "Hollywood Swingin" rhymes that I've found is included in the 1978 vinyl record "Old Mother Hippletoe, Rural and Urban Children's Songs. That example, titled "Hollywood Now Swinging" and combined with another rhyme entitled "Dynomite" was collected in 1976 by Kate Rinzler from "Washington DC school girls"* in 1976. It's significant that Rinzler made no mention of these girls doing hand clap routines while performing this and several other rhymes. Instead,
Rinzler wrote that the girls "imitating cheerleaders" who they had seen on television during the Olympics by doing dance and acrobatic movements.

Another early example of a "Hollywood Swingin" playground rhyme is found in the 1983 book Apples On A Stick: The Folklore of Black Children" bu Barbara Michels, Bettye White, editors (Coward-McCann, Inc, 1983; p.14). The editors indicated that they collected the rhyme examples included in that book from school children in Houston, Texas. However, no performance activities for those rhyme was given in that book.

The examples of this rhyme that are mentioned above can be found on this page of my cocojams website: http://www.cocojams.com/content/foot-stomping-cheers-0.

Examples of "Hollywood Swinging" hand clap rhymes can be found below. Additional hand clap examples of that rhyme can be found on this cocojams page: http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes

*Given the racial composition of Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s, it's reasonable to assume that these "Washington D.C." school girls were African American.

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PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY
All of the examples of this rhyme that I've found are performed as hand clap partner routines. However, I recall an early version of that rhyme [the same as Example #1 below] being performed as a foot stomping cheer*. In my opinion, the textual structure of certain "Hollywood Swinging" rhymes in which the words are voiced by one person at a time reflect that hand clap rhyme's foot stomping cheer origin. The group/soloist call & response style of those "Hollywood Swinging" hand clap rhymes contrast with the unison voice that is found in almost all other hand clap rhymes.

*"Foot stomping cheer" is the term that I coined in 1999 as a referent for an informal recreational activity that may be considered a sub-set of cheerleader cheers. "Foot stomping" ("doing stomps" or "doing steps") is characterized by two or more children (usually girls between the ages of 6-12 years old) chanting a distinctive textually structure of cheer in which the group voice is heard first, and is followed by a soloist. The cheer is repeated from the beginning with a new soloist until every member of the group has the same [equal length] turn as the soloist. The chanters perform synchronized, choreographed routines that emphasize the creation of bass sounding foot stomps. The stomping routine is performed in a metronome like manner throughout the entire cheer. Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/foot-stomping-cheers-0 for information about foot stomping cheers.

Note that I've not collected playground rhymes in person since 2008. I'm not sure if any foot stomping rhyme is still performed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or in any other community.

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RHYME SOURCES
The core lines of these rhymes [Hollywood swingin/Hollywood swingin"] have their source in the 1973/1974 R&B/Funk record "Hollywood Swingin" by Kool & The Gang. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Swinging for information about that song. Also, find a sound file of that Kool & The Gang record below.

The taunting/braggadocio line "if you see me walkin down the street/you better speak" that is included in Example #1 of "Hollywood Swingin" below is similar to these lines from the 1966 hit R&B record "Cool Jerk" which was originally performed by The Capitols: "when they see me walkin down the street/when the fellows they want to speak". This line has been misquoted in a number of online lyric pages.

Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Jerk">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Jerk for information about the song "Cool Jerk". Also, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27PydomerjM for a sound file of "Cool Jerk" by the Capitols. A pancocojams post about the song "Cool Jerk" and the dance "the Jerk" will be published ASAP.

Another example of the "if you see me walking down the street" line is found in versions of the rhyme/song "She's My One Black Two Black".

The song "She's My One Black Two Black" is based on an early (1928) Jazz tune "Chocolate To The Bone". However, the "if you see my girl walking down the street/you better leave my girl alone" lines aren't a part of that song. I'm not sure when "One Black Two Black" was made into a rhyme or whether was a part of the earliest versions of that rhyme. And I'm not sure where the walkin down the street" lines originally came from.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/examples-of-rhymesong-shes-my-one-black.html for more information and examples of "She's My One Black Two Black" rhymes.

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FREATURED VIDEO EXAMPLE

Hollywood Swinging - Kool & The Gang (1973)



djbuddyloveoldschool, Uploaded on Sep 2, 2010

"Hollywood Swinging" was a song by R&B/funk band Kool & The Gang from their 1973 album "Wild And Peaceful". The song became their first number one R&B single, reaching that position in June of 1974. It proved to also be a successful crossover hit, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart...
-snip-
Unfortunately, to date, I've not found any video performances of the playground rhyme "Hollywood Swingin".

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FEATURED TEXT EXAMPLES OF "HOLLYWOOD SWINGING" (FROM PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA)
These examples are posted in chronological order based on their collection date (by Azizi Powell) with the earliest collected examples given first. All of these examples are hand clap rhymes.

Example #1: HOLLYWOOD GOES SWINGIN'
[Both girls]
Hollywood.
Hollywood.
Hollywood goes swingin.
Hollywood goes SWINGIN.
Swingin for the good times.
Swingin for the bad times.
[One girl]
My name is Teneisha
and I’m number 9.
I’m kickin it with Ginuwine.*
If you ever see me on the street,
you better speak.
“Long time, no see.”
Sexy as I wanna be.
Some hittin me high.
Some hittin me low.
Some hittin me in my-
Don’t ask what.
My b u t t b u t t butt.
That’s what.
-Teneisha (10 years) and Antoinette (11 years) (African American females, East Hills section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1998; collected by Azizi Powell, 1998
Editor:
* Kickin it" means "relaxing with" ; "hangin" with (socializing with).

"Ginuwine" is a popular young African R&B singer. Three other late 1990s variations of this line that I have heard are “Kickin it with Busta Rhymes" (the name of a popular male Hip-Hop star) “Kickin it with Scooby Doo (the name of a canine cartoon figure) and “Kickin it with Winnie the Poo” (the name of a fictitious bear in children's stories).

The lines "If you ever see me on the street/you better speak" is taunting/braggadocio statement that the presence of that girl should be acknowledged by all those who see her. "Long time, no see” is a common saying that African Americans (and other Americans) use when greeting a person. The line "sexy as I wanna be" isn't something that a person would say out loud. Instead, I believe that that line just reflects why the chanter believes that she is worthy of attention from people walking down the street. That line can be interpreted to mean "I'm real sexy".

I was surprised to see this rhyme performed as a hand clap routine as I had previously seen it performed as a foot stomping cheer. Those two girls don’t remember that “Hollywood Goes Swinging” ever being performed as a foot stomping cheer. As a matter of fact, no one I've asked remembers that rhyme being performed as a cheer. That includes my daughter who is the source of most of the mid 1980s foot stomping cheers that I've collected, and who has a very clear memory of those other foot stomping cheers. But she only vaguely remembers "Hollywood Goes Swingin" being performed as a foot stomping cheer. However, apart from the performance of the earliest example of that rhyme that I've found (the 1978 Mother Hippletoe record) being described as "girls imitating cheerleaders", it seems to me that the foot stomping roots of "Hollywood Swinging" rhymes are evident in the fact that some of its lines are recited by one person at a time. In contrast, hand clap rhymes almost always recited in unison. In the case of this example of "Hollywood Swinging", the first girl says most of the rhyme while she and the other girl does hand clap routine. The girls then repeat the rhyme with the other girl saying the same words or slightly different words.

I asked Teneisha and Antoinette if they ever chanted "Hollywood Swinging" while doing foot stomps. They weren't sure what "foot stomping" meant so my daughter who was part of the game song program that I'm conducted demonstrated how to do the steppin performance that I call "foot stomps". The girls said that they didn't ever "do" "Hollywood Swingin" that way and they had never seeing anyone else perform that rhyme in any way other than as a hand clap game.

For the record, my daughter lived and I still live in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is very close to the Garfield section of that city.

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Example #2: HOLLYWOOD GOES SWINGIN' (fragment)
Hollywood
Hollywood
Hollywood goes swingin
Hollywood goes __ swingin
Swingin for Northside.
Swingin for the Eastside.
My name is Rita.
I'm Number 9
Going down Chicago line.
If you see me on the street
You better speak
[I'm uncertain about the next words that were spoken]
Hey hey, you think you cool.
Hey hey, cool enough to rule your school.
Hey hey, you think you bad.
Bad enough to [didn't remember the rest of the words to this rhyme]
-African American girls and boys; Northview Heights Buddy Program, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1999; collected by Azizi Powell

Editor:
This rhyme was performed as a two person hand clap routine. The girls who shared this rhyme said that the line might be "Hollywood keeps swingin". The dash means to pause one beat. The girls said that in another version of "Hollywood Goes Swingin" they say "swingin for the good times /swingin for the bad times/ swingin every time".

"Northview Heights" is a sub-section of the Northside section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The term "Eastside" wasn't used then and is still not used now to refer to a section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The "East Hills section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is about 40 minutes by car from the Northview Heights section of that city.

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Example #3: HOLLYWOOD GOES SWINGIN' (fragment)
Hollywood (clap clap clap)
Hollywood (clap clap clap)
Hollywood goes swingin.
My name is Shanika.
I'll bust it out.
I'll party to the left
I'll party to the right.
I'll party all night.
I'll party all day.
My name is Sandra.
I'm number one [don't remember the rest]
I'm busting all day.
I'm busting all night.
She's busting to the left.
She's busting to the right.
-Shanika and Sandra (African American females, under 11 years old) ; Garfield section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; November 1, 2000; collected by Azizi Powell, November 1, 2000

The Garfield section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is located in the East end part of that city. That section is approximately 25 minutes by car from East Hills, and approximately 40 minutes by car from Northview Heights. It should also be noted that the Garfield and East Hills section of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are separated from Northview Heights by a river, highway, and two bridges.
-snip-
"Busting" and "bust it out" here means something like "moving forward or doing something (like dancing) with a lot of swagger and confidence".

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HOLLYWOOD GOES SWINGIN' (Version #4)
Both girls:
Hollywood, Hollywood
Hollywood goes swingin
Partner #1:
My name is Raya and I'm number 2
Kickin it with Scooby Doo
Hit me high
Hit me low
Hit me where you wanna go.
Repeat the entire rhyme with the partner #1 saying the lines that partner #1 said, but substitute her name or nickname and (preferably) change the number rhyme
-ConRaya E. (11 years); Sha'Ona K. (11 years); African American girls; Garfield section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 12, 2008
-snip-
"Scooby Doo" is a cartoon dog.

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Thanks to Kool & The Gang for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome

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Black Sorority Members' Memories Of Children's Risque Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post is Part I of a series on risqué playground rhymes and bawdy nursery rhymes.

Part I contains selected examples of "old school" playground rhymes & cheers from a 2003 Greekchat.com discussion thread.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/childrens-risque-rhymes-nasty-nursery.html for Part II of this post.

Part II contains selected examples from a Mudcat Folk music discussion thread on "Nasty Nursery Rhymes". The selected examples were posted in that thread from 2001 to 2007.

WARNING - No profanity and/or sexually explicit language are included in the selected examples presented in this post. For that reason, I consider the examples in this post to be only "mildly risqué". However, a number of examples that are included in the websites that are the source for Part I and Part II of this post include profanity and/or are sexually explicit.

It's important to note that most of the examples from that six page Greekchat.com discussion thread contain no risqué content. I've included all but one of the risqué examples that are found in that thread. The example that I didn't include includes profanity, although those rhyming words are represented by asterisks.

Also, please be aware that there's at least one other Greekchat.com discussion titled "old school chants" that provides examples of historically Black Greek lettered fraternity & sorority chants. That discussion also includes profanity and sexually explicit content.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, sociological, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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PREFACE: DEFINITIONS
Definitions for "risqué" are "referring to sex in a rude and slightly shocking way" and "verging on impropriety or indecency" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/risqu%C3%A9.

Definitions for "bawdy" are "obscene, lewd. 2. : boisterously or humorously indecent." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bawdy

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COLLECTING RISQUE CHILDREN’S RHYMES
From Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore: Roll me in your arms, Volume 1
by Vance Randolph (University of Arkansas Press, 1992, p. 1)
“The collector’s ostensible control over the folk material they collect and publish - or refuse to collect and do not publish- naturally operates in both the negative and positive sense…When no one would admit, for example, to the existence of children's erotic folklore (or erotic life), none was to be seen. ... and most important for English and American children's bawdy jokes and rhymes. Now that a few bold collectors, mostly women, have been courageously willing to admit children’s folk-erotica into their formerly lily-pure collections, riddles, catches and pranks, and other such lore has been relatively easy to create, by means of artfully untended tape recorders.
-snip-
I believe that because blogging is relatively anonymous, the internet allows people to publicly share folk material -such as bawdy (dirty) rhymes - that they would be unlikely to publicly recite during face to face interviews. As such, blogging removes the need for hidden microphones or cameras to capture this illusive folkloric material. However, two downsides of collecting from the internet are the difficulty of confirming the authenticity of the material and the difficulty of collecting and confirming demographical information from the contributors.

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DEMOGRAPHICS
Number of participants and Geographical location:
A total of 29 unduplicated bloggers participated in this discussion thread which had a total of 84 posts of examples and/or comments).

Only a few of the participants in this online discussion indicated their geographical location. Also, the geographical location that was cited may not have been where the bloggers lived when they chanted these rhymes as children. For that reason, it's not possible to determine how widespread certain rhymes were that were mentioned by more than one blogger. In spite of that, these examples clearly show that certain types of rhymes - such as hand clap rhymes, and the group/soloist form of what I call "foot stomping cheers" were found in multiple regions of the United States.

Here are the states that were given by these bloggers: Atlanta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; California; Chicago, Illinois; Florida; Memphis, Tennessee; Miami, Florida; New Jersey; New Orleans, Louisiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Prince George County, Maryland; and Texas

Defining "Old School Chants" By Decades
I believe that most of these "old school" examples are from the early 1980s to the mid 1980s. For instance, although one blogger gave a sub-heading for her post of "the 70s", three bloggers shared examples of a Coca Cola ad jingle ("Have A Coke And A Smile" that aired in 1981. Also, one blogger mentioned her age in 2003 as 23 years old, another blogger indicated that she remembered the rhyme she shared "from the 1985-ish Houston [Texas], and another rhyme included the slang word "fly" which gained popularity because of the 1995 Boogie Boy's record "Fly Girl".

That said, certain rhymes that I've collected online from 1984 on that are noticeable absent from this collection. I'm specifically referring to what I call "long form" examples of "Down By The Bank Of The Hanky Panky" (or similar rhymes) that mention Michael Jackson and allude to his hair on fire accident in 1984 while singing his hit song "Billy Jean" during the filming of a Pepsi commercial. A number of those "long form" Hanky Panky rhymes include the verse "Coca Cola Came To Town". While that rhyme is included in that discussion thread, it's not linked to the "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" rhyme. Also, noticeable absent is the "I pledge allegiance to the flag" verse that I've only found to date with long form "Michael Jackson" examples of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".* The absence of those rhymes suggests to me that most of these examples were chanted by those bloggers prior to 1984. An alternative theory is that these bloggers knew about those examples, but refrained from sharing them because they were loyal to the African American pop artist who was highly regarded by many African Americans and non- African Americans.

Racial demographics
Because of a number of factors-including certain screen names, the use of certain vernacular English in some examples & some comments, and the inclusion of certain types of rhymes & cheers- I'm very certain that all of the participants in this Greekchat.com discussion were Black (and, more specifically, were African American).

Read my comment below about how I deduced the race of the Greekchat.com bloggers, and why I believe that citing the race/ethnicity of folkloric contributors is important.

*Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/references-michael-jackson-playground-rhymes-part-I for Part I of a two part post on my cocojams.com cultural website about "References To Michael Jackson In Playground Rhymes".

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PART I: OLD SCHOOL CHANTS & COMMENTS ABOUT THOSE CHANTS
These examples are numbered for referencing purposes. The blogger's name, any geographical information, and the date the example/comment was written online are given before the example or comment.

In some cases, I've added a brief comment in brackets before the quoted example or comment. In some cases, after the word "snip" (end of quote), I've also added a brief editorial comment to explain something about the featured rhyme or comment.

From http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=2

1. ADivine08, 3-25-2003
"this one is for Chi-town!!
12 x 12 is 144 if the bed breaks down you can do it on the ....
We may not have known all the twelves but we knew this one !"
-snip-
"Chi-town" = Chicago, Illinois

"knew all the twelves" = means knew the twelve time tables (how to multiple by 12).

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2. RedefinedDiva (Atlanta, Georgia / New Orleans, Louisiana), 3-25-2003

[excerpt]
When I was a teenager, teenager, teenager
When I was a teenager, teenager, teenager
I went (no words--just pretend to primp in the mirror)
All night long
All night long

When I was a woman, woman, woman
When I was a woman, woman, woman
I went (no words--just make kissing sounds)
All night long
All night long

When I got married, married, married
When I got married, married, married
I went (no words--just pretend to "push it")
All night long
All night long

When I had a baby, baby, baby
When I had a baby, baby, baby
I went (no words--just waddle like a pregnant woman)
All night long
-snip-
This life progression rhyme begins with “When I was a baby” and ends with “When I died”

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Bamboozled, 3-25-2003 [Comment]
"I think we should include some "new school" ones as well, because while some of ours may be a little risqué, some of the ones today are just plain ol' nasty. I've had to give my niece "the look" on several occasions for some of that mess. I'm going to ask her to tell me the words and I'll post them."
-snip-
After she quoted the “push it” verse given above (in Example #2), Bamboozled wrote on that same date:
"Okay, I retract my former statement. Some of ours were just as scandalous, LOL."

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3. CrimsonTide4, 3-25-2003

[This was written in reference to Twileelee rhyme* which was quoted on that page]:

YEAH!!!! Thanks GINA!!

But we also had another R rated verse

Mama's on bottom
Papa's on top
Baby singing "Get down Pop"
Rockin Robin Tweet . . .

or maybe it was grandma and grandpa . . . that I have forgotten."
-snip-
"R rated" - "a movie designation meaning that the movie is restricted for anyone under 17 unless you have an adult or parent with you. The content is considered to be too 'mature' for younger viewers." http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061118101547AASb9e4
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/04/rockin-robin-tweeleelee-analysis.html for a pancocojams post on "Tweeleelee" (or similar spellings).

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1savvydiva (Prince George County, Maryland), 3-25-2003 [Comment]
"You was an 'omanish lil' thang!!!
-snip-
The word "‘omanish” (“womanish”) may have been coined by that blogger. That word is an adaptation of the African American vernacular term “mannish”. "mannish" = a young person who acts as though they are sexually aware. Children, pre-teens, and teenagers who are mannish are trying to act like a man, that is, they are talking and acting more “grown” than they actually are. Although it would seem that the word "mannish" refers only to males, there are no gender qualities implicit in this term. Females can also be described as acting "mannish", and a mannish girl doesn't necessarily act masculine. Another African American vernacular word for a mannish boy or girl is acting (behaving/ talking as though they are "fast" (although it seems to me that this term is used more for girls.) "Fast" may be used because the girl or boy is growing up [too] quickly (too fast). The words "fast", "grown", and "mannish" aren't considered compliments when adults use them to refer to a boy or a girl. However, in the context of this sorority discussion thread, "‘omanish” and "mannish" probably are somewhat of a compliment, although note that many of the bloggers who shared those risqué rhymes hastened to add that they really didn't know what they were talking about when they chanted those rhymes.

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4. Symphony08 (Illinois), 3-26-2003
"One of my line sisters remembered this "mannish" version of Tell It:

My name is ___________ (Tell it, tell it)
I'm on the line (Tell it, tell it)
smoking reefer and drinking wine
And you know what (What?)
And you know what (What?)
I have a man (Tell it, tell it)
He looks alright (Tell it, tell it)
But he can do it do it do it do it allllll night (Say what!)

She swears they used to say this in elementary school (We're both 23/24). I wonder what those little girls are chanting now.
-snip-
“line sister” - a female who pledged the same chapter of the sorority along with you

"I'm on the line" = probably on the telephone line (talking on the telephone)

"do it" = have sex with me

This discussion thread included three versions of "Tell It". One version of that cheer wasn't risque. Another risqué version is given below. I've haven't come across any other versions of "Tell It" other than on that discussion thread. That said, given its textual structure, I'd categorize "Tell It" as a "Romance style" foot stomping cheer.

Click this page of my Cocojams website for information and examples of foot stomping cheers: http://www.cocojams.com/content/foot-stomping-cheers-0.

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http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=5

5. Miss Mocha, 3-28-2003
"Tell it

My name is Mocha (Tell it, tell it)
I'm on the line (Tell it, tell it)
I wanna do it (tell it, tell it)
with Nas' sign (Tell it, tell it)
And you know what? (what?)
My man will rough you up.
Hey!!!

The alternate version said, "and you know what? My man don't do enough".
-snip-
"with Nas' sign" - with a man who is Nas’ astrological sun sign
Nas is an African American rapper, songwriter, and actor. Since his debut album wasn't released until 1994, this cheer with his name is either a later version of the cheer that Miss Mocha remembered from her childhood, pre-teen, or teen years*, or she updated this cheer by substituted Nas' name instead of chanting the name of a no longer current celebrity.
-snip-
My man will rough you up - My boyfriend will beat you up [if you bother me]

My man don't do enough - The female speaker is bragging that she wants even more sex than her man is giving her.

It's important to emphasize that these girls were probably all talk and no action. However, these examples document the high value that "street wise" African American girls were supposed to place on being tough, an being sexually attractive.

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6. 12dn94dst, 3-31-2003
"group: get in the car
press the gas
move out the way and let Kelli pass

(Kelli gets in the middle/out front & does her dance)

group: she said whoop wop (doing dance)
Kelli: look @ that booty
group: whoomp wop
Kelli: ain't it purty
group: whoop wop
kelli: u want some? u ain't gettin none!
-snip-
"booty" = butt

"u want some? u ain't gettin none!" = do you want some sex? You aren't getting any from me.

"Get In The Car" is a Dance style foot stomping cheer. During her turn as the soloist, each girl is supposed to come up with a different dance move (usually from currently popular R*B/Hip-Hop dances, but also from "old school" dances (ones that used to be popular, but have been replaced by newer dances.)

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Eclipse (Atlanta, Georgia), 3-31-2003 [Comment]
"Y'all shole was some fast lil' heifahs!! LOL Talkin' bout bootys and getting some! LOL (shaking my head while knowing I said some of the same stuff!)
-snip-
"shole" = sure

“heifahs” (heifers) young cows = young females ; “getting some” = getting some sex

Remember, all of these bloggers were members of university based Greek lettered sororities, and therefore they knew how to speak and write standard American English. This is an example of purposely code switching to a Southern (down home) dialectic form of African American vernacular English.

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7. Kisha, 4-01-2003
"I remeber getting in trouble at an after school program for this one
James Brown glad to meet ya
Drop you're drawls and follow me
In the bushes we may go
lay down real slow
Won't yo mama be surprised
To see yo belly rise
Won't you father be disgusted
To see your cherry busted

...

The thing is I didn't know what I was talking about.
There was another one that went something like

George Washington was a great old man
He jumped out the window with a stick in his hand.

The managed kids didn't say stick but something that I want even write.
I remember that!"
-snip-
drawls [also given as "draws"] = ["drawers"] underpants
-snip-
The last four lines of that first rhyme remind me of the sexualized versions of the rhyme that I refer to as "We wear our hair in curls". Click http://chat.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101&page=2&desc=yes for a Mudcat discussion thread that I started in 2009 about that rhyme.

“managed” kids = probably a typo for “mannish”.

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http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=6

8. bitsy196, 6-25-2003
"Hello

H-e-l-l-o,
we are here
to say hello to Mocha

Mocha is my name
and cheering is my game
Pink and purple are my colors
don't you worry 'bout my lovers.
(Uhm she think she bad)
Correction baby, I know I'm bad.
(Uhm, she think she cool)
Cool enough to steal your dude.
(Uhm, she think she fine)
Fine enough to blow his mind."
-snip-
“Hello” is probably a folk etymology title for the Introduction/Confrontational foot stomping cheer whose title is usually given as “Hula Hulu”. That same Greekchat.com discussion thread includes another example of that cheer with the beginning line “who now who now”.

Notice that the girl says "don't you worry 'bout my loverS" and is bragging about stealing another person's "dude". Although the girls who recite these cheers are probably play acting (in the theatrical sense of that term), this attitude reflects real life, and permeates R&B/Hip Hop music and other African American music forms including fraternity & sorority cheers such as
"1 and 1 and 1 make three
You better watch your man cause your man is watching me"
[That cheer goes on to say how members of that particular sorority can get any man they want
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/fraternity-and-sorority-chants for examples of that rhyme. I've also found those same beginning lines in certain foot stomping cheers.

"Bad", "cool", "fine", and "blowing someone's mind" are all African American vernacular English terms. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/05/slang-meaning-of-bad-in-songs.html for
"The Slang Meaning Of "Bad" In Songs & Playground Cheers"

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This completes Part I of this series on Risqué Children's Rhymes.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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"Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" Rhymes That Include The "Saw You With Your Boyfriend" Verse

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post features examples of the playground rhyme that begins with the "eenie meenie sisaleenie" (or similar spelling) verse and also includes the "saw you with your boyfriend" verse. Text analysis and other comments about these rhymes and some other related rhymes are also included in this post.

The content of this post is provided for folkloric and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

DISCLAIMER
Including these rhymes on this blog that focuses on African American rhymes & songs and rhymes & songs from other Black cultures throughout the world, isn't meant to imply that examples of this rhyme are only chanted by Black people. That is obviously not true. However, given its structure and its words, I believe that some, if not all, of the early examples of this rhyme originated with African Americans.

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EDITOR'S TEXT ANALYSIS OF "EENIE MEENIE SISALEENIE"
"Eenie Meenie Sissaleeni" (or similarly pronounced spelling) is a large family of playground rhymes that originated in the United States. Those rhymes may be chanted as a four line verse without the addition of "saw you with your boyfriend" or any other verse. Other versions of this rhyme begin with a two line rhyme similar to that given as Example #1 in the "Other Text Examples" found below or this three line example:
Eenie Meanie Justa Leanie
Ooca lacka Trackalacka
I love you.

In those examples, the first line contains an internal rhyme based on the "eenie" syllable, and the second line contains an internal rhyme based on the "acka" syllable.

I chanted a four line version of this rhyme while doing a partner hand clap routine (Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s). We sang:
Eenie meenie epsodeenie
Ooh aah umbaleenie
Ashie mashie kohkah lashie
I_ love_ you

[The dashes represent one pause in the beat.]
-snip-
Four Line Structure
In the four line "eenie meenie sissalini" verse, the first line contains an internal rhyme made from the the "eenie" syllable. The last word of the second line also ends with the "eenie" sound and thus rhymes with the first line. The third line contains an internal rhyme made by the "ie" (pronounced "ee") syllable, and thus rhymes with the first and second lines. The fourth line is the only one that does not have an internal or end word rhyme.

"Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" rhymes can be recited with just those lines; However, that core verse is often combined with other stand alone (independent) rhymes such as the "take a peach take a plum" and/or "saw you with your boyfriend"* verses Those combined rhymes flow into each other without any transitioning words or phrases.

*Although I categorize "saw you with your boyfriend" as an independent rhyme (a rhyme that can be chanted alone), I've not yet found any examples online of that rhyme being chanted alone.
-snip-
Since at least the 1970s, it appears that most but not all examples of "Eenie Meenie Sissaleeni" rhymes begin with the four line "eenie meenie sissaleeni" verse and return to that verse at the end of the rhyme.

"Saw you with your boyfriend" is a verse that is often combined with the "eenie meenie sisileeni" verse. "Saw you with your boyfriend" is usually made up of a series of non-rhyming lines that are each followed by a two word or one word response to that particular line - for instance "looked through the key hole/nosy nosy" (or "nosy"). My guess is that the two word response is the earliest version of the responding line as it appears to me to be the more rhythmic than the single word. However, that is just a guess. In some contemporary versions of this rhyme "looked through the key hole" and "looked through the peep hole" has been changed to "looked through the window".

Other independent rhymes (such as verses of the "Down Down Baby" rhymes) may be combined with "eenie meenie sissaleeni" without the "saw you with your boyfriend" lines. Or other independent rhymes might be combined with the core verse and be placed before or after those "saw you with your boyfriend" lines.

To date, I've only collected one example of "saw you with..." that replaces the word "boyfriend" for "girlfriend" e.g. "caught your with your girlfriend". Visit the Hand clap Rhymes #1 page of my Cocojams cultural website for that example which is found under the title "Eenie meenie pepsa deenie". The link for that Cocojams page is given in the "Related Links" section below.
-snip-
The words "eenie meenie" undoubtedly have their source in the very old European counting out rhyme "Eeny meenie minie mo". Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe for information about that rhyme.

The word "sisaleenie" or similarly pronounced words is a made-up rhyming word with no meaning.

I also believe that the word "liberace" (also found as "Liberachi", "Liborachi" or similar spellings) is a newer substition for made-up rhyming phonetic phrases such as "kohkah lashie" which have no meaning. "Liberace" (also written as "Liberachi") has its origins in the last name of the flamboyant American pianist/vocalist known by his last name "Liberace" (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace. However, I doubt that most people who've recited that rhyme are aware of that informational tidbit.

Tune
To date, I've heard two different tunes for "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" rhymes. I believe that the most common tune in the United States is the one used in video example given as example #1 and example #2 below. That is the tune that I used when I chanted this rhyme in the 1950s.

Performance Activities
As is the case with most playground rhymes in the United States, "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" rhymes were originally chanted while jumping rope*. However, since at least the 1970s, they are usually chanted as a partner hand clap game. And, as it appears to often be the case with many hand clap rhymes in the United States, those rhymes are also performed with actions which mimic the words that are chanted.

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VIDEO EXAMPLES WITH TRANSCRIPTIONS
[Transcriptions made by listening to the videos. Additions and corrections are welcome.]

Video Example #1: Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny Clapping Songs



sharonmnich, Uploaded on Oct 2, 2009

Kids Clapping Songs
-snip-
Transcription:

Eenie meanie sassaleeny.
Oops ah tumbalini.
Achi achi liberace.
I love you.
Take a peach.
Take a plum.
Take a stick of bubble gum.
No peach.
No plum.
No stick of bubble gum.
Saw you with my boyfriend
last night.
How'd you know.
Peekin through the peep hole*
Nosy
Ate a lot of candy
Greedy
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
Jumped out the window
Doggone crazy
And that's why they call you.
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Ooh ah babalini,
Achi atchi Liberace,
I love you.
-snip-
*One of the girls seemed to start to chant "looked out" instead of "peeped through".

Additional examples of this rhyme are found in the viewer comment section of this video.

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Video Example #2: Eenie meenie sissalini



Miamichellekaraoke, Published on May 19, 2012

Mia and Michelle demonstrate their new hand game
-snip-
Transcription: Rhyme begins at .021

Ready. Go.

Eenie meanie sassaleeny,
Ooh ah babalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you,
Take a peach,
Take a plum,
Take a stick of bubble gum,
No peach
No plum
Just a stick of bubble gum
Saw you with my boyfriend
last night
How'd you know
I looked through my window
Nosy
Ate a lot of cookies
Greedy
Didn’t flush the toilet
Nasty
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
And that's why they call you.
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Oops ah tumbalini.
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you.
Oops ah tumbalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you!

****
Video Example #3: eenie mini dissemini fun and easy clapping games!



Mitzi Brennan, Published on Apr 28, 2013
-snip-

Transcription:
Eenie mini dissemini
You are the one and only
Education
Liberation
I like you.
Downtown baby
Down by the roller coaster
Sweet sweet cherry
No place to go
Didn’t do the dishes
Lazy lazy
Stole a box of chocolates
Greedy greedy
Snogged your boyfriend
Naughty naughty
Jumped out the window
Flippin crazy
Eenie mini dissemini
You are the one and only
Education
Liberation
I like you.
-snip-
"Italics" mean that I'm not sure of this word.

From the girls' accents, I assumed that this example of "Eenie Meanie" is from outside of the United States.

[Update: December 16, 2013: I corrected the words that I was uncertain about as per a comment from that video uploader Mitzi Brennan, who thanked me for featuring her video. Mitzi confirmed that she lives in England.]

"Education liberation", "downtown baby", "down by the rollercoaster" etc. are phrases that either come from or are folk etymology forms of phrases that are found in some versions of the playground rhyme "Down Down Baby". For example, "downtown baby” is folk etymology for "down down baby" and "Sweet sweet cherry/No place to go" is a folk etymology form of "sweet sweet baby/I really love you so". Visit the Hand clap #1 page of my Cocojams website whose link is given below for examples of "Down Down Baby".

Similar examples of "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" that include phrases from "Down Down Baby" are found in the viewer comments threads for the video given as Example #1 in this post.

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OTHER TEXT EXAMPLES
Example #1
Eenie Meanie Justa Leanie
Ooca lakca Trackalacka, I love you.
Take a peach, Take a plum
Take a piece of bubble gum.
Teacher, Teacher, Dummy Dum
Gimme back my bubble gum.
Saw you with your boyfriend last night.
How do you know?
I was peekin' through the keyhold.
NOSY
Wash them dishes
LAZY
Jump out the window
CRAZY
Peaches on the tree, Bananas on the floor
Jump back baby. I Don't Love You No More!
-Donetta A. (Pittsburgh, PA 1984); collected by Azizi Powell,
1998; posted on Cocojams by Azizi on 2/26/2006
-snip-
Donetta A (African American woman) responded to a voluntary written survey of playground rhymes that I conducted at my former work place. Donetta said she learned this rhyme when she was growing up from her cousin who visited her from the South. She indicated that she performed it as a partner hand clap game.

The line "peaches on the tree, bananas' on the floor" reminds me of the "apples on the shelf /I'm so tired of living by myself" verse that is found in in Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes Wise And Otherwise.* Versions of that line are found in other African American playground rhymes, Blues songs, and other compositions along with the line "I've seen the line "Jump back, baby I don't love you no more" or similar lines such as "Step back, baby/I don't love you no more".

*This is the last verse of the rhyme entitled "Mama's Darling" (p. 188) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm
"I has apples on de table,
An' I has peaches on de shelf;
But I wish I had a husband—
I'se so tired stayin' to myself."

****
Example #2:
Eenie meenie sicileenie ooh ahh combaleenie ochie cochie liverochi C-O-D
Take a peach, take a plum, take a stick of bubblegum
No peach, no plum, just a stick of bubblegum
Saw you with your boyfriend last night
How'd you know?
Peeked through the peek hole
Noisy
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
Ate a box of candy
Greedy
Jumped out the window
Now I know you're really crazy, thats why we call you
Eenie meenie sicileenie ooh ahh combaleenie ochi cochi liverochi C-O-D
Source:
Me and my friends used to love this!
-qwerty, http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080126135642AA0Q3LB "Hand clap game.. What are the words?", 2007
-snip-
Asker's rating [the highest rating 5 stars] & comment
"Haha so did we! i was trying to think of it the other day and i couldnt. Thanks!
-ashley jonasss; (asked 2007).o

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Example #3:
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Opps ah tumbalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you,
Take a peach,
Take a plum,
Take a stick of bubble gum,
No peach
No plumb
No stick of bubble gum
Saw you with your boyfriend
last night
How'd you know
I was peaking through the key hole
Nosy
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
Stole a box of candy
Greedy
Jumped out the window
Dog on crazy*
That's why they call me...
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Opps ah tumbalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you!
- http://funclapping.com/Eenie.php

****
Example #4
eenie meenie sissaleney
o a tumbaline
achie gachif temberachi
i love you
take a peach
take a plum
take a sitck of bubble gum
no peach no plum
just a stick a bubble gum
saw you with your boyfreind last night
you werea huggin anda kissin
anda holdin on tight
how do i know
LOOK THROUGH THE WINDOW
NOSEY
ATE ALL YA COOKIES
GREEDY
DIDNT DO THE DISHES
LAZY THATS WY DEY CALL ME
eenie meenie sissaleney
o a tumberlinie
achie gachie liverachie
i love you
-jazz09932, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C2cBh_NZNU, 2012
-snip-
I reformatted this example from its paragraph form (a form that seems to be the default for YouTube.com) to lined poetry form. However, I left the capitalizations that the blogger wrote "as is". I think those words were capitalized to serve as a "correction" for the words that were chanted in the video. Btw, I also believe that the tempo in that video is slower than the tempo that I've usually found for this rhyme.

ADDENDUM - TWO EXAMPLES OF "SAW YOU WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND" VERSE WITHOUT THE "EENIE MEANIE SISALEENI" VERSE

Example #1:
A.B.C.
It’s easy as 1.2.3.
My momma takes care of me.
My father don’t yell at me.

Caught you with your boyfriend.
Naughty, Naughty.
Didn’t do the dishes.
Lazy, Lazy.
Ate all the candy
Greedy, greedy.
Jumped out the window.
Man, you’re crazy!
- anonymous woman (White; Washington, D. C), collected by Azizi Powell,1999
-snip-
This example was collecting via a volunatary written survey that I conducted at my former workplace. As per my directions, the woman indicated the geographical location where she performed this rhyme. She wrote that she learned it when she was a child living in a "mostly Black neighborhood". She also wrote that she performed it as a hand clap game.

"ABC it's easy as 1, 2, 3" is lifted from the Jackson Five R&B song "ABC". That song could help to date the earliest examples of rhymes with that introductory verse.

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Example #2
Ziz Zag zag
take a piece take a plum
take a piece of 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, http://octopuses.chaoticinsanity.com
(Octoblog- "Schoolyard games"), December 5, 2004
Unfortunately, this website is no longer viable.

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RELATED LINK
Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes for other examples of and comments about "Eenie Meaniee Sisalini".

****
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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I Am A Pretty Little First Grader (a variant form of "I'm A Pretty Little Dutch Girl")

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post documents a variant form of the children's song/rhyme "I Am A Little Dutch Girl" (also known as "I Am A Pretty Little Dutch Girl"). In that variant form the girls' school year is substited for the referent "Dutch girl".

There are multiple children's rhymes that begin with the words "I am a (pretty) little Dutch girl." The rhymes that I'm focusing on in this post are those which begin with the lines "I'm a pretty little Dutch girl/as pretty as I can be"...[end of quote]. Many of those rhymes also include a verse that begins with the line
"One day when I was walking". The addendum to this post includes beginning lines and links to other children's rhymes that have "little Dutch girl" in their title.

I first noted this change in the United States in the 1990s. However, it may have occurred earlier. The examples of this rhyme that I directly collected [from in-person contacts] were from African American girls ages 6-12 years, Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania [with the exception of one example in which Vietnamese girls recited this rhyme with their African American schoolmates in an elementary school that was more than 99% Black.]

I've found additional examples online of the "school year" form of "Pretty Little Dutch Girl" rhyme. The contributors of those examples didn't indicate their race/ethnicity.

The referent "Dutch girl" may have originally been dropped because the girls reciting that rhyme weren't of "Dutch" descent, and/or may not have known what "Dutch" meant. Nowadays, I think that girls recite the school year version of "Pretty Little Dutch girl" because that's the version that they've heard other people recite.

Read my comment below this post for some ideas about the larger meaning of what changes in this playground rhyme -and other playground rhymes- may mean.

****
TEXT EXAMPLES
(Examples are posted in chronological order based on either their collection date or the date that they were posted online.)

Example #1:
Wooble Wooble Wooble and the deep blue sea
I am a little __ * first grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.

My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.

One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with strawberry curls.
And this is what she said

"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
- elementary school age African American and Vietnamese girls {6 years old} Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2000
-snip-
*The dash indicates that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.

Notice the introductory line in this example and most of the other examples.

My notes for this rhyme indicates that it was performed as a group hand slap game. If those notes are correct, and weren't a description of another hand game, those girls played that game differently than I observed other girls playing it. In my other observations of this hand game, "I Am A Pretty Little ___ Grader" was performed as a non-competitive hand clap game, meaning a partner or group hand clapping routine where no one was declared "out" at the end of a recitation because her hand was slapped at the last syllable that is chanted.

Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/handclap-jump-rope-and-elastics-rhymes for the comments that I wrote about how this rhyme was performed.

****
Example #2:
Zing Zing Zing at the bottom of the sea.
I am a little __* second grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.

My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with cherry pie curls
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
1-2-3-4
Get your black hands off of me!
- Diarra, K'azsa, and Michelle (African American girls), Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Septemper 2004

*The dash indicates that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.

Editor:
I collected this example while visiting my elementary school teacher daughter’s after-school classroom in the beginning of a new school year. In this variant version of the "Dutch Girl" rhyme, two of the girls started to sing “I’m a little first grade”, but changed to “second grade” because they remembered that they had moved up to that grade. "First grade” and “second grade” means “first grader” and “second grader” (children in the first or second grade [division of school year] of elementary school after the kindergarten year of schooling.)

After they had finished performing that rhyme, I asked the girls which grade they usually use for that rhyme. They told me that the grade mentioned depends on the grade/s of the girls reciting this song.

In April 2010, I collected the same rhyme from two 9 year old African American girls (Takeya and Alexus) who live in the same neighborhood as Fort Pitt Elementary School. [When I collected this example, that school which is now closed had changed its name to "Fort Pitt Accelerated Learning Academy"]. When the rhyme called for the girls to give their grades, one girl chanted "I am a second grader" and the other girl chanted "I am a third grader". Both girls said the "get your black hands off of me" line.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/get-your-black-hands-off-of-me.html for my comments about that "get your black hands off of me" line in certain children' rhymes. Also, read the comment about that line which is found after Example #5 in this post.

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Example #3:
imma little six grader
as pretty as can be be
my boyfriend name is bow wow
he lives in ohio
and this is how my story goes
one day I was walking
I saw my boyfriend talking
to the ugliest girl
in the whole wide world
and this is how my story goes
k-i-s-s kiss you
l-o-v-e love you
m-i-s-s miss you
and this is how my story goes
a b c d
so keep yo hands away from me.
- http://www.home-school.com.au/resource/skipping-rope-jump-rope-hopscotch, March 21, 2005
-snip-
*"Bow wow" is probably the stage name of the young African American R&B singer.

It's interesting to note that the rhyming name "Jello" or "Mello from the land of Jello" that's found in many "standard" versions of "I'm A Pretty Little Dutch Girl" or the rhyming name "Tony" from "Bologna" have been replaced by the name of a Black male celebrity who is popular with younger females. Read the version given as #5 for an example of another celebrity's name that is used in a version of "I'm A Pretty Little Furst Grader".

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Example #4
Sea sea sea at the bottom of the sea!
I am a little __ 3rd grader
As cute as can__ be
My boyfriend's name is ___ Jell-o
He comes from Ala__bama
With a booger from his nose
All the way to his toes
And this is how my story goes!
One day when I was __ walking
I heard my boyfriend __ talking
To the prettiest girl
With strawberry curls
And this is what he said:
I L-O-V-E Love you!
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
S-T-O-P STOP! Don't move!
-Becky; http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games, 2009

****
Example #5
I am a pretty __ first grader
As pretty as can___ be be.
My boyfriend's name is__ Chris Brown*
He lives in Ala__bama.
One day when I was___walking
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world.
And this is what he said.
I K-I-S-S
I M-I-S-S miss you.
I L-O-V-E love you.
ABCDEFG
Get your black hands off of me.**
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
-snip-
The dash indicates that the chanter pauses one beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.

I met Naijah and her mother and baby sister when they came early for a community African story telling session that I was asked to do in a local Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania library. That session was sponsored by a chapter of a historically Black Greek lettered sorority. While we were waiting for other children to come, Naijah was playing with her computer tablet and I asked her to share with me some rhymes that she knew. Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name. She said "Girls say the grade they are in when they say this rhyme (like first grade or second grade or fifth grade)." Naijah also said that when she was in the second grade she forgot and said "I am a pretty first grader".

*"Chris Brown" is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor. Besides his popularity, I think that Chris Brown's last name "Brown" is one reason why he joins a long line in children's playground rhymes of other people or characters whose last name is "Brown"-for instance "Buster Brown", "Charlie Brown", "James Brown", and probably others.

**Naijah said "The reason why the girl in the rhyme said "Get your black hands off of me" is "because she was mad at him because he was cheating on her".

Another rhyme that Naijah recited for me "ET From Outer Space" also included the "Get your black hand off of me" line. I said to Naijah that I heard that "get your Black hands off of me" line before in other rhymes, and I wondered if if meant that people were ashamed of being Black. Naijah looked shocked and said "I enjoy my heritage".

****
ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT THE "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL" RHYME
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Dutch_Girl
"Pretty Little Dutch Girl" is a children's nursery rhyme, clapping game and jump-rope rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12986...

Origins and distribution
The origins of the rhyme are obscure. The tune of the song is similar to "A Sailor Went to Sea" and "Miss Suzie Had A Steamboat" (though some notes are removed to account for the double-syllable words "pretty" and "little", and some notes are added in). The earliest record found so far is for New York around 1940.[1] It seems to have spread over the USA by the 1950s and reached Britain in 1959, where it was taken up very quickly across the country to become one of the most popular skipping rhymes among girls.[1]"
-snip-
“Record” here means “documented use”

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There are at least three other families of children's songs/playground rhymes that have refer to "little Dutch girl".
The rhymes that I'm referring to begin with the lines
"I'm a little dutch girl dressed in blue/these are the things i can do"

Or
"I am a little Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl, I am a little Dutch Girl, a Dutch Girl I am" [or “from over the sea"]

Or
"There was a little Dutch boy and a little Dutch girl,
In a chalet on the hill.
Tick tock, tick tock went the funny old clock"

For examples of those "little Dutch girl" rhymes other than those which include the lines "as pretty as can be" and the verse that begins with "one day when I was walking" click http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=29995 and http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=37757.

The song/rhymes that I'm referring to begin with

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VIDEO OF A STANDARD VERSION OF "I'M A PRETTY LITTLE DUTCH GIRL"

Pretty little dutch girl



Lauren Gabriel, Uploaded on Nov 18, 2010
-snip-
This is a clip from the 1988 Wee Sing video "Grandpa's Magic Toys". Here are the words to that version:
I am a pretty little Dutch girl
As pretty as I can be
And all the boys in the neighborhood
Are crazy over me

My boyfriend's name is Mello
He comes from the land of Jello
With pickles for his toes
and a cherry for his nose
And that's the way my story goes
-snip-
The woman dressed up in a traditional Dutch outfit sings this song while jumping rope. The second time she sings the song, the adults and children perform a partner hand clap routine without reciting the rhyme. These two performance activities may reflect that doing hand clap routines while chanting rhymes was beginning [?] to be the preferred activity rather than jumping rope while reciting the same rhymes. In the USA now, it appears to me that almost all the jump rope rhymes are now hand clap rhymes.

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The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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