Cocojams2 showcases examples of English language playground rhymes, cheers, and singing games, with special emphasis given to African American examples.
This is Part I of a two part cocojams2 series on switching places ring games. This post provides a general description of and some examples of those types of types of ring (circle) games..
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. -snip- This post originally only focused on the two contemporary children's "switching places" singing games "Little Sally Walker (Walking Down The Street)" and "Ride That Pony". The Bahamian singing game "Rock My Cherry" was also mentioned in the originally version of this post.
In September 2026 I added references in this post regarding two additional (and much older) children's "switching places" singing games ""Little Johnny Brown" and "Whoa, Mule. Can't Get The Saddle On". Information about and examples of these singing games can be found in their designated pancocojams posts.
**** EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT ADDING COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG With considerable regret, I have disabled the comment feature on cocojams2 blogs (and on my other blogs except for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com, because of the large number of spam comments that I received on those blogs.
Comments for those blogs can be sent to my email address azizip17 dot com at yahoo dot com for possible inclusion in a specific post on those blogs.
****
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SWITCHING PLACES GAMES (Revised July 11, 2025)
"Switching places" games is a term that I coined for a sub-set of ring (circle) games. These games can be considered a variant form of "show me your motion" games.
In standard "show me your motion games" the person in the center of the ring remains in the center and does a brief dance or other movement. The rest of the group who are forming the circle then tries to exactly imitate the movements that the middle person continues to do.
After these portions of the singing game, the middle person uses some strategy to choose the new middle person. One strategy is to walk up to a person forming the ring and immediately exchange places with that person. Another strategy is for the middle person to cover her or his eyes with one hand while turning around in the middle of the ring and pointing to the people forming the ring. At the end of the song, the person who the middle person is pointing to becomes the new middle person. The old middle person trades places with that person and the game immediately begins from the beginning.
In contrast, in "switching places" singing games, the middle person moves to face one particular person who remains standing in her or his place forming the ring (the circle). That person is sometimes referred to as the middle person's "partner". That partner might be chosen on purpose or randomly chosen. When the middle person does her or his movements, the person she or he is standing in front of must also do the same movement.
According to the different ways that these games are played, the rest of the group may simply stand and watch the two people perform movements or they might continue to sing and clap (and in some renditions also stomp their feet) to the beat. However, in "switching places games, the people forming the ring don't attempt to do the actions performed by the center person and her or his partner. After the old center person and her or his partner perform movements together (according to the words of that song), the old center person switches places with her or his partner who becomes the new center person and the game immediately begins again from the beginning.
Sometimes large groups have two (or more) center persons at the same time. Each one stands in front of another person in the ring, and plays the game as lyrics describe. Having more than one center person is probably a modification of the original format because adults directing the play experience (and the group members themselves) wanted to have as many people in the group participating in thee game as possible in the short amount of time that may be allotted for these games.
**** EXAMPLES OF "SWITCHING PLACES" RING GAMES THAT ORIGINATED WITH AFRICAN AMERICANS
I believe that the "switching places" singing games are of African American origin because of their words and because of their performance activities.
Given in no particular order, some examples of these switching places singing games are: "Little Johnny Brown"
"Whoa, Mule. Can't Get The Saddle On"
"Little Sally Walker" (Walking Down The Street)
and "Ride That Pony".
**** AN EXAMPLE OF A "SWITCHING PLACES" RING GAME FROM THE CARIBBEANICA Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-show-me-your-motion.html for a pancocojams post about the children's singing game from the Bahamas entitled "Rock My Cherry" and other Bahamian children's recreational ring plays (circle games).
Update: 2026] The video for that pancocojams post is no longer available. In that video, the performance of the singing game "Rock My Cherry" was performed with sensual hip winding and pelvic thrust dance movements. Those performances would probably be considered too sexualized by many Americans.
****
HOW OLD IS THE SWITCHING PLACES" METHOD OF CHOOSING THE NEXT CENTER PERSON IN RING GAMES?
I'm not sure how old this method of choosing the next center person is, but here are dates for some examples of "Little Sally Walker (Walking Down The Street) that I've found thus far:
The old "Little Sally Walker" Ring Game dates at least from the early 1950s (as per my recollections of that game in Atlantic City, New Jersey:
Little Sally Ann Sitting in the sand A weepin and a cryin For a nice young man. Rise, Sally, rise Wipe your weepin eyes Turn to the East And turn to the West And turn to the one That you love the best.
**** LITTLE SALLY WALKER Little Sally Walker,sittin’ in a saucer,
weepin' and cryin’ cause nobody loves her.
Rise Sally rise wipe your weepin’ eyes put your hands on your hip,
and let your backbone slip.
Oh, shake it to the East;
Oh, shake it to the West.
Shake it to the very one that you love the best.
The game of Little Sally Walker is for ages 7 – 12
Here's a description of the action that accompanied this rhyme: Prior to song starting- Girls form a circle; one girl is chosen to be “Sally”
1st line- "Sally" sits down on the inside of the circle (as if sitting in a saucer) and pretends to weep and cry; the rest of the circle walks counter-clockwise holding hands and walking to the song’s beat
2nd line & line 3 -“Sally” remains inside the circle but now rises to stand in the center part of the circle and does what the rhyme is saying(wipes her eyes); the rest of the group is now standing still and claps their hands and stomps their feet to the beat.
3rd line & 4th line -Sally now stops and puts her hands on her hip and moves her hip into a dip and the girls in the circle who performed this rhyme stand still while "Sally" in the middle performs a movement.
As the rhyme progresses the children forming the ring try to exactly imitate Sally's movements (they shake their hips to movements the same time Sally does) on the words to the East the hips move to the right, and on the words to the West the hips move to the left.
Still standing in front of whoever Sally may stop in front of "Sally" continues doing the same dance or movement of her hips that she did previously.
5th- On the words you love the best Sally is standing still and facing the girl she stopped in front of, now the game is over; the former “Sally” rejoins the ring, and the new Sally immediately enters the center of the ring and the game begins again. When both boys and girls play this game together the game takes on a little more interest.
-Anna R., Cocojams.com, 5/8/2008 -snip Anna Robinson's memories of the mid 1950's written when she was in her 60's.
**** ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND EXAMPLES OF TWO CONTEMPORARY "SWITCHING PLACES" CIRCLE GAMES
Early Collection Dates For "Little Sally Walker" (Walking Down The Street) 1999 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (collected by Azizi Powell)
The oldest example of "Little Sally Walker" (Walking Down The Street) that I've found is one that I observed being played by African American girls (under age 12 years) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1999):
Little Sally Walker was walkin down the street.
She didn’t know what to do so she stood in front of me.
I said ooh girl do your thing.
Do your thing, Stop!
I said ooh girl do your thing.
Do your thing, Stop!
-African American girls (about 7-9 years old), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (North View Heights Public Housing Program), 1999; collected by Azizi Powell, 1999
****
A full description of its performance activity can be found in cocojams2: African American Singing Games & Movement Rhymes (A-L) link that is given above.
****
2001 - summer camp game, as mentioned by LNL in a 2004 comment posted to a Mudcat (online folk music forum) discussion thread:
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300#1126685 "Children's Street Songs"
LNL wrote that she first came across "Little Sally Walker (Walking Down The Street) and "Ride That Pony" when she was a camp counselor "three years ago" (resulting in 2001 as the year she saw those games). LNL described "Little Sally Walker (Walking Down The Street" as "Little Sally Walker" being reincarnated." Here's that example:
"Little Sally Walker,/walking down the street.
She didn't know what to do, so/she jumped in front of me and said:
'Hey, girl, shake that thing,/shake that thing like it ain't no thing.
Come on, girl, shake that thing,/shake that thing like it ain't no thing."
LNL also wrote that campers played the game "Ride That Pony". The words to that game are found in Part II of this series.
LNL's post implied that both of those games were new to her. But I'm not sure if those games were new to those campers. LNL also indicated that those two games were favorites of the campers and that staff often had to stop their performances from getting "too involved".
Unfortunately, LNL didn't mention how the camp was played, where the camp was. Nor did she give any demographical information about the campers. However, given that the majority of Mudcat bloggers are from the United States, and given that LNL also wrote that "We also did the fairly innocuous "Wisconsin Milk" song, and a ton of other call-and-responses that don't quite qualify as street games", a likely conclusion is that the camp was located in the United States.
That forum's archiving feature show that LNL only posted five times on Mudcat- all between February 1, 2004 and March 9, 2004. So the possibilities of retrieving demographical information from that blogger are quite slim. That said, I use "around 2001" as the oldest example that I've found for the "Ride That Pony" singing game.
****
2003 -A rhyme that includes "Little Sally Walker (Walking Down The Street" is included in the 2003 American movie "Soul Of Rock"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvGia9u1McM. -snip- The poster of that YouTube video rachelarmstrong
(January 24, 2008) included the words to that rhyme on the video clip screen shot. The words she gave are:
Soul Sister Number Nine
Sock it to me one more time
Say Ungawa we got the power
Say Ungawa we got the power
Little Sally Walker's walking down the street
She didn't know what to do so she jumped in front of me
She said "go on girl, do your thing do your thing
go on, girl do your thing, do your thing. Stop!!
-snip-
As a (friendly) amendment to that transcription, I hear the two chanters saying "Say Unn Ungawa. We got the powa. Say Unn Ungawa. We got the powa."
****
"Ride That Pony"
2001-The oldest example of "Ride That Pony" that I've found is in the 2oo4 Mudcat comment by LNL (link given above). That comment mentions campers playing that game three years ago.
**** WHO PLAYS THESE GAMES Unlike many ring games that are currently played in the United States, "switchng places" ring games are not only played by very young children but have also been adopted by older children, teenagers, and (usually young) adults. Furthermore, unlike many ring games, males appear to play these switching games much more readily and eenthusiastically than they play other singing or chanting games, with the exception of hand slapping games such as "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" and "Stella Ella Ola".
For children, the lightly competitive hand slapping games and the non-competitive "switching places" games may often be adult initiated (for instance, as part of an elementary school's school's music class). However, those games sometimes appear to be initiated by the children themselves.
For children, teens, and adults, those hand slaping games and the switching places games are played as "ice breakers" (getting to know people activities), as stress relieving activities, and "just for fun" by members of sports teams, cheerleaders, summer campers, performing arts groups, and school and university students.
"Ride That Pony"'s movements are indicated by that song's lyrics. But what makes "Little Sally Walker" (Walking Down The Street) fun to play and fun to watch is the different dances or moves that different center people do. As is the case with older "show me your motion" games, in "Little Sally Walker" (Walking Down The Street) each center person is supposed to perform a dance or movement that is different from those that were performed by any center person who camee before her (or him). That said, I've also come across videos of both of those games in which every center person does the same dance. Those videos are much less interesting to watch.
Additional text examples and video examples of those two games are found in Part II of this series.
This is Part II of a two part cocojams2 series that features selected examples of African American singing games & movement rhymes. These examples include ring (circle) games, line games, play party songs, and other movement rhymes. These examples either originated with African Americans or are African American versions of those rhymes that originated with non-African Americans.
This post showcases a sample of children's rhymes whose titles (first words) begin with the letters "M-Z. This post also includes a quote about African American ring games and as well as my general comments about these rhymes.
DISCLAIMER: This collection isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing of examples in these categories. Nor is this collection meant to imply that African Americans are the only ones to chant or sing these rings or similar rhymes. Note: In this series all of these examples are referred to as "rhymes".
This series don't mean to imply that only African American children play these games.
These examples are posted for folkloric and recreational purposes.
Thanks to all who have contributed these rhyme examples.
EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT ADDING COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG
With considerable regret, I have disabled the comment feature on cocojams2 blogs (and on my other blogs except for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com, because of the large number of spam comments that I received on those blogs.
Comments for those blogs can be sent to my email address azizip17 dot com at yahoo dot com for possible inclusion in a specific post on those blogs.
**** COMMENT ABOUT RING GAMES
(From Notes to the vinyl album Mother Hippletoe: Rural and Urban Children's Songs, written by Kate Rinzler* (album published by New World Records, NW 291 MONO, 1978)
..."In ring games the players may sit on the ground, stand in place, or move. They may remain in a ring or weave, add to a group in the center, or add to a line until there is no ring. The ring may be empty or have a leader in the center or outside. The players may hold hands, clap hands, or not touch. They may or may not mime a text. They may skip, slide, walk, chase, fall down, or stand still. They may take turns or be eliminated one by one. In the United States the games derive from British and African traditions, the result of the interaction of children from two cultures."
-snip-
That excerpt is from the notes to Band 2, Items 1, 2, 6, and 7
Ring Games: Sally Died; Ronald McDonald; Zoodiac; Zing-Zing-Zing
Washington, D.C., schoolgirls, vocals.
Recorded 1976 at Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, Washington, D.C.
Given the demographics of Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s, "Washington, D.C. schoolgirls" meant "Black school girls".
**** MY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS QUOTE AND THESE EXAMPLES
Kate Rinzler wrote that "In the United States the [ring] games derive from British and African traditions, the result of the interaction of children from two cultures". My friendly amendment is that the interaction is between British and African traditions, and not necessarily any direct interaction between people from those traditions. (Besides, British people can be of African descent and vice versa).
Reading the notes that Kate Rinzler wrote in 1978 about the performance directions for the ring games (and the jump rope rhymes) that are featured in that Mother Hippletoe album points out the fact that performance directions can and often have changed over time in the same (racial & national) population, and can also be different within that same or multiple populations in the same time. For example, Rinzler describes "Mary Mack" as a ring game. My direct experience of "Miss Mary Mack" (in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1950s) was that it was only performed as a partner hand clap game. Furthermore, my observations of "Miss Mary Mack" in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area (late 1970s to 2005) was that it was only performed as a partner hand game. However, I've read elsewhere that some children performed "Mary Mack" as a jump rope rhyme.
The term "ring games" usually is defined as "circle games". However, Kate Rinzler wrote that "ring games are not necessarily played in rings".
One overarching characteristic of most of the African American singing games and movement rhymes (those showcased in this cocojams2 series and others) is that they provide opportunities for their performers to move, with "dancing" being the pre-eminent movements. Notice that many of the ring games direct the person in the middle to "show me your motion", followed by the rest of the group declaring "we can do your motion." Also, notice that a number of the featured movement rhymes include the verse that exhorts the chanters to move "to the front/to the back/to the side, side, side". Not just the words, but the up tempo, percussive tunes of these rhymes and singing games also encourage their chanters and their singers to move, and to dance their worries away. It's no wonder that a number of Rhythm & Blues records and records from other genres of African American include titles and verses from these children's singing games and rhymes.
****
EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN SINGING GAMES & MOVEMENT RHYMES (M-Z)
These examples are published in alphabetical order based on their titles or on the first few words of their first line. Multiple versions of specific rhymes are presented in chronological order based on their publishing date online, their (book) publishing date, or the date that I directly collected them. The oldest dated examples are presented first. The rhyme category of the example is noted in parenthesis after the example's "title". A limited number of videos are included in this post.
M , N
MY MAMA'S CALLING ME (singing game)
Leader: My Mama's calling me.
Chorus: (You can't get out of here.)
My Mama's calling me.
(You can't get out of here.)
What shall I do?
(Pat your ones to your knees.)
What shall I do?
(Pat your twos to your knees).
What shall I do?
(Pat your threes to your knees).
Pat your all.
-snip-
-Cheryl Warren Mattox, Shake It To The One That You Love The Best: Play Songs and Lullabies From Black Musical Traditions (JTG of Nashville, 1989, p. 13)
Here are the notes from that book about "My Mama's Calling Me" (Description: African American ring game).
"Call and response" is a form of music widely heard throughout Black cultures. This song provides a simple example of the "call and response" technique, which is an exchange between a leader (soloist) and the group (chorus). The child in the center of the ring is the leader and sings the "call". The other players sing the "response". During the game action thee leader tries to break out of the ring, but the other players attempt to keep her in. Whoever lets her out becomes "it" and goes to the center of the ring."
-snip-
My guess is that "ones", "twos", "threes", and "your all" refer to body patting (pattin' Juba), with "ones and twos" meaning "one hand and two hands", "threes" meaning your two hands and your head, and "pat your all" means your whole body.
Here's a video of the song (without those particular game movements)
My Mama's Calling Me
Julie Lo, Dec 8, 2016
-snip-
Several commenters wrote that they did this singing game in their school.
snip-
Here's the summary statement for a 2009 video of "My Mother's Calling Me" that was embedded in this post, but is no longer available:
"Continental Elementary, Green Valley AZ K-1 featuring a group of girls singing in "My Mama's Callin' Me", an African/American Circle Game that the children really enjoyed playing so we incorporated it into our concert. Circle games are a great way for teachers to pick out potential soloists, because the person in the middle gets to sing a solo, and they don't even realize it!!!"
****
MISTER RABBIT (singing game)
From Old Mother Hippletoe vinyl ablum:
Like “Catfish,” “Mister Rabbit” is from the large animal-song repertoire. In one widely used formula the rabbit is asked
numerous questions, which he answers in rhyme, in call-and-response fashion, as in the following examples:
“Your coat’s mighty gray”
“’Twas made that way”
“Your feet’s mighty red.”
“I’m almost dead.”
“Your tail’s mighty white.”
“And I’m getting’ out o’ sight.”
The collector’s notes state that this is a ring game in which pairs of children clap hands and an odd man out steals a
partner.
Call: So go, rabbit
Response: Rabbit, rabbit.
Leader: Mr. Rabbit, what makes your ears so thin?
Rabbit: Always hopping right in the wind.
Call: So go, rabbit,
Response: Rabbit, rabbit
Rabbit, rabbit.
(Twice)
-Susie Miller and two boys, vocals.
Recorded 1939 in Vicksburg, Miss., by Herbert Halpert. Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song AFS 3074 B1. Ruth Crawford Seeger, Animal Folk Songs for Children.; found in
-snip-
"Mister Rabbbit" was popularized by Anglo-American folk singer Burl Ives who included it in his 1950s record 'Little White Duck' and other Children's Favorites". A number of children's music books and websites include the Burl Ives' version of that song's lyrics, usually without any mention of its African American singing game roots. Click http://www.metrolyrics.com/mr-rabbit-lyrics-burl-ives.html for those song lyrics and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0VQeByzDLo for a sound file of Burl Ives' rendition of "Mister Rabbit".
****
O,P
OLD GRANDPAW YET (play party)
From notes written by Kate Rinzler, Old Mother Hippletoe... record
“Old Grandpaw Yet” seems to be a game with a loner sitting in a chair in the center of a ring."
Old Grandpaw Yet,
Not a soul can he get,
And he’s tired of living here alone, here alone,
And he’s tired of living here alone.
Some of you young girls,
Take pity on his case,
And make him a wife of his own, of his own,
And make him a wife of his own.
You can rise to your feet
And kiss the first you meet,
For there’s plenty all around the chair, chair, chair
There’s plenty all around the chair.
Old Grandma Yet,
Not a soul can she get,
And she’s tired of living here alone, here alone,
And she’s tired of living here alone.
Some you young men,
Take pity on here case,
And make her a husband of her own, of her own,
And make her a husband of her own.
You can rise to your feet
And kiss the first you meet,
For there’s plenty all around the chair, chair, chair,
There’s plenty all around the chair
-Old Mother Hippletoe, http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdf
****
OLD JOHN THE RABBIT
"According to Herbert Halpert, the ring game “Old John the Rabbit” was played by a circle of children with a lead singer in the center. The tune and response are the same as those that Bessie Jones teaches for “Shoo, Turkey.”
At the end of her game, a line of children sit on their haunches and, to the refrain “Shoo, turkey, shoo, shoo,” hop in the fashion children also use to imitate rabbits. In tradition, games frequently change. They are added to and subtracted from as the aesthetics and knowledge of games vary from group to group. One can easily imagine “Old John the Rabbit” acquiring a rabbit hop from the “Shoo, turkey, shoo” of the game with identical vocal form. As other words are found with this tune, so other tunes are found with these words.
In American Negro Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat, 1968 (reprint of 1922 edition), pp.
263-71), Thomas W. Talley gives a glimpse of the process of floating texts from one game to another. "A game like “Old John the Rabbit,” played by young and old alike, [This song] Commonly went on continuously for a quarter of an hour or more...It was considered...an accomplishment for a leader to be able to sing “calls” for so long a time…and still a greater accomplishment to sing the calls both in rhyme and with meaning."
Call: Old John the rabbit
Response: Yes, ma’am.
Similarly
Got a mighty bad habit,
Going in my garden,
Cutting down my cabbage.
My name is Mary.
Got sweet potatoes.
And if I live
To see next fall,
I ain’t gonna pick
No cotton at all
-Four girls, vocals. Recorded 1939 in Amory, Miss., by Herbert Halpert. Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song AFS 2975 A3.,Old Mother Hippletoe: Rural And Urban Children's Songs http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdf
*The correct title for Thomas W. Talley's book is Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Other Wise.
-snip- Added April 3, 2021 The
word "Similarly" In the directions for this singing game means to
sing the response "Yes, ma’am” after every "call".
-snip-
Notice in this singing game the lead singer’s voice (the call) is heard before
the group’s voice (the response.)
However, that order is inverted in contemporary (around late 1970s to around 2010) African American girls foot stomping cheers. In those cheers, the
group voice is heard before the soloist (lead singer).
Notice the words “My name is Mary” followed by the response and then Mary sings
something about herself “got sweet potatoes”. My guess is that each lead singer
said her or his name and sand something else about themselves. However, the
lines before “My name is [insert name] and the four end lines probably remained
the same with each lead singer..
**** OLD LADY SALLY WANTS TO JUMP (line game)
Old lady Sally wants to jumpty-jump
Jumpty-jump, jumpty-jump
Old lady Sally wants to jumpty-jump
And old lady wants to bow.
Throw that hook in the middle in the pond *
Catch that girl with the red dress on.
Go on, gal, ain't you shame?
Shamed of what?
Wearing your dress in the latest style.
Many fishes in the brook.
Papa catch 'em with a hook.
Mama fried them in a pan.
Baby ate 'em like a ma.
Preacher in the pulpit.
Preaching like a man.
Tryin to get to Heaven on a 'lectric fan
Do your best, pappy daddy do your best.
-Recorded at Lily's Chapel School, York, Alabama (1950s), http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW07004.pdf -snip-
*Given in Shake It To The One That You Love The Best (Cheryl Warren Mattox) as "Thrown that fish in the middle of the pond/Catch that girl with the red dress on".
-snip-
Directions (from the Smithsonian Folkways record):
The children stand in two lines facing each other. They all sing. Both rows jump back and forth, each child with his feet together.** On the last line "Old Lady Sally wants to bow", the lines jump forward and each child bows to the one opposite him**. This is all sung and acted out very rapidly. Ordinarily, the children clap their hands. In June, however, after a day of chopping cotton, jumping back and forth was enough.
Old Lady Sally is an old woman still trying to get a man. She goes "jumpty-jump" to appear young and she wears a red dress in the latest style to "catch one of the many fish in the brook". The children think that she should be ashamed of herself for not acting like an old woman should.
**** WAY DOWN YONDER IN THE PAW PAW PATCH (singing game)
Where, oh where is dear little Susie? *
Where, oh where is dear little Susie?
Where, oh where is dear little Susie?
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch.
Pickin up paw paws puttin em in the basket
Pickin up paw paws puttin em in the basket
Pickin up paw paws puttin em in the basket
Way down yonder in the paw paw patch
-Azizi Powell, childhood memories (Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1950s.)
-snip-
* The name given is changed to the name or nickname of the person hiding from the rest of the group in the designated "paw paw patch").
I remember "Way Down Yonder In The Paw Paw Patch" as a movement game. I probably learned it from teachers at my Baptist church's Vacation Bible school (summer school/ camp).I also remember learning "Zoodio" and "In the River On The Bank" at that same chuch sponsored summer school/camp. "In the River On The Bank" is a competitive movement line game of Caribbean or African American origin. The leader tries to get people in the group to jump the wrong way when he (or she) says "in the river" or "on the back". The last person remaining is the winner.
Examples of "Zoodio" are found below. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD9CUNpbQQk for a link to a video of "In The River On The Bank" that is played by fencing students.
**** PEEP SQUIRREL [line game and other activities]
Peep squirrel
Ya di da di deedy um
Peep squirrel
Ya di da di deedy um
Hop squirrel,
Ya di da di deedy um
Hop squirrel,
Ya di da di deedy um
(Each line is repeated as above.)
Run squirrel.
Ya di da di deedy um
Come here squirrel,
Ya di da di deedy um
Whoa mule,
I can't get the saddle on.
Hold that mule,
I can't get the saddle on.
Go that squirrel,
I can't get the saddle on.
Go that squirrel,
I can't get the saddle on.
Ya di da di deedy um-a
Ya di da di deedy um-dum!
-Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes, Step It Down, p. 214
-snip-
Here's a quote from book:
[This is] "one of Mrs. [Bessie] Jones' songs that she says is especially for children. You can sing "Peep Squirrel" while the children dance, or while you're bouncing a child on your knee, or at a slower pace, it makes a fine song for a tired baby and a warm lap and rocking chair."
A shorter version of "Peep Squirrel" is included in Cheryl Warren Mattox's book Shake It To The One That You Love Thee Best, page 36. "Peep Squirrel" is described in that book as a line game. "Players stand very still in two lines pretending to be trees. One child plays the part of the squirrel peeping, hopping and running around the "trees". On the verse "catch the squirrel", the race is on and whoever catches the "squirrel" takes over that role. "Yaddle-da-di deeedle-dum" represents the soft, fluttery sound of a squirrel scurrying through leaves."
****
PIZZA PIZZA DADDY-O (Version #1) [movement rhyme]
Mary had a baby (Tanya, Sherry, etc.)
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
How you know it?
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Cause she told me
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
What's his name
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Jessie James
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
What's special?
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Toilet tissue
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's jerk it
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's swim it
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's skate it,
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's freak it,
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's twine it
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's bat it
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's fan it
Pizza Pizza daddy-o
Let's spin it
Pizza Pizza daddy-o.
-From the DVD- The Films of Bess Lomax Hawes, http://www.media-generation.com -snip-
Here's a video clip of this film:
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
John Melville Bishop, Uploaded on Dec 12, 2009
-snip-
Another clip of this film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2YodFqZ7nQ
briefly shows an even shorter segment of "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" as well as other singing games. That video's summary statement indicates that the video entitled "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" is "A 1967 film by Bob Eberlein and Bess Lomax Hawes that looks at continuity and change in girls' playground games at a Los Angeles school".
****
PIZZA PIZZA MIGHTY MOE [movement rhyme, version #2]
Evalina?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
Well, have you seen her?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
She's got a wooden leg
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
But can she use it?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
Oh, yes, she can use it.
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
Well, do she 'buse it?
I know she use it.
Well, can she ball it?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
I say ball it!
-Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes, Step It Down... (originally published in 1972), p. 63
-snip-
Here's an excerpt from that book's comments about "Pizza Pizza Mighty Moe": "They [Bessie Jones and other people from the Georgia Sea Islands who were the contributors to this book saw] "a remarkable play [performance of the rhyme] presented by the children of Brunswick, Georgia elementary school a few years ago....apparently "Pizza" has caught on among the Island children as well as Los Angeles...."
-snip-
I believe that "Pizza Pizza Mighty Moe" is about a girl (whose name is Moe ?) who can really dance (in spite of her wooden leg.) The line "Well, do she 'buse it?" means "Can she really dance well" [To "abuse" something in this sense is a compliment.]. The line "Well, can she ball it? and "I say ball it!", "ball" means to dance really fast and/or "dance really good". That meaning comes from the phrase "balling the jack".
****
PIZZA PIZZA DADDY-O (Version #3) (movement rhyme)
(Jimmy) is having a birthday party.
Pizza, pizza, daddy-o!
How do you know?
Pizza, pizza, daddy-o!
Cause I saw it!
Pizza, Pizza, daddy-o!
Let’s jump it!
Jump it, Jump it daddy-o!
Let’s shake it!
Shake it, shake it, daddy-o!
Let’s hop it!
Hop it, hop it, daddy-o!
Let’s twist it!
Twist it, twist it daddy-o!
Let’s monkey it!
Monkey it, monkey it, daddy-o!
Let’s boogie it!
Boogie it, boogie it, daddy-o!
-Linda Gross and Marian E. Barnes, Talk That Talk, (New York, 1989; Simon & Schuster, pp. 444-445, from the Philadelphia (PA) School at 25th and Lombard in South Philadelphia).
-snip-
This singing game appears to provide an excuse for the girls to show off their dancing ability. While the commands "let's jump it!", "let's shake it", and "let's boogie it" refer to dancing movements, "the twist" and "the monkey" are actual names of R&B dances.
**** PIZZA PIZZA DADDIO (Version #4) (movement rhyme) The version at my school was "annie has a boyfriend
(Pizza pizza daddio) how do you know it? (Pizza pizza daddio) cause she told me
(Pizza pizza daddio) let's rope it (rope it rope it daddio) let's swim it swim
it swim it daddio) let's twist it (twist it twist it daddio) let's end it (end
it end it daddio!) -basil the frog, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2YodFqZ7nQ , Pizza Pizza Daddy-O, published by folkstreamer, August 3, 2006
**** PUNCHANELLA [ring game]
Hi, I was checking out this site and got so excited reading all of these cheers. It is so cool to see the cheers I did as a child in Birmingham, AL and see how differently they are done in different parts of the county. I am 26 and I try to pass down as many cheers as I can remember to my nieces and my daughter (8,6,and 2). Here's one:
Look who's here punch-a-nella, punch-a-nella
Look who's here punch-a-nella in the shoe
Oh what can you do, punch-a-nell, punch-a-nella
What can you do, punch-a-nella in the shoe
We can do it too, punch-a-nella, punch-a-nella
We can do it too, punch-a-nella in the shoe
Now choose your partner, punch-a-nella, punch-a-nella
Choose your partner, punch-a-nella in the shoe
We would all stand in a circle and one person would be in the middle and we would clap and stomp. The person in the middle would perform a dance during the line "oh what can you do...", then the group would imitate that dance on the next line. Then the person in the middle would cover their eyes and spin around during the line "now choose your partner...." and whomever they landed on at the end of the rhyme went into the circle next.
-Joi, cocojams.com; 3/23/2008
****
Q, R
RABBIT(singing games)
"Rabbit‘s rhythm and tune are reminiscent of marching calls and auctioneering. In black country schools, Bessie Jones recalls, children were taught “drills”-chanting, marching, and changing formations. Such drills, and games that sound like drills, may have originated in the teachers and children expressing their pride in the military training of black troops who figured decisively in the Civil War.
The sentiment expressed in the text, that a a rabbit would make a good pot of stew, probably derives from the fact that farmers cooked many wild animals. Bessie Jones recalls that she and her childhood friends sometimes shot small birds and cleaned, cooked, and ate them, just like grown-ups.
In American Ballads and Folk Songs (New York: Macmillan, 1934), Alan and John Lomax give a game text with variations of lines of this song, to be accompanied with “hambone” percussion-clapping hands and slapping thighs and face.
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,
See that rabbit sticking in the sand,
I wish I had him in my pan.
Ol’ rabbit skipped,
Ol’ rabbit hopped,
Ol’ rabbit jumped
Right in my pot.
-Four girls, vocals. Recorded 1939 in Amory, Miss., by Herbert Halpert. Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song AFS 2975 A4. [from Old Mother Hippletoe]
****
RABBIT IN THE PEA PATCH (singing game)
Rabbit In The Pea Patch
Rabbit in the pea-patch, shoo-lye-love [sing sentence 5x]
Shoo-lye love, my darling
You love Miss Sally [substitute another name [5x]
Shoo-lye-love, my darling
You stole my partner, shoo-lye love [5x]
Shoo-lye-love, my darling
But I’ll get another one, shoo-lye-love [5x]
Shoo-lye-love, my darling
Pretty as the other one, shoo-lye-love [5x]
Shoo-lye-love, my darling
-Old Mother Hippletoe record
-snip-
A “pea patch” is a small garden where peas are grown. This song doesn’t tell any story. It is actually just an excuse for dancing. Another name for couple dance songs such as these is “play party” songs. Some African American and Anglo-American religious groups that were opposed to couples dancing permitted couples to hop and skip around to songs such as this one, because they could consider it a game instead of a dance.
According to Kate Rinzer, author of the Old Mother Hippletoe record’s notes, "This song was sung in unison by people who were watching the game being played. Boy and girl couples performed this “play party game” by skipping hand in hand around a lone boy. The boy would eventually “steal” a girl of his choice from one of the couples. The person who is now alone becomes the new “rabbit in the pea-patch”.
****
RONALD MCDONALD [ring or line game] Ronald McDonald lo-o-o-oves a french fry! (Twice)
Ooh, s-s-wah-wah!
A french fry!
I found my lover.
A french fry!
He's so sweet,
A french fry!
Just like a cherry treat.
A french fry!
Additional stanzas may be about a hamburger, a milk shake, and so on, or the game may be expanded to include such non edibles as the Jackson Five. --Old Mother Hippletoe record -snip- "The Jackson Five" is the R&B sibling singing group that starred a young Michael Jackson. Here are that record's notes about this song (in addition to the example and comment given directly above: "Ronald McDonald” is played in a ring, in couples, or in lines (ring games are not necessarily played in rings). Each child claps her partner’s hands with right palm down and left palm up. On the refrain they make a motion symbolizing the food mentioned."
Other examples of "Ronald McDonald" are included in cocojams2's Hand Clap & Jump Rope Rhyme post.
****
S, T
SALLY DIED [ring game]
Slow
CALL: Sally died! (Girl in center chants)
RESPONSE: How did she die? (Girls in circle chant)
CALL: Oh, she died like this! (Leader strikes death pose)
RESPONSE: Oh, she died like this! (Circle mimics)
CALL: Sally died!
RESPONSE: How did she die?
CALL: Oh, she died like this! (New death pose)
RESPONSE: Oh, she died like this (Circle mimics)
CALL: Sally's living!
RESPONSE: Where's she live?
Double time; unison
Oh, she lives in a country called Tennesee! (Scissors jump)
She wears short, short dresses up above her knee!
She can shake that thing wherever she goes! (Satirical dance motion)
She can shake that thing wherever she goes!
Hands up, tussie, tussie, tussie, tus! (Raise hands)
Hands down, tussie, tussie, tussie, tus! (Hands ankle height)
Turn around, tussie, tussie, tussie, tus! (Full turn jump)
Touch the ground, tussie, tussie, tussie, tus! (Touch ground with jump)
Oh, she never went to college!
(Circle chants while leader whirls in place with hand covering eyes, other arm extended)
She never went to school!
But I found out
She was an educated fool!
The girl in the center stops abruptly on “fool,” pointing to the new leader.
- Old Mother Hippletoe..., http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdf
Band 2, Items 1, 2, 6, and 7
Ring Games: Sally Died; Ronald McDonald; Zoodiac; Zing-Zing-Zing
Washington, D.C., schoolgirls, vocals.
Recorded 1976 at Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, Washington, D.C.
-snip-
Here's the note written by Kate Rinzler for this game: " “Sally Died” is played with a leader in the center who chooses her replacement."
-snip-
Note that the girl in the middle doesn't close her eyes and put her left hand over her eyes before turning around to arbitrarily pick a new middle person. Closing your eyes to choose the next middle person is the custom that I'm familiar with (from my childhood in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1950s), and my observations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [1969- to date] of how a new middle person is picked. That said, I think that the custom of the middle person purposely picking her or his replacement predates the custom of arbitrarily picking her or his replacement.
Read the entry for "Aunt Jenny Died" in Part I of this series.
****
SATISFIED [ring game]
I'm goin up north
sat-is-fied!
And I would tell you
sat-is-fied!
Lord I am
sat-is-fied!
Some people up there
sat-is-fied!
Goin' to bring you back
sat-is-fied!
Aint noth-in' up there
sat-is-fied!
What you can do
sat-is-fied!
Mama cooked a cow
sat-is-fied!
Have to get all the girls [boys]
sat-is-fied!
Their bel-lies full!
sat-is-fied!"
[repeat from the beginning, substituting another thing that Mama cooks, such as
"Mama cooked a chicken
sat-is-fied!
Have to get all the girls etc.]"
-Harold Courlander, Negro Folk Music, USA,{Example 18} p. 152 [Originally published in1963] -snip-
Here are Courlander's notes about this example:
"In the Negro ring game sone shown in Example 18, recorded in Alabama, there are the usual fun-inspired lines without any special significance, but there is an interspersed ironic theme about people who migrate north to better themselves, only to find that their lot has not been improved. This type of social allusion is characteristic of adult songs of critical comment, and is found in numerous Negro ring game lyrics. The responsive form of the song is comparable to that of cetain kind of religious or [prison chain] gang singing. The leader sings everything but the last word of each line, which is reserved for the chorus [the rest of the singers]."
****
SEE SEE RIDER (SATISFIED) (ring game)
"Another ring game (Example 19) with the same response "satisfied" deals with another subject, but like the previous song {Example 18} the social complaint has a theme somewhat beyond the experience of participating children.
Beginning with the line "See see rider"
{a phrase appearing in a number of blues songs, sometimes written as C.C. Rider}, there is a kind of generalized blues statement of discontent, followed by specific criticism:
See see rider,
satisfied!
What's the matter?
satisfied!
I got to work,
satisfied!
I am tired,
satisfied!
And I can't eat,
satisfied!
Satisfied Lord,
satisfied!
After other lines of nonsense variety, the song admonishes the older generation, seemingly for its double standards:
Mamma Mamma,
satisfied!
Leave me alone.
satisfied!
When you were young,
satisfied!
were you in the wrong?
satisfied!
Papa Papa,
satisfied!
You the same.
satisfied!
You the one,
satisfied!
Give Mamma's name,
satisfied!"
-Harold Courlander, Negro Folk Music, USA,{Example 18} p. 152
-snip-
This example and the preceding one are included with lyrical transcriptions in the "Ring Games and Play Party Songs" chapter of Negro Folk Music, USA.
The numbers that are given are the numbers that these singing games have in that book which ws originally published in 1963.
****
SEVEN ELEVEN [movement rhyme]
7-11 and ah 42.
How many pop-ups
can you do?
Wiiith ah 1- 2- 3- 4
(The word “with” is spoken with emphasis and drawn out)
5-6-7-8.
7-11 and ah 42.
7-11 and ah 42.
How many bongos
can you do?
Wiiith ah 1, 2, 3, 4.
5, 6,7, 8.
7-11 and ah 42.
7-11 and ah 42.
How many jumping jacks
can you do?
Wiith ah 1, 2, 3, 4.
5, 6,7, 8.
7-11 and ah 42.
Repeat the rhyme as many times as you wish, each time substituting a new movement and doing the movements starting from “1” to the count of “8” {or any number you wish to end with.
-African American girls & boys, about 8-12 years, Ammon Recreational Center; Pittsburgh, PA} Collected by Azizi Powell, 1999
-snip-
I collected this rhyme from children during a cultural presentation that my associates and I did as part of our "Alafia [ah-LAH-fee-ah] Cultural Services game song groups. Those special programming events were held throughout the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in mostly African American neighborhoods.
The children stood in a line and recited this rhyme in unison. “Pop-ups” was the children’s term for the exercise commonly called “sit-ups”.
“Bongos” was the children’s term for a rhythmical side-to-side hip shaking motion.
“Jumping Jacks” is commonly used term for an exercise that combines clapping your hands above your head while you jump with your feet apart and then together.
It seems to me that "7-11 And Ah 42" could also be played as a "show me your motion" game. In that formation, the group would form a circle with one person in the middle. The middle person would call out which movement to do, and the others would exactly imitate that movement or be "out". Also, another rule could be that if the person in the middle repeated the movement that a previous person had called out, he or she had to remain n the middle. That "ring game" style of playing that game would have to also include a "Who do you choose" verse in order to pick a new middle person.
I didn't ask the children who showed me this fast paced game what "7 11 and ah 42 mean.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevens,_Elevens,_and_Doubles "7-11"and Doubles (also referred to as "7s, 11s, and doubles", "7/11/2x", Sloppy Dice is a drinking game played with two dice.[3][4] The game can be played with as few as two people, but is usually played in a group of five or more. The object of the games is to roll a 7, 11 or any double." end of quote
"42, also known as Texas 42, is a trick-taking game played with a standard set of double six dominoes." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(dominoes),p>
“7-11” is the name of a chain of all-night convenience stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I think those stores got that name because they are open from 7 o’clock in the morning to 11 o’clock at night, but I'm not sure that this has anything at all to do with this rhyme. It's possible that the number "42" was used just because the number two rhymes with the word "do". In that case, any number ending in two could have been used. Maybe the words don’t mean anything but just sound good together.
****
T, U, V
THIS A WAY VALERIE (also known as "Strut Miss Lucy") (line game)
This-A-Way Valerie
This-a-way, Valerie
Valerie, Valerie,
This-a-way, Valerie
All day long.
Oh, strut, Miss Lizzie
Lizzie, Lizzie
Strut Miss Lizzie
All day long.
Oh, here come another one
Just like the other one,
Here come another one
All day long.
****
TIDEO (singing game)
Pass one window, Tideo.
Pass two windows, Tideo.
Pass three windows, Tideo.
Jingle at the window, Tideo
Tideo! Tideo!
Jingle at the window, Tideo
- as sung in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNBfj0PKkD0 -snip-
I believe that the word "Tideo" in this song is used as a name or nickname, Maybe it came from the name "Matilda" (Tilda)" but that's just a guess. This "Tideo" song is documented as coming from the Southern USA & my guess is that it is of African American origin.
It's possible that earlier versions of this game song substituted other names instead of always singing "Tideo". However, the word (or name) "Tideo" probably came from the word "dideo". That word is found in earlier (19th century) dance songs from the USA such as "Sail Away Lady" and "Lead A Man". My sense is that dideo was just an imitation of music notes. However, I believe that in later versions of "Sail Away Lady", "dideo" became "daddy o".
Here's that video:
3rd Grade Music - Singing Game Tideo (Fairmont Anaheim Hills Campus)
Fairmont Schools, Uploaded on Jun 16, 2011
...In this music activity, students experience 16th note rhythms in 4/4 meter, they sing in tune to a wide-range melody, and they work as a team.
At Fairmont Private Schools, Anaheim Hills Campus [California], students come to music twice a week. They enjoy our sound-proof studio complete with a dance floor and African drums. Students participate in singing, dancing, instrument playing, and creating music!
****
W, X
WATERFLOWER (Also known as "Wallflower") [ring game]
Water-flower
Water-flower, water-flower,
Growing up so tall,
All the young ladies must surely, surely die;
All except Miss 'Lindy Watkins,
She is everywhere,-
The white folks say, the white folks say,
Turn your back and tell your beau's name.
Doctor, Doctor can you tell
What will make poor 'Lindy well?
She is sick and 'bout to die,
That will make poor Johnnie cry!
Marry, marry, marry, quick!
'Lindy, you are just love sick!
Johnnie is a ver' nice man,
Comes to the door with hat in hand,
Pulls off his gloves and show his rings,
'Morrow is the wedding-day.
-Altona Trent John, Playsongs of the Deep South, published in 1944.
-snip-
This is a co-ed ring game with one person in the center.
This is an African American version of the British singing game "Waterflowers".
****
Y, Z
ZING ZING ZING
This game is a form of the "Concentration" listing game. As such it is included in cocojams2's handclap rhyme post U-Z.
**** ZOODIO
"Zoodio" is also found as "Here We Go Zoodio", "Zudio" and "Zodiac" and similar titles
HERE WE GO ZOODIO (Version #1 (line game]
Here we go Zoodio Zoodio Zoodio
Here we go Zudio all night long
Step back Sally Sally Sally
Step back Sally all night long
Walkin down the alley alley alley
Walkin down the alley all night long
-Azizi Powell, childhood memories, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s
-snip-
I learned this singing game when I was around eight years old from an African American woman taught at our church's vacation Bible school. She said she sung learned it when she was a child in Georgia.
Here's how I taught this game to children in the early 2000s as part of my Alafia Childrens Ensemble game song groups:
1. Children chose a partner.
2. The partners stand facing each other.
3. The partners crossed their hands and held their partner's hand in a criss cross manner.
4. While singing the first lines "Here we go Zoodio, Zoodio, Zoodio/Here we go Zoodio all night long", the partners swing their crossed hands back and forth to the beat. And, while standing still, they also move their slightly bent knees up & down to the same beat.
5. On the words, "Step back sally", the partners jump back and forth, first away from, and then toward their partner.
6. On the words, "Walking through the alley", the partners strut to another partner.
7. The song begins again and continues in this pattern.
****
ZOODIO (Version #2) [line game]
Here we go zoodiac, zoodiac,
zoodiac,
Here we go zoodiac, all night long!
Oh, step back, Sally, Sally, Sally,
Step back, Sally, all night long!
Oh, a-walkin' down the alley,
alley, alley.
A-walkin' down the alley, all night long!
Oh, what did I see
I saw a big fat man from Tennessee!
I bet you five dollars I can beat that man!
To the front. to the back, to the si'-si'-si'. (Twice)
I called the doctor, and the doctor said
I got a pain in my si', oooo-chi-ah!
(Twice)
I got a pain in my si’ [side]
-http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdfOld Mother Hippletoe... -snip-
"si’" = side
Here's the album note for this game: “Zoodiac” is generally played in two lines. It ends with the children “walking down the alley” by ones or in couples between the lines."
****
HERE COMES ZODIAC (Version #3) [line game]
ok the zodiac thing I did at camp but it had more words.
Here comes zodiac zodiac zodiac here comes zodiac all night long
here comes sally walking down the alley here comes sally all night long
here comes another one just like the other one here comes another one all night long.
I looked out yonder and what do I see? A big fat man from tennesse. I bet ya five dollars that ya can't do this, I bet ya five dollars that ya can't do that.
to the front to the back to the side side side. to the front to the back to the side side side. You lean wayyyyyy back, you got a hump on your back, you lean way back you got a hump on your back. Do the camel walk.
