#67642
04/28/2002 2:54 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I want to compile « tape la main » songs and put them all together into a book. I don’t know what it is called in English. It is that game little girls play by clapping their hands together to the beat of a song. They clap the other girl’s hands straight and crosswise and up and down. My memory may be playing games but I seem to recall it being called something like patty cake in English. It is amazing but my niece, who is seven, didn’t even know about this game. I taught her some but it would be nice to have more.
Do you ladies remember any of the tappe la main songs you used to sing. I’d love to have some from all over the place. (and, if you don’t mind, I’d attribute them to you, like “Michel je t’abandonne” from Ginette / Canada.
[bold]The hyphen is used to mark a syllable pauses: [/bold]
I remember one in French:
Michel je t’abandon-ne
Je ne veux plus te voir
La peine que tu m’as fai-te
M’as mis au désespoir
…..…boum, boum
Assis sous la fenê-tre
Je le regarde passer
Et dis t’a ma grand mè-re
Voici mon bien aimé
…..…boum, boum
Si faut que je l’embra-se
Ah oui je l’embrasse-rai
Si faut que je’l chatoui-lle
Ah oui je’l chatouille-rai
…..…boum, boum.
Translated it it not rhytmic at all » » »
Michel I abandon you
I don’t want to see you anymore
The sadness you have given me
Has made me so depressed
Sitting by the window
I watch him go by
And say to my grandmother
There goes my true love
If I have to kiss him
Oh yes I will kiss him
If I have to tickle him
Oh yes I’ll ticke him
(at the last bit you were supposed to wait after the boum boum part and try to tickle the girl in front of you)
We used to play this non-stop when we were little girls - before the advent of gameboys and portable video toys. Any favorites out there?
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#67643
04/28/2002 3:40 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Here is one bel, from the deep south, overheard by me, who even as a little boy, was fascinated by the rythmic chants of black girls playing.
Clap, clap, My Mother told me, clap, clap,
If I'd be goodie, clap, clap,
That she would buy me, a rubber dollie.
I told my Mommie, clap, clap.
That I'd be goodie, clap, clap
If she would buy me, a rubber dollie.
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#67644
04/28/2002 9:45 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wow! Does this ever take me back! Growing up in the south mah own seff, I too remember the song milum cited and it was later done by a girl group in the late 60s - early 70s. They added another one of those songs to it. All I can remember is something about "the streetcar line, the line broke, the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little row boat clap-clap..." I can't think of what we called them, bel, nor can I think of any songs we did, but I know we did them. I'll put my subconscious to work on it. 
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#67645
04/28/2002 11:16 AM
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
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Bel, my subconscious is now on your payroll too. Just don't expect it to do any useful work...
I think 'patty cake' is an American term but I have absolutely no idea what we called all those clapping rhyme games in the UK. And the only one I can remember is (done in parts - as many of you as there were stood around in a giant circle and I cannot remember the clapping rhythm at all):
"Who stole the cookies from the baker's shop?"
"Number one stole the cookies from the baker's shop?"
"Who, me?"
"Yes, you!"
"Couldna been!"
"Then who?"
"Number two stole the cookies from the baker's shop."
"Who, me?"
"Yes, you!"
...and so on ad infinitum, or until someone got it wrong or until the bell went.
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#67646
04/28/2002 11:26 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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There's a very complicated hand game that children perform to "Four White Horses," a Caribbean song. I'll see whether I can remember the lyric here:
Four white horses up the river,
Heh, heh, heh, up tomorrow.
Up tomorrow is a rainy day.
Come along to the shallow bay.
Shallow bay is a ripe banana,
Up tomorrow is a rainy day.
Four children form a square. They begin the hand jive independently of each other and clap across each other on the off-beats. I'll teach it to anyone who wants to learn it should we ever meet. Terrific, complicated hand jive and lots of fun--my kids at school consider themselves to be superstars once they've got a square that can get through the whole song without a mistake--or mis-clap!
Beat regards,
Wordwinner
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#67647
04/28/2002 1:29 PM
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 688
addict
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addict
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On a similar vein, there is one I remember from my Girls Scout days, that my daughter still brings up and I'm sure will be part of my granddaughters vocabulary before she learns to say "granny"! It's played in a group, while alternating clapping your own hands, then slapping your own thighs in rhythm. It's usually done while sitting "Indian style" around a campfire and having one person lead and have the rest repeat each line on the beats. It's nonsensical words, but they work to the rhythm. Now remember, one person says a line, then the rest repeat it, then the one says the next line, and so forth: Flea!
Flea, fly!
Flea, fly, flo!
A veesta!
Cooma lotta, cooma lotta, cooma latta veesta!
Oh, no no no not the veesta!
Eeny meeny, desa meany, ooo alla walla meany, exa meany, zalla meany, ooo alla walla meany!
Beep, biddly oaten doaten doe doe da deeten datten SHHHHHHHH!OMG....I am laughing so hard I have tears streaming down my cheeks! Trying to spell this out was a riot! I think it must lose something in the translation, and it dawned on me as I was typing it, that the first four lines and the last line are spoken, but the rest has a melody to it. Hey, Sparteye, you think we could have a campfire at Wordapalooza! so I can properly demonstrate this one? Of course, we better all bring a cane or walking stick so we can get up off the ground after sitting on the ground with our legs crossed! 
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#67648
04/28/2002 3:07 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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dear bel,
you have just opened a flood gate.. in my family, i am the repository for all these song. some are clapping songs, and some are jump rope songs, and some are counting out (deciding who is going to be it, in a game of tag) songs..
the have been compilations done for NY songs, but it was back in the early 70!
some NY (and Boston, baltimore, etc) street songs, are american varients of child ballads, with the same tunes, and only a few word changed.
Like
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, mack
with silver buttons all down her back, back,
(many verses-- i'll think about them and write them down if you want)
Mary, mary, was your feet,
the board of health, across the street
this, the board of health, is an idiom for a Bof H nurse or social worker
Starting in a whisper, repeat, each time louder
Who put the overalls in Mrs Murphy's chowder?
If you won't answer, i'll ask a little louder!
a varient of a very old song.. it might even been a child ballad..
Miss lucy had a steam boat,
the steam boat had a bell
Miss lucy went to heaven,
the steam boat went to Hell--
O operater, give me number 9
i want to report a robbery,
He tried to steal my laundry
but all he got was a pile of shi--
(shi)ne your shoes and button
(and more- once i get started my siblings remember the parts i forget. It ends with some one falling some broken Glass.
My sistr had a baby,
she put him in the tub
He drank up all the water
He ate up all the soap
He died last night with a bubble in his throat.
Dead said the doctor,
dead said the nurse,
dead said the lady with the alligator purse!
the lady with the alligator purse=social worker
A Jump rope song, slow, then fast at the alphabet
Strawberry shortcake, cream on top,
My true love name starts on the letter i stop
A, B, C, ...
a counting out song...
Ink a bink,
a bottle of ink,
the cork fell out and you stink!
not because you're dirty
Not because you're clean
just because you kissed a girl
in a dirty magazine.
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#67649
04/28/2002 3:16 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 144
member
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member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 144 |
it was later done by a girl group in the late 60s - early 70s.
__________________________
I thought it was Bananarama in the 80's?
3, 6, 9
the goose drank wine
the monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line
the line broke
the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven in a little row boat
clap, clap!
and the rubber dolly bit went on for several verses and made tell of how her auntie told her mother that she'd kissed a soldier and now she wouldn't buy her the rubber dolly
there was another one we used to do, but it's completely escaped me for the moment, I'll have to give it some thought!
It's definitely a girl thing though - we had a voice coach in choir who was trying to get us to do something very similar (as part of an exercise to do with making the right and left sides of the brain work together) and the boys were just painful to watch!! They usually have the same problems with aerobics and step classes too!
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#67650
04/28/2002 4:04 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
We used to do this one - it had a pretty elaborate clapping schematic, which I only remember parts of... I guess it's true - the mind is the first to go.  Say say oh playmate Come out and play with me And bring your dollies three Climb up my apple tree Slide down my {rainbow? rain barrel?} Into my cellar door And we'll be jolly friends Forever more, more, three four. There was a "Say say oh enemy" revision that was my first real introduction to the concept of parody, but I don't remember the words...
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#67651
04/28/2002 4:44 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,511 |
I thought it was Bananarama in the 80'sThanks, rkay. This senior has her moments!
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#67652
04/28/2002 4:55 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Playmate,Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
Yell down my rain barrell
Slide down my cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends
For ev-er more!
Fiberbabe! ... Oh, what memories you have conjured up! I remember the above (changes in blue & bold) as a song from my far distant youth! Late 1930, early '40s.
Perhaps it was adapted later to a clapping game ?!?!?!
Oh, yelling into a rain barrell produces a booming hollow voice. And exterior cellar entrances had doors you could slide down! Fun!
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#67653
04/28/2002 5:00 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
My boyfriend went to sea-sea-sea
And all that he could see-see-see
Was the bottom of the deep blue
Sea-sea-sea
In succeeding verses, the "c-c-c" part was replaced with other, nonsensical, terms. I recall "ooo-watch-ee-wah."
In this one, the term "long-legged" is varied, and the hand position changes to depict the pertinent physical attribute:
Did you ever, ever, ever
In your long-legged life
See a long-legged lover
And his long-legged wife?
No, I never, never, never
In my long-legged life
Saw a long-legged lover
And his long-legged wife
Long-legged becomes, in succession, short-legged, knock kneed, and bow-legged.
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#67654
04/28/2002 5:02 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Slide down my {rainbow? rain barrel?}
Into my cellar door
This clapping game is an old song lyric. Try,
Hide in my rain barrel
Slide down my cellar door
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#67655
04/28/2002 5:19 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh, i remember that one fiber, in ny slightly different..
Say say oh playmate.............Oh my little playmate
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my {rainbow? rain barrel?}we'll sit on the lawn
Into my cellar door.................by the cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends...........best of friend
Forever more, more, three four.......more, more, more!
and it reminded me
Chose your partner, skip to my Lou
Chose your partner, skip to my Lou
Chose your partner, skip to my Lou
Skip to my Lou, my darling
skip, skip, skip to my lou
skip, skip, skip to my lou
skip, skip, skip to my lou
skip to my lou, my darling
Lost my partner, what should i do, (etc)
I'll get another one, prettier than you, (etc)
Flys in the sugar bowl, shoo, fly shoo, (etc)
red is the burden/chorus, and is repeated..
there are hundreds of verses.. i am sure others here will remember more..
and
When you get married
and your husband gets cross
Just pick up the broom
and ask, Who the boss?
and a spring time one
I have a little pussy
her coat is silver grey
she lives out in the meadow,
she stays there all the day
she'll always be a pussy,
she'll never be a cat
for she's a pussy willow,
now what do you think of that?
and
white coral bells, upon a slender stalk
lilys of the valley (mugets du bois)
deck my garden walk
Oh how i wish, that i could hear them ring
that will happen only when the fairy's sing!
and of course, we all sang and played (girls that is!)
London bridges falling down, falling down, falling down
London bridges falling down, My fair lady!
Take a key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up (ect)
Get some money to build it up, build it up, build it up,(etc)
Still the bridge is half way down, half way down, half way down,[etc)
Some one go and tell the king, tell the king, tell the king (etc)
and many more verses..
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#67656
04/28/2002 5:41 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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of Troy:
We sing "Miss Mary Mack" here this way:
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,
All dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,
Up and down her back, back, back.
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents,
To see an elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump over the fence, fence, fence.
It jumped so high, high, high,
Up to the sky, sky, sky,
And didn't come back, back, back
Till the fourth of July, -ly, -ly!
Beast regards,
Wordwind
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#67657
04/28/2002 10:53 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,064 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Let me put my penny in, too -
the Bronx, 1945-50 -
Miss lucy had a steam boat, the steam boat had a bell
Miss lucy went to heaven, the steam boat went to
Hell-o Operator...etc,
was one of a whole genre, including "Sweet Violets" which as I recall was even made into a popular song about that time:
"There once was a farmer who took a young miss
In back of the barn where he gave her a
Lecture on horses and chickens and eggs
And told her she had the most beautiful
Manners that suited a girl of her charms
A girl whom he's like to take into his
Washing and ironing and" (I misremember the next line or two)
"...They could get married and raise lots of
Sweet Violets, sweeter than the roses,
Covered all over from head to foot,
Covered all over with Sweet Vi-i-o-lets"
and so on for several more verses...
The rhythmic hand-jive routines that I was exposed to were used for jump-rope chants, and the shorter ones bounce-ball routines (remember "Spaldeens" - the pink rubber balls made by the Spalding company?)
"Oh I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more,
There's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door.
He'll take you by the collar
And he'll make you pay a dollar
So I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more."
I'm too close - is it possible to read them without the rhythm coming through?
And just for fun - any cats-cradle or fifteen-puzzle aficionados handy?
PS for the non-folk-music-savvy - the "child" in american variants of child ballads doesn't refer to immature humanoids but rather to one Harold Childe (?) who went about the English countryside many years ago collecting and cataloging and recording (on paper) all the folk songs he could gather, from the Middle Ages forward, a formidable reference work now known as the "Childe Ballads". (Somebody should check the details of this)
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#67658
04/28/2002 11:10 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 5,400 |
Remember "Spaldeens" - the pink rubber Spalding Hi-Bounce balls-- it a favorite of mine..
een as a diminutive is pure irish! and the irish influence in NY made little balls, spaldeens!
eens shows up in Maureen (Maura is the proper name) Kathleen, (a diminute of Cathrine) Pegeen, (beloved of David Copperfield, a most likely a Margaret, made Peg, made to Pegeen!-- and in on of my all time favorite word (wrong thread i know!) smithereens!
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#67659
04/28/2002 11:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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One that we played when I was a kid--long, long ago--was:
Two Lips Together
Two lips together
Tied up forever--
Bring back my love to me.
What is the meaning
Of all the flowers?
It is the story
Of my true from me to you!
Et vous?
It had a kind of Caribbean rhythm performed over the steady beat of the hand jive. On "et vous?" we slapped our hands out together in a final double clap.
Beat regards,
WordWhythm
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#67660
04/28/2002 11:34 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh WOF, do you think I could cajole you into writing out all the verses on those tappe la main songs.
(I love the switch in the Hell-o operator one.)
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#67661
04/28/2002 11:35 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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[honorary girl] One I remember listening to in the playgrounds of Kent: My Mother said My Mother said that I never should Play with the gypsies in the wood If I did she would say Naughty girl to disobey Disobey, disobey, Naughty girl to disobey A site with a few soundtracks amongst other things… http://www.firebirdtrust.sagenet.co.uk/clap/clap.html[/honorary girl] and wow, was that a ruthless sisterhood thang - get too close at your peril!
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#67662
04/29/2002 10:46 AM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
The "patty cake" connection you spoke of rang a bell with this ex-coed-schoolperson. We used to hear the girls chant and clap:
Pat a cake, pat a cake baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can
Pat it and prick it and......there my memeory fails me, but perhaps it will jog someone else's.
Don't know why it was Baker's man rather than Baker man, but I feel sure it was.
dxb
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#67663
04/29/2002 11:50 AM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Pat it and prick it and......
...mark it with C,
And put in the oven for baby and me
ok, ok, I always liked the girls ;)
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#67664
04/29/2002 12:24 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Here's the whole version of the steam boat one (from my childhood): Miss Mary had a steamboat,
The steamboat had a bell,
When Mary went to heaven,
The steamboat went to hell-
O operator,
Give me number nine,
And if you disconnect me,
I'll kick you in be-
Hind the yellow curtain,
There was a piece of glass,
When Mary sat upon it,
She cut her little
Ask me no more questions
Tell me no more lies
The boys are in the washroom
Doing up their
Flies are in the city
Bees are in the park,
Boys and girls are having fun
Kissing in the dark, dark, dark!
What great memories! I have more - maybe for later - gotta work now!
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#67665
04/29/2002 12:25 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Pat-ta cake, pat-ta cake,
Baker's man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it and pat it and mark it with a "B"
And put it in the oven for baby and me!
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#67666
04/29/2002 12:32 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
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Hi girls, can I join in?
Here are the lyrics for the 1894 song by Petrie and Wingate which Sparteye mentioned:
Once there lived side by side, two little maids,
Used to dress just alike, hair down in braids,
Blue gingam pinafores, stockings of red,
Little sun bonnets tied on each pretty head.
When school was over secrets they'd tell,
Whispering arm in arm, down by the well.
One day a quarrel came, hot tears were shed:
"You can't play in our yard,"
But the other said:
Chorus: (All together now!)
I don't want to play in your yard, I don't like you any more,
You'll be sorry when you see me, sliding down our cellar door.
You can't holler down our rain-barrel,
You can't climb our apple tree,
I don't want to play in your yard if you won't be good to me.
Next day two little maids each other miss,
Quarrels are soon made up, sealed with a kiss,
Then hand in hand again, happy they go,
Friends all thro' life to be, they love each other so.
Soon schooldays pass away, sorrows and bliss
But love remembers yet, quarrels and kiss.
In sweet dreams of childhood, we hear the cry:
"You can't play in our yard,"
And the old reply: [Chorus]
And from the collection of Australian children's play rhymes ("Cinderella dressed in yella"), from which I've posted several times before, here are some local variations on some of the rhymes in this thread:
Mary Mack, dressed in black,
Silver buttons down her back.
She likes coffee, I like tea,
She likes sitting on a Chinaman's knee.
Went to a river, couldn't get across,
Paid ten pounds for an old blind horse,
Jumped on his back, gave him a crack,
Goodbye, Mary Mack, she never came back.
My mother said I must never
Go where the gypsies are,
For if I did, she would say
"Naughty girl to disobey,"
One spank, two spank, three spank,
You're out.
My mother said I never should
Play with the sailors down the bay,
If I did, she would say:
"Naughty girl, I'll have you spayed."
And here's one that hasn't been mentioned yet (I think):
Oh, I'm a pretty little Dutch girl,
As pretty as can be, pom pom,
And all the girls around the place
Are crazy over me.
My boyfriend's name is Fatty
And he comes from Cincinnati
With a pimple on his nose
And two auburn toes
And this is how my story goes:
One day when I was walking
I met my boyfriend talking
To a pretty little girl
With a dirty big curl [chocolate]
And this is what he said to her:
"I love you very dearly,
But I love one more sincerely,
So let's go down to the apple tree
And see how happy we can be."
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#67667
04/29/2002 12:56 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Dear WW,
I think it was my mother's fault that I was so interested in words. When I was small, it went:
Patty-cake, patty-cake
Baker's man,
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with C
And put it in the oven for Cristina and me!
(Even at that young age I was being taught, for example, that my name started with "C" - I don't remember learning the alphabet, for example...as far as I'm concerned, I've "always" known it! So even as a baby, I was a wordie already - and the rest, as they say, is history!)
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#67668
04/29/2002 2:08 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Anna Banana play the piano;
All she can play is the (pause) Star Spangled Banner.
Anna Banana (clap, clap, jump, land with feet apart).
Two children face each other, feel close together. On beats 1 and 3, they clap ownd hands together; On beat 2 partners clap left hands together; the last line is action only--they clap own hands on first beats, snap with both hands on third beat and jump to a position with feet slightly apart. When their feet as so far apart that they're in splits (or fallen over), the game is over.
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#67669
04/29/2002 2:53 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Here's the lyrics (if nonsense words can be called that) to a game where everyone stood in a circle, as if you were holding hands but with palms up, with your right hand above the hand of the person on that side, and your left hand below the hand of the person on the other side. Someone would start off by clapping their right hand toward their left hand; since there was someone else's hand there they would receive the clap and the next beat they would clap the hand of the person to their left, and so on. The song goes:
Stella ola ola, clup, clup, clup
Singin' ess chico chico, chico chico chup chup
Ess chico chico valow, valow, valow valow valow valow
One-two-three-four-five!
(I've tried to highlight the strong beats in bold, there were actually two slaps per beat. You guys have no idea how long it took me to work all that out!)
Whoever's hand was supposed to be hit on "Five" had to move it so as not to be hit. If they dodged the hit, the hitter was "out", if they were hit, they were "out". The game would continue to smaller and smaller circles until just one person was left. They were the winner, and then everyone re-joined the circle and started over again!
I always wondered if this song was a bastardization of a song in another language. It sure just seems like very rhythmic gibberish written out like this!
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#67670
04/29/2002 11:06 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
> I always wondered if this song was a bastardization of a song in another language. It sure just seems like very rhythmic gibberish written out like this!There's a warmup we do in rehearsal for improv... it's based on an African circle chant, and one of my fellow team members *hates* doing that warmup because he finds it insulting to the tradition it represents. I've never seen Roots, so I don't know how best to describe it. We've got it going as a name game/rhyme thing: Shock boo ya, shock, shock, shock boo ya, Roll Call, Shock boo ya, shock, shock, shock boo ya, Roll Call My name is Dagny (Yeah) Eyelids are saggy (Yeah) Got a plastic baggy (Yeah) And I breathe air (Roll Call) Shock boo ya, etc - moving around the circle in the group. Uh oh. Speaking of rehearsal, I'm going to be late...  Better find my shoes.
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#67671
04/29/2002 11:20 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
I don't remember the the
Shock boo ya, shock, shock, shock boo ya, Roll Call,
Shock boo ya, shock, shock, shock boo ya, Roll Call
at all, but Fiberbabe reminded me of
A my name is Anna
and i come from Alabama
and i eat apples
Bmy name is betty
and i come from Boston
and i eat bananas
and so on.. it was a jump rope song, specifically double dutch, and you jumped in, did your letter, and jumped out.. and with out missing a beat, the next girl jumped in..
it was great in the school yard, where lots of girls waited for a turn to jump in.. usually you had two lines, and you alternated.. entered right, exited left, enterd left, and exited right.. the second round of the alphabet required all new names, places and foods.. Q was hard enough once second go round, no one wanted it, same with X.. but z has more names and you could eat silly things like zinnias.
(i am right in presuming every one here knows what double dutch is? this years winners were a team from Japan.. )
in Fiberbabe's example, the words rhyme, in ours, they followed a letter pattern
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#67672
04/29/2002 11:21 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,064 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,064 Likes: 2 |
Did you ever, ever, ever in your long-legged life
See a long-legged lover and his long-legged wife?
No, I never, never, never in my long-legged life
Saw a long-legged lover and his long-legged wife
Variation on a theme - inevitable; expect many. This is how I learned this one:
Did you ever, eever, iver in your leaf, loaf, life
See the Devil, Deevil, Duyvil kiss his weef, wofe, wife?
No, I never, neever, niver in my leaf, loaf, life
Saw the Devil, Deevil, Duyvil kiss his weef, wofe, wife!
(There was only the one verse.)
Regarding Pattycake/Pat-a-cake: the letter for marking was always adjustable, so the song could be personalized for whatever Baby's name was. B was for Baby, of course, but any first-name-whose-initial-sounded-like-ee would do fine. If your name began with a B,C,D,E,G,P,T,V, or even a Z you had your very own song!
One from my wife's childhood:
(Baby is facing you, being gently bounced on your lap)
Ride a horse to Boston,
Ride a horse to Lynn,
Watch out, little {baby's name}
You don't fall INNNN !!!! [legs spread apart suddenly and of course baby does exactly that!]
(both giggle madly; pull up child, put legs together again, repeat ad libitum)
But I guess that's not exactly a "tappe les mains" game, is it...
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#67673
04/29/2002 11:25 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Ditto this--
Ride a horse to Boston,
Ride a horse to Lynn,
Watch out, little {baby's name}
You don't fall INNNN !!!! [legs spread apart suddenly and of course baby does exactly that!]
but we said,
Trot trot to boston,
trot trot to lynn
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#67674
04/29/2002 11:43 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,064 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,064 Likes: 2 |
Sweet Violets was apparently recorded by Mitch Miller and went something like this:
There once was a farmer who took a young miss
In back of the barn where he gave her a
Lecture on horses and chickens and eggs
and told her that she had such beautiful
manners that suited a girl of her charms,
A girl that he wanted to take in his
washing and ironing and then if she did
They could get married and raise lots of --
Chorus: Sweet violets, sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets.
(Guess I didn't misremember all that much after all!)
Didn't find the second or third verse on a brief Google, though.
The original song is, not unexpectedly but not very helpfully either, "traditional."
Did find that, while it's gently misleading to the hearer as to what the next word will be, it's really _very_ much cleaned up (had to be, I guess, to be a Hit Parade song aroung 1950) and what the violets were Covered All Over with was much stronger indeed...
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#67675
04/30/2002 12:04 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Oh and remember
Lavenders blue dilly dilly
Lavernders green,
when i am king dilly dilly
you shall be queen
Who told you so, dilly dilly
who told you so?
it was my own heart dilly dilly
that told me so.
i think there are other verses.. and i am 99% sure its very old, and a Child Ballad.. maybe i'll go look
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#67676
04/30/2002 6:48 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Roses are red, dilly dilly
Violets are blue
Because you love me, dilly dilly
I will love you
Let the bells sing, dilly dilly
And the lambs play
We shall be safe, dilly dilly
Out of harm's way
or the one that I knew:
Rose are red, dilly dilly
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet, dilly dilly
So are you
Or the modern alternative:
Roses are red, dilly dilly
violets are blue
Rubbish is dumped, dilly dilly
So are you
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#67677
04/30/2002 7:43 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Neat stuff, wofahulicodoc, especially
"...see the devil, deevel, duyval, kiss his weefe, woofe, wife"
Thanks, be cool,
Milo.
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#67678
04/30/2002 12:54 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Such a great thread, bel!
And thanks, WW... I'd been struggling to remember that "Two Lips Together" and couldn't get past the first line.
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#67679
04/30/2002 1:24 PM
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
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addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
Roses are red, dilly dilly
..or the alternative modern alternative
Roses are red, dilly dilly
Violets are blue
Daffodils are expensive
Will dandelions do?
Who said romance was dead?!?
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#67680
04/30/2002 1:26 PM
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
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addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
My Mother said I never should
Play with the gypsies in the wood
My father said that if I did
He'd beat my head with a teapot lid
(...which may explain a lot...)
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#67681
04/30/2002 1:33 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
and i learned i always sang a mondegreen..
two lips together,
twilight forever!-- d'oh, how dumb was i?
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