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Clapping and jump-rope rhymes are an intriguing part of the body of folksong. The number one song of this type that still sticks in my head is "Miss Suzie", of which I'm sure there are a gazillion variants in North America.
Miss Suzie had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell
Miss Suzie went to heaven, the steamboat went to
Hello operator, please give me number nine
And if you disconnect me, I'll kick you from behind
Refrigerator, there was a piece of glass
Miss Suzie sat upon it and broke her little
Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom, zipping up their
Flies are in the meadow, the bees are in the park
Miss Suzie and her boyfriend are kissing in the
D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K, dark dark dark!
With minor variations (especially around the last four lines), I would guess that's similar to what anyone with two X chromosomes who grew up in the US and is reading this probably learned. But then things get a lot more diverse. I've sung the following verses for some people and been met with very blank looks:
A dark is like a movie, a movie's like a show
A show is like a TV screen, and that is all I know
I know my Ma, I know I know my Pa
I know I know my sister with the eighty-acre bra
My mother is Godzilla, my father is King Kong
My sister is the geeky one who made me sing this song
(The bit about Godzilla and King Kong, at least, is known by at least one other person, since it made it into an Answers.com article. So I'm not totally crazy on that.)
A lot of songs and rhymes we learn from our parents or similar older figures, but every clapping and jumping song I ever learned was from other children, and those solely girls, as far as I can remember. I wonder what connection this has, mystically speaking, to women as tale-tellers, and to the predominance of girls/women in fanfic writing, for that matter. But in any case, it's interesting how songs like this spread. They certainly don't do so through regular media channels. All such songs I learned were either in grade school or at summer camp, from age-mates. Where did they get them? Older sisters? They have to be passed down from somewhere, and I don't think it's parents, mostly (at least, my mother never taught me any such).
As somewhat of an aside, I have never managed to work out what is going on with the fact that the song I know as "Mary Mack" ("Miss Mary Mack, mack, mack / All dressed in black, black, black / With silver buttons, buttons, buttons / All down her back, back, back") is so totally different from the homophonous "Mari Mac" of the Maritimes ("There's a neat little lass and her name is Mari Mac / Make no mistake, she's the girl I'm gonna track"). Was there never any relation to begin with? Did they diverge wildly at some point?
Miss Suzie had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell
Miss Suzie went to heaven, the steamboat went to
Hello operator, please give me number nine
And if you disconnect me, I'll kick you from behind
Refrigerator, there was a piece of glass
Miss Suzie sat upon it and broke her little
Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom, zipping up their
Flies are in the meadow, the bees are in the park
Miss Suzie and her boyfriend are kissing in the
D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K, dark dark dark!
With minor variations (especially around the last four lines), I would guess that's similar to what anyone with two X chromosomes who grew up in the US and is reading this probably learned. But then things get a lot more diverse. I've sung the following verses for some people and been met with very blank looks:
A dark is like a movie, a movie's like a show
A show is like a TV screen, and that is all I know
I know my Ma, I know I know my Pa
I know I know my sister with the eighty-acre bra
My mother is Godzilla, my father is King Kong
My sister is the geeky one who made me sing this song
(The bit about Godzilla and King Kong, at least, is known by at least one other person, since it made it into an Answers.com article. So I'm not totally crazy on that.)
A lot of songs and rhymes we learn from our parents or similar older figures, but every clapping and jumping song I ever learned was from other children, and those solely girls, as far as I can remember. I wonder what connection this has, mystically speaking, to women as tale-tellers, and to the predominance of girls/women in fanfic writing, for that matter. But in any case, it's interesting how songs like this spread. They certainly don't do so through regular media channels. All such songs I learned were either in grade school or at summer camp, from age-mates. Where did they get them? Older sisters? They have to be passed down from somewhere, and I don't think it's parents, mostly (at least, my mother never taught me any such).
As somewhat of an aside, I have never managed to work out what is going on with the fact that the song I know as "Mary Mack" ("Miss Mary Mack, mack, mack / All dressed in black, black, black / With silver buttons, buttons, buttons / All down her back, back, back") is so totally different from the homophonous "Mari Mac" of the Maritimes ("There's a neat little lass and her name is Mari Mac / Make no mistake, she's the girl I'm gonna track"). Was there never any relation to begin with? Did they diverge wildly at some point?
no subject
Date: Dec. 17th, 2007 09:30 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Dec. 17th, 2007 10:17 am (UTC)From:But in general it seems we have very similar backgrounds, at least in the broad sense of "west coast" vs. "central America", "the South" or "east coast". So I guess it shouldn't surprise me that we know some of the same folk songs.
no subject
Date: Dec. 17th, 2007 07:21 pm (UTC)From:The summer camp I went to was called Mountain Camp, out by Ice House lake. (which is above Sacramento) Fun place. I learned what I know of fencing there :)
To be back on topic through, I've found it interesting that I never hear such songs etc outside of elementary school. I STILL hear kids doing the Miss Suzie one. Though the name seems to have been shortened in some cases to Miss Sue, instead of Suzie.
no subject
Date: Dec. 17th, 2007 07:41 pm (UTC)From:It's a curious thing -- although we didn't use the songs, I think two of my friends and I still did clapping pattern games in high school, and when I say two friends, I mean two boys, neither of which had sisters, I don't think. It was very odd of us! But we weren't doing them in earnest by that point, mostly to see how fast we could go, and how much pain we could stand. ^_-