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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. 19th, 2007 08:09 pm (UTC)From:Miss Lucy had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell,
Miss Lucy went to Heaven, the steamboat went to
Hello operator, please give me number nine
And if you disconnect me, I'll kick you in your
Behind the yellow curtain, there was a piece of glass,
Miss Lucy sat upon it, and broke her big fat
Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies
The boys are in the washroom, doing up their
Flies are in the city, the bees are in the park,
Miss Lucy and her boyfriend are kissing in the
Dark is like a movie, the movie's like a show
The show is like a TV, and that is all I know
I know I know my ma, I know I know my pa,
I know I know my sister wears a 40-metre bra!
I also know your version of Mary Mack, but it continues. Can I remember it? It's quite naughty - there's a bit about boys jumping out of their pants.
They jumped so high, high high,
They reached the sky, sky, sky,
And they never came back, back, back,
Till the middle of July-ly-ly
Maybe the two versions of Mary Mack are based on the same person, who infamous at some point.
I also remember learning a hand-clapping song when I visited Barbados in grade four from another girl my age. I brought it back with me and taught it to everyone at school. All the girls were excited to have something new.
How did it go?
I don't remember the beginning, but it ends with:
Boys go to Jupiter, to get more stupider,
Girls go to Mars, to get more candy bars! And then you stop clapping and do a little jumping dance with your legs, crossing and uncrossing them and sing, Inky pinky soda pop, inky pinky poo!
Inky pinky soda pop, I love you! And if you land with your legs crossed at the end, it means you love a boy (or maybe vice versa, I don't remember).
Did you ever do Es-tigo-tigo (I'm sure that's not how it's meant to be spelled)? You sit in a group circle and go around the circle singing the song, clapping hands. And cat's got the measles? Where a large group stands in a circle and you cross and uncross your legs singing cat's got the measles, the measles, the measles, cats got the measles, measle's got the cat! and if you finish with your legs crossed, you take off an article of clothing and put it in the middle of the circle, if you land with your legs uncrossed, you take an article of clothing back. The teachers used to hate when we played that, because it was only ever played in winter when we had lots of extra clothes, but then we'd all be shivering.
no subject
Date: Dec. 19th, 2007 08:33 pm (UTC)From:So does mine (silver buttons, elephants jumping a fence -- which would appear to be the boys jumping out of their pants in yours -- etc) but I was only giving the first couple lines to identify what I was talking about.
I don't know one about Jupiter and Mars but that "inky pinky soda pop I love you" does sound familiar, perhaps as the refrain to something else..
Es-tigo-tigo / cat's got the measles doesn't ring a bell.