Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents a small number of examples of foot stomping cheers that I categorize as "Romantic relationships" foot stomping cheers.
This sub-category of foot stomping cheers provide some ideas about these young girls' attitudes about and expectations regarding romantic relationships.
WARNING - Some romantic relationship foot stomping cheers have lines that are sexually suggestive.
One of these examples includes the n word. That pejorative word is given as [the n word in this pancocojams post.]
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/07/some-examples-of-introduce-yourself-my.html for the pancocojams post whose title is "Some Examples of "Introduce Yourself (My Name Is ___" foot stomping cheers".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/07/some-examples-of-bragging-and.html for the pancocojams post whose title is "Some Examples of Bragging, Confrontational foot stomping cheers".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/07/some-examples-of-dance-style-foot.html for the pancocojams post whose title is "Information About And A Video Of The Game "Tetherball" With Three Examples of "Tetherball" Foot stomping Cheers".
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, recreational. and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those whose memories of these foot stomping cheers are included in this compilation.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html for Part I (Numbers - C) for Part I of a five part alphabetized pancocojams series of foot stomping cheers that I have come across online and/or off-line. The links to the other parts of this series are given in each post.
****
SUB-CATEGORIES OF FOOT STOMPING CHEERS
I've placed the foot stomping cheers that I've come across into these five different sub-categories:
-Introduce Yourself (My name is __) cheers
-Dance style foot stomping cheers
-Bragging/confrontational cheers
--Romantic relationships cheers
-Sports & games cheers
Most foot stomping cheers are combinations of more than one of these sub-categories.
****
SOME EXAMPLES OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIOS FOOT STOMPING CHEERS
These examples are presented in relative alphabetical order based on the first letter of the cheer's name. The examples' numbers are given for this compilation and are usually different from those numbers for those particular examples in the five part pancocojams foot stomping cheers compilation.
This compilation is only a small number of examples of this sub-category of foot stomping cheers that I have come across online or off-line.
A, B
****
C, D
CAN YOU DIG IT?
All: So can you dig it?
Yeah.
So can you dig it?
Soloist #1: My name is Maria.
And I’m a flick flick.
And I’mma punch you in your lip.
So can you dig it?
Group: What?
Soloist #1: So can you dig it?
Group: What?
Soloist #1: I was sittin by the fire
Watchin it get higher
With my man,
You understand.
Cause I’m a special kind of lady
With a special kind of man.
I get to see my baby
WHENEVER I can.
So can you dig it?
So can you dig it?
(Repeat entire cheer with the next soloist, who says her name or nickname, and the same words. Continue with this pattern until every member of the group as had one turn as soloist).
- African American girls ages 6-12 (Lillian Taylor Summer Camp (Kingsley Association; Pittsburgh, PA between 1989-1992)
****
CHEERING IS MY GAME
Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (Twice)
CALL: Barbara. Barbara is my name.
RESPONSE: Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (similarly)
Cheering is my game.
Freddy. Freddy was my man.
But Ken is my main man.
Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (Twice)
Cheer continues until each girl announces her name and her boyfriend’s name.
-"Old Mother Hippletoe, Rural and Urban Children's Songs"; http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdf; Barbara Borum and other Washington, D.C., schoolgirls, vocals.
Recorded 1976 in Washington, D.C., by Kate Rinzler, included in 1978 vinyl record.
-snip-
I happened upon a copy of the Old Mother Hippletoe vinyl record set at a library used book sale sometime in the late 1990s. I bought that record for its record notes even though I didn't have a record player at that time. Band 3 "Cheerleading" of that record features four* examples of what the author of the record notes calls "cheers". Two of these examples* (Cheering Is My Game and Hollywood Keeps Swingin/Dynomite) have the textual structure that I consider a signature characteristic of "foot stomping cheers". I've collected multiple examples of both of those cheers among African American in various parts of the United States.
Here's an excerpt from those record notes written by Kate Rinzler:
"In 1973-75, fieldwork for the Festival of American Folklife revealed cheerleading girls taking turns doing a dance step or a simple gymnastic trick. In 1976, perhaps because of the popularity on television of the Olympic Games, there was a sudden citywide interest in gymnastic pyrotechnics: complete frontward and sideward splits, forward and backward flips, and cartwheels ending in jumped splits."...
-snip-
Those record notes indicates that the types of cheers that I now call "foot stomping cheers" were first documented in 1973-1975. The 1976 date that I've been using for these cheers is the first published documentation of "cheerleading girls taking turns doing a dance step or a simple gymnastic trick". That said, I haven't ever come across any examples of these types of cheers being performed with gymnastic movements.
****
E,F
FLY GIRL
Group: Fly girl one.
Fly girl two
Pump it up, Teresa,
Just like you do (or, “Show me what you do”)
Soloist #1: “Oh” (or “Well”) My name is Teresa
Group: What?
Soloist #1: And I’m a fly girl.
Group: What?
Soloist #1: It takes a lot of men
To rock my world.
‘Cause I can fly like a butterfly,
Sting like a bee.
And that’s why they call me
SEXY.
Repeat the cheer from the beginning with the next soloist. Replace the former soloist’s name or nickname with the name or nickname of the new soloist. Continue until every one has had one turn as soloist.
-Tazi M Powell, African American female (memories of the mid 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
****
FOOTBALL
this is a cheer i learned a long time ago!
Football, football HEY! football, football HEY! Hi my name is ______ and football is my game i got the boys on my mind and whoo their mighty fine i say whoo there mighty fine! (repeat until you get through the whole squad then say....)
football, football HEY! football, football HEY! Hi our name is the (school/pop warner team name) and football is our game we got winning on our mind and whoo its looking fine and whoo its looking fine!!
-Hannah!; 9/24/2006, cocojams.com
****
G, H
HOLLYWOOD (Example #1)
Words -------------------------------------------------Basic Motion
Hollywood got Meeca------------------------in pairs, in two lines, retreating
Hollywood got Meeca------------------------right rocks back, left in place
Hollywood got Meeca------------------------right in place, pause, clap
And always do----------------------------------repeat until the end
[Meeca]
Well, it looks like me got number 20
Watch the power of the money
if you see me on the street
Hey girl you better speak
[all]
Hey you think you bad
{Meeca]
Me? I know I’m bad
[all]
Hey you think you cute
[Meeca]
Cute fine sexy too
[all]
Hey you think you fine
[Meeca]
I’m fine I’ll blow your mind
[109
I got a man, he’s twenty-nine
Tic tac Paddy whack
Who you think you looking at?
A-B-C-D- Gonna have a baby
Reese’s pieces butter cup
If you next U wish you luck
[all]
Hollywood got Licia
Hollywood got Licia
Hollywood got Licia
And always do
[Licia]
Well, it looks like me got number 4
Watch the prowler at the door
if you see me on the street
Hey girl you better speak to me
[all]
Hey you think you bad
[Licia]
Least I pick my maxi pad
[all]
Hey you think you cute
[Licia]
Least I’m not a prostitute
[all]
Hey you think you fine
[Licia]
I’m fine I’ll blow your mind
I got a man, he’s twenty-nine
Tic tac Paddy whack
Who you think you looking at?
A-B-C-D- Gonna have a baby
Reese’s pieces butter cup
If you next U wish you luck
- From Recess Battles: Playing Fighting, and Storytelling by Anna R. Beresin (University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2010, pages 108-109, in the section of that book whose sub-title is "Steps"), African American girls, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (1992)
****
HOLLYWOOD (Example #2)
Another one I remember is "Hollywood". Did you play Hollywood as a child?I was thinking some of It was inappropriate. It went like this.
Hollywood goes swingin
Hollywood goes – swingin
My name is Aaya
On the phone
With my purple Reeboks on
[I think it goes like this]
If you see me on the street
Ooh you better start to speak.
“Ugh, she thinks she bad”
B. A. D.” that’s me baby
“Ugh, she thinks she cool”
Cooler than your mama, fool.
“Ugh she thinks she fine”
[Get ready- Begins chanting with a faster tempo]
Fine, fine, blow your mind
Take your man anytime.
Bring him home
Bring him back
I’m still drivin his Cadillac
He bought me one
He bought me two
He married me
Divorced you
Bang Bang and choo choo train
Come on girls, let’s do our thing
I can’t
Why not
“cause I can’t
Why not?
Because my back is hurtin
My bras too tight
My booty shakin from the left to the right
Left right
Left right
Reesie Peesie Buttercup
You mess with me
I’ll mess you up.
end of rhyme.
Original Poster- "What? I think there are a couple of different versions of that rhyme, too."
My name is Aaya
On the phone
With my purple Reeboks on
Ooh she thinks she bad
At least I got a wash rag.
-The Sol Doula, March 8, 2023, Richmond, Virginia “Hollywood Hand Clap Game" #childhoodmemories [Facebook [?] website's link wasn't retrieved.
*The Sol Doula is a young Black American woman.
****
HULA HULA (Example #1)
Group: Hula Hula.
Who think they bad?
Soloist #1: I do.
Group: Hula Hula.
Who think they bad?
Soloist #1: I do.
Well, I think I’m bad cause
Cara’s my name
and love is my game.
I got this boy on my mind
and Lord knows he’s fine.
I got his name on my shirt
and don’t call it dirt.
Group: Ooh, she thinks she’s bad.
Soloist #1: Correction, baby I KNOW I’m bad.
Group: Ooh, she thinks she’s fine.
Soloist #1:Fine enough to blow YOURmind.
-Tazi M Powell.; Pittsburgh, PA, memories of mid. 1980s
-snip-
My guess is that the word "hula" in this cheer's title comes from the word "hollah" ("holler"), a colloquial word for "hello".
Foot stomping cheers always start with the right foot.
"Hula Hula’s" beat is stomp clap; stomp stomp clap. "Stomp clap; stomp stomp clap" appears to be the most often used foot stomping beat. Another beat is stomp clap, stomp clap).
****
HELLO (A Version of "Hula Hula"- Example #2)
H-e-l-l-o,
we are here
to say hello to Mocha
Mocha is my name
and cheering is my game
Pink and purple are my colors
don't you worry 'bout my lovers.
(Uhm she think she bad)
Correction baby, I know I'm bad.
(Uhm, she think she cool)
Cool enough to steal your dude.
(Uhm, she think she fine)
Fine enough to blow his mind.
-”Miss Mocha, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=5, 03-28-2003
-snip-
Another blogger Honeykiss1974 wrote regarding "Hello"
"OHHHH Thank you Miss Mocha for this chant!
This one takes me BACK!!!! *lol* WAYY! BACK!!!
I remember doing this chant during recess in the third grade!"
-snip-
"1974" could be that blogger's birth year. If so, that would mean that she would have performed that cheer in the 1980s.
****
WHO NOW WHO NOW (Example #3 of Hula Hula)
Who now Who now, Now who think they bad
Who now Who now, Now who think they bad
I do
I know I'm bad cause Afro's my name
Uh Huh
Football's my game
Uh Huh
Black is my color dont u worry about my lover
Um she think she bad
Bad bad super bad, bad enough I know I'm bad
Um she think she tough
Tough tough super tough tough enough to kick your butt
Um she think shes fine
Fine enough to blow Eric's mind
Um she think she's cute
Cute enough to steal your dude
-Afrochic (Memphis, Tennessee), http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=5 Old School Chants, 03-30-2003
****
STEP STEP TAKE A STEP (Example #4 of "Hula Hula")
Step, Step, Take a Step
You got it
Come on
Again
Break it down now
Krissy is my name
Uno is my game
Blue is my color so don't worry bout my lover
Take a sniff of my potion
Rub it down like lotion
(Ooo she think she bad)
Correction baby I know I'm bad
(Ooo she think she cool)
Cool enough to steal yo dude
(Ooo she think she fine)
Fine enough to blow his mind
(Ooo she think she hip)
Hip hip potato chip, mess with me I'll bust yo lip
Girl, girl stop yo lying, least my man don't leave me crying
See that house on top of that hill? That's where me and my baby gon' lip
-snip-
http://thechocolatetease.blogspot.com/2013/03/childhood-rhymes.html , March 11, 2013
-snip-
This is one of several rhymes that the blog hostess (who identified herself in the comments as "Cookie") indicates that "these are childhood rhymes I used to play on the West side of Detroit while I grew up :)".
"lip" may be a typo for "live".
****
HULA HULA (Example #5 of "Hula Hula")
...the bus kids sang "Hula, Hula".......
"Well I think I'm Bad cause Cassie's my name!
Grey is my color, Don't you worry bout no other!!"
"Ooh, she think she's Bad!" "Correction babe, I KNOW I'm Bad."
"Ooh, she thinks she Fine!" "Fine enough to blow Your mind...!"
"Ooh, she thinks she's Sexy!" "Sexy enough to steal YOUR man...." ----- and over again, "Hula Hula, who thinks they're Bad?" "I do!" shouts the next person, claiming the leader spot in the next chorus.
-Cassie Quinlan, "memories of African American children in Boston, Mass, chanting on the school bus she drove transporting those children to integrated schools in "White" neighborhoods (early 1980s)" [quoting the email that I received on Feb. 24, 2023]
****
I, J
I SHAKE THE BEST
This is an L.A. perspective:... This first one is not so much a hand game as much as it is a cipher: You know, I shake the best, hey, hey/ You know, from the east to the west! My name's (enter your name) and my favorite color's black (or whatever color you like) / I took your man and you won't get him back, hey hey / You know, I shake the best, hey, hey/ You know, from the east to the west! (and every person gets a chance, state your color and your bravado in rhyme)...
-Nikkole Salter, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfzHL_1PdbY&t=2s Let's Discuss: Black Girl Childhood Hand Games and Sing Songs
-snip-
*This is my title for this example
****
JAY JAY KUKALAY (Version #1)
Soloist #1: Jay Jay Kukalay
Group: Jay Jay Kukalay
Soloist #1: Salesah lahndah
Group: Salesah lahndah
Soloist #1: Step back, Shalanda (or back, back Shalonda)
Group: Step back, Shalanda
Soloist #1: Oosh, my lover boy!
Group: Oosh, my lover boy!
Soloist #1: I’m callin on,
I’m callin on
I’m callin on - Rhonda
-Tazi M.Powell. (African American female; from her memories of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s); Also collected by Azizi Powell; in 1998 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Garfield- the same collection neighborhood as in the mid 1980s)
****
J. J. COOL AID (Example #2)
Soloist #1: J.J. Cool Aid
Group: J.J. Cool Aid
Soloist #1: Teresa Londa
Group: Teresa Londa
Soloist #1: Back, back Tuanda
Whose my lover boy?
I said mmm my sweetie cakes
I’m callin on
I’m callin on
I’m callin on
Shakera
- Anglo-American female living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who indicated that she grew up in predominately Black neighborhood of Washington, DC; performed this in the 1980s; Collected by Azizi Powell, 1999 (Game song/Cheer survey of co-workers, Family Health Council, Pittsburgh, PA.)
"Jay Jay Kukalay" and "J. J. Cool Aid" are undoubtedly inspired by the Ghanaian folk song "Che Che Kule".
"Che Che Kule" was one of the few African songs that was taught in Pittsburgh Public school's music classes. I wonder if that was the same in Washington, D.C.
****
K, L
L.O.V.E. (Example #1)
All: L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V-E. [clap
L-O-V.
L-O-V.
L-O-V-E.[clap]
Soloist #1: Well, Kayla’s my name. [clap]
And love is my game.[clap]
I got this boy on my mind [clap].
And Lord knows he’s fine. [clap]
He calls me his girl. [clap]
His number 1 girl.[clap]
I don’t know his sign, [clap]
But Taurus is mine. [clap]
All: L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V.
L-O-V.
L-O-V-E. [clap]
Soloist #2: Tamika's my name. [clap]
And love is my game. [clap]
I got this boy on my mind. [clap]
And Lord knows he’s fine. [clap]
I got his name on my shirt. [clap]
And don't call it dirt.[clap]
Don’t you worry bout my lover. [clap]
Cause there is no other. [clap]
(Return to beginning and repeat with a new soloist. That soloist repeats the same verses or similar verses. This pattern continues until everyone in the group has had one turn as the soloist with this cheer.)
-Tazi M.Powell (African American female; remembrance of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s; performed by African American girls ages around 8-12 years old; Collected by Azizi Powell, 2/1996 although I had observed it performed in the 1980s.
-snip-
Here's what my daughter shared with me about how she and her friends performed this cheer*.
The movement routine for "L.O.V.E" differs from the other foot stomping cheers that my daughter (given here as "T.M.P." and her friends showed me). My daughter wrote down these performance instructions for me on October 28, 2018:
1.Right leg stomp forward - for the letter "L"
2. Jump open with both legs - "O"
3. Jump close with both legs -"V"
4. Right leg stomp forward" - "E"
Then clap your hands one time.
Continue this pattern for the entire cheer.****
****
L-O-V-E (Examples #2)
I am a 25 year old African American woman from Eastern North Carolina.
The section on the chant L-O-V-E caught my attention we used to do this
when I was younger. We would stand in a circle and we would clap our hands and stomp our feet sort of tapping out the words L- O-V-E.
Group: L-O-V-E, L-O-V-E, L-O-V, L-O-V, L-O-V-E
First Person: Erica's my name love is my game I got this boy on my mind
he's looking real fine he calls me his girl his number one pearl
Then you move on to the next person and they repeat the same thing
only with their name in place.
-name and posting date not known (I accidentally deleted this information when I retrieved this example from my no longer available cocojams website.]
****
L. O.V.E (Example #3)
on da playground*-
L.O.V.E. L.O.V.E. L.O.V L.O.V. L.O.V.E
Well Terrie's my name
and Love is my game
I got da boys on my mind
Most of da time
Capricorn's My Sign
Say Wha?
Capricorn's My Sign
Say Wha?
Capricorn, Capricorn
Capricorn's My sign!
- Geechie Gurl; http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=118895016491
“When I be a gal in da Ya'd! Memba Dese..Just a few of em”’ August 26, 2009
****
L.O.V.E. (fragement) (Example #4)
Love these!! Anybody remember one that goes "L-O-V-E love L-O-V-E love, ...is my name, ...is my game, something something! Lmao, I can't remember the rest man, it used to be some footwork with it though!
-KaLa Roberts,2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU&t=387s&ab_channel=Geneas 90s Hand Games [comment]
****
M, N
****
O, P
****
Q, R
REALLY (Example #1)
Hey Yall are takin me back!!!
Does anyone remeber the cheers we used to do?
Really uh uh really uh uh
Really my name is kisses
really my sign is scopio
say what
scorpio
say what
cause I'm more than a dollar I can make your boyfriend holler cause I'm sweet and fine like a bottle of wine cause I'm a pro
say what
a P R O
say what
I'm a triple P triple R triple O
a sexy pro.
- kisses (Milton, Fl USA); http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=3; 01-01-2001
****
REALLY (Example #2)
"My boyfriend really did it!!
He really really really took me to the ocean!!!
He really really really showed me commotion!!!
He really really really!
I said really!
Say what now!
Really my name is ____
Really my sign is ____
Really etc etc.!!!!!!
-Yolanda Wells, 2015, (comment in discussion thread for vlog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfzHL_1PdbY
Let's Discuss: Black Girl Childhood Hand Games and Sing Songs")
-snip-
This example was reformatted from sentence form to line form for this post. It was part of the following comment:
"So interesting! Wow I was just talking about the same thing! I thought it was just me and one other person! I am so happy you posted this! I was wondering if we and other black girls were some how connected on some level like radio waves or something? I didn't know what to think! Because as you were saying, "How were these songs transmitted?! We just played singing them!"...
****
ROLL CALL
Remember....
****
S, T
SUFFOCATED LADY
Suffocated lady, Suffocated la-dy(this is said twice), then the first girl would sing
I'm a bad bad girl from a bad bad town, it take a thousand [n word] just to hold me down, if you don't like my apples don't you pick em (not them) off my tree cause I'm after you're lover and he's after me. (this is repeated until every girl in the circle gets her turn)
-cbwells26; (African American female, FT. Worth, TX , Tarrant), http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=4, remember when”, 01-02-2001
-snip-
This example has "the n word" given as an n and randomly typed symbols
"Suffocated" is a folk processed for of "sophisticated"
The words "I'm after your lover and he is after me" iare similar to lines that I've come across in various historically Black Greek letter fraternity, sorority, and little sister organization chants entitled "One And One And One Make Three" . Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/03/examples-of-historically-black_53.html for examples of these chants
****
SOPHISTICATED LADY (Example #2)
All- Sophisticated lady
Oh, that's me.
Sophisticated ladyOh, that's me.
Sophisticated lady,
2 4 6 3
Soloist #1 (woman in video) -Well, my name is Essie
And I'm five foot tall
[It appears that some words that were chanted here weren't said in this video.]
If you see my man
You betta not give him a call
I got hips to party
And I love my man (Crosses her arms over her chest in the American Sign Language sign for Love and the Wakanda Forever gesture)
If ya try to hurt him
[This part is faster]
I would tip ya for your body [These words are recited while the woman leans forward in an aggressive stance and hits her hands on top of each other in imitation of hitting someone else. Her daughter (?) also imitates these motions.
???
and don't forget I'll break your hiney ["Hiney" means =butt.]
Heeey.
All -Sophisticated lady
Oh, that's me.
Sophisticated lady
Oh, that's me.
2 4 6 3
Soloist #2 [young girl in video] -Well, my name is KK
And I'm four feet tall
If you see my man
Don't you give him a call
I got hips to party (She swivels her hips while chanting this.)
And I love my man (Crosses her arms over her chest in the American Sign Language sign for Love and the Wakanda Forever gesture)
If you try to hurt him
[This part is chanted faster]
I would tip ya for your body
???
and don't forget I'll break your hiney [These words are recited while the girl leans forward in an aggressive stance and hits her hands on top of each other in imitation of hitting someone else. Her mother (?) also does these motions at the same time as her daughter.]
Heeey
-Alexander approved, May 28, 2018; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdY3ekZxkOw&ab_channel=AlexanderApproved -snip-
This is my transcription of a YouTube video of a cheer that a Black woman and a young Black girl (her daughter (?) chanted. Additions and corrections are welcome.
The woman and girl clap their hand and move back and forth while chanting. They also do a lot of imitative movements to match the words that they chant.
As is the case for most YouTube videos that feature children, comments are turned off for this video.
****
TABA
This is a call and response chant from the late 70's early 80's Elkhart Indiana
All: Taba Taba Tab. First person: My name is Sonji.
Rest of Group: Tab. First person: I go to school.
Group: Tab. First person: I'm supercool.
Group: Tab I used to gamble. Group: Tab
First person: But now I don’t. Group: Tab
First person: And never will. Group: Tab
First person: Me and my man. Group: Tab
First person: In the van. Group: Tab
First person: Had a fight. Group: Tab
First person: Last night. Group: Tab
First person: He knocked me down.
Group: Tab. First person: I got back up
Group: Tab. First person: And kicked his butt childhood.
The chant starts over again with the next person in the group and so on.
-Sonjala A. (African American female); 3/15/2008, collected by Azizi Powell
-snip-
The term "childhood, in this example, is probably a folk processed form of the exclamation “chile please”.
****
TELEPHONE (Example #1)
tele-phone, te-te-lephone
hey "bitsy"?
hey what?
your man is on the phone
girl, tell him i ain't home
he only want me for my hips, my lips, my booty and my this(and point to, well your "womanliness")
i know we were some fresh little girls
- bitsy196; Greekchat date 6-25-2003? [I can't find this example in Greekchat discussion threads. It appears some Greekchat threads were combined and this commenter's screen name may have been changed.
***
TELEPHONE (Example #2)
Words--------------------------------------------------------------Basic Motion
Telephone tel telephone---------basic step: clap, step, clap as above, only slower
Telephone tel telephone---------repeat
Yo Tasha
Yo
You’re wanted on the telephone
Who is it?
A boy
I know what he wants
He wants my lips my tits -----------------pointing shyly
My grass and my ass
Telephone tel telephone---------basic step: clap, step, clap as above, only slower
Telephone tel telephone---------repeat
Yo Tasha
Yo
You’re wanted on the telephone
Who is it?
Your man
I know what he wants
He wants my lips my tits
My grass and my ass
Telephone tel telephone
Telephone tel telephone---------repeat
Yo Tasha
Yo
You’re wanted on the telephone
Who is it?
A girl
I know what she wants
She wants my man
Goddamn
She’s getting out of hand
Telephone tel telephone
Telephone tel telephone
Yo Tasha
Yo
You’re wanted on the telephone
Who is it?
Your ex
I know what he wants
He wants my lips my tits
My grass and my ass
--From Recess Battles: Playing Fighting, and Storytelling by Anna R. Beresin (University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2010, pages 110, 111, in the section of that book whose sub-title is "Steps"), African American girls, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1992
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor: This is a very long cheer (step) for one soloist. I wonder if a different girl said the lines given after the lines "Telephone Tel Telephone" were said two times.
****
TELEPHONE (Example #3)
Ours were a little less fresh but we had some too..it was really less innocent with the tweens ex. telephone ×4 who is it a boy , I know what he wants he wants my lips my tits my booty and my hips Telephone x4 who is it? a girl...I know what she want...she want my man Go* Dam* that B is outa hand.I think some were changed to match the new places they traveled to as the 'urban' sociallandscape formed. Wow we never said part about the baby on call the doctor quick quick quick...but yes wow the true meaning is so clear now. I know a lot were outdated even in 90s bc words like Colored boy...but I think a lot if these got more risque over time, with other girls and with the great migration to cities.
-Colorfully, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfzHL_1PdbY&ab_channel=EbonyJanicePeace , Let's Discuss: Black Girl Childhood Hand Games and Sing Songs, Ebony Janice Peace
****
TELL IT (Example #1)
My name is Mocha (Tell it, tell it)
I'm on the line (Tell it, tell it)
I wanna do it (tell it, tell it)
with Nas' sign (Tell it, tell it)
And you know what? (what?)
My man will rough you up.
Hey!!!
The alternate version said, "and you know what? My man don't do enough".
-Miss Mocha, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=5,03-28-2003
-snip-
"Nas" is the stage name for an American rapper. His Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nas indicates that he started his recording career in 1991, but his highly regarded album Illmatic wasn't released until 1994. This information suggests that this version of "Tell It" was probably not chanted until 1994. The word "sign" here means Nas' astrological sun sign, or by inference, with Nas or with a male who has Nas' sun sign.
Note this is not Lil Nas X who recorded "Old Town Road".
Btw, my guess is that these "Tell it" girls' rhymes were inspired by the 1966 hit R&B song "Tell It Like It Is" which was recorded by Aaron Neville and then by other vocalists.
****
TELL IT (Example #2)
One of my line sisters remembered this "mannish" version of "Tell It":
My name is ___________ (Tell it, tell it)
I'm on the line (Tell it, tell it)
smoking reefer and drinking wine
And you know what (What?)
And you know what (What?)
I have a man (Tell it, tell it)
He looks alright (Tell it, tell it)
But he can do it do it do it do it allllll night (Say what!)
She swears they used to say this in elementary school (We're both 23/24). I wonder what those little girls are chanting now.
-Symphony08, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/archive/index.php/t-31403.html, 03-26-2003
-snip-
"Line sisters" -women who pledged and joined a particular chapter of a historically Black Greek letter sorority at the same time.
****
TELL IT (TELL IT LIKE IT IS) (Example #3)
tell it, tell it, tell it like it is
uh oh!
tell it, tell it, tell it like it is
me: my name is Goddess
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: I'm on the line
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: and I'm gon' do it
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: with a Scorpio sign
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: and you know what?
homegirls: what?
me: and you know what?
homegirls: what?
(alternate replies)
me: my man was rollin on the ocean, he was rollin on the sea, and the best part about it, he was rolling on me (insert fast azz 8 year old sexy move here)
OR
me: I'm just gon' kick yo butt
-GODDESS!, http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/43158-Hood-Cheers/page2?s=c36b81842e44a5cd4a49678538954ac4
****
THAT'S THE WAY (Example #1)
All: That’s the way
Un hun Un hun
I like it
Un hun Un hun
That’s the way
Un hun Un hun
I like it
Un hun Un hun
Soloist #1: Lakeisha’s my name
Group: Un hun Un hun
Soloist #1: And love is my game.
Group: Un hun Un hun
Soloist #1: Red is my color
Group: Un hun Un hun
Soloist #1: And don’t you worry ‘bout my lover {or “Don’t you worry ’bout no other”}
Group: Un hun Un hun
-snip-
TMP, memories of 1980s (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), transcribed by Azizi Powell in 1996.
****
THAT'S THE WAY (Example #2)
. That's the way uh huh uh huh~ I like it.. uh huh uh huh. My name... Is Mel Bell.. Uh huh uh huh.... my sign... is scorpio... uh huh uh huh... I live... in Harlem... uh huh uh huh and boys... are on my mind ind ind ind... that's the way... I like it... OR My name... Is crystal.. Uh huh uh huh.... my sign... is virgo... uh huh uh huh... I live... in Brooklyn... uh huh uh huh and school... is on my mind ind ind ind... that's the way... I like it...
- JeSuisMelBell, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU&ab_channel=Geneas
"90’s hands games !!!!!, Geneas, Nov. 4, 2018
****
U, V
****
W, X
****
Y, Z
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams
Visitor comments are welcome.
