Latest update: November 21, 2024
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the 1974 Disco song "Rock The Boat" and children's "Rock The Boat" cheers.
UPDATE- November 21, 2024
This post only showcases text (word only) examples of Foot Stomping cheer versions of "Rock The Boat" cheers.
It doesn't include any videos or text examples of "Rock The Boat" softball cheers or any other modified forms of Rock The Boat foot stomping cheers. Click __ for examples of those cheers.
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-hues-corporation-rock-boat-video.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a video of The Hues Corporation's hit 1974 Disco record "Rock The Boat" and the lyrics for that song.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and all those whose cheer examples are presented in this post.
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THE TEXTUAL PATTERN AND PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES THAT WERE USED FOR FOOT STOMPING CHEERS
"Rock The Boat" foot stomping cheers use a distinctive foot stomping cheer textual pattern of group/consecutive soloist. The group (without the soloist) speaks first, The soloist responds and the group speaks. At some point, the soloist has a brief portion in the spotlight, sometimes followed by the group which echoes what the soloist says and/or does. That pattern immediately begins again from the beginning.
In my experience observing foot stomping cheers (from the mid 1980s to 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, soloists are usually selected by the order in which members of the group call out "first", "second", "third" etc. Each person in the group has the same amount of soloist time. Ideally, the cheer doesn't end until each person in the group has a soloist turn. Each soloist turn is the same amount of time.
In my observations, these cheers were* performed as part of the recreational play of Black girls, ages around 6 years to around 12 years. These girls were pretending to be cheerleaders outdoors during school recess, or outdoor or indoors after-school. Usually, there wasn't any no established audience for these cheerleading performances, although other children (and adults) might watch the girls perform. cheers weren't written down. Girls learned the cheers by watching the performances of others who knew them. Because the entire cheer had to start again from the beginning if anyone "went offbeat" [in the synchronized foot stomping/hand clapping routine or messed up a word because they waited too long to say it, girls who didn't know a cheer were usually reluctant to attempt to perform it.
I'm using past tenses about foot stomping cheers in this post (and in other pancocojams posts) because (based on my direct observation and based on the lack of current comments about these cheers and the lack of examples of current performances of these cheers, I believe that old foot stomping cheers are no longer performed [the same way that they were traditionally performed] and new foot stomping cheers don't seem to be created.
The BIG caveat for the above statement is that (usually unbeknown to the people chanting these cheers), a few old foot stomping cheers still live on with some of the same words, but with modified textual structure and performances as softball cheers and other contemporary girls' sports cheers.
In my experience observing foot stomping cheers (from the mid 1980s to 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, soloists are usually selected by the order in which members of the group call out "first", "second", "third" etc. Each person in the group has the same amount of soloist time. Ideally, the cheer doesn't end until each person in the group has a soloist turn. Each soloist turn is the same amount of time.
In my observations, these cheers were* performed as part of the recreational play of Black girls, ages around 6 years to around 12 years. These girls were pretending to be cheerleaders outdoors during school recess, or outdoor or indoors after-school. Usually, there wasn't any no established audience for these cheerleading performances, although other children (and adults) might watch the girls perform. cheers weren't written down. Girls learned the cheers by watching the performances of others who knew them. Because the entire cheer had to start again from the beginning if anyone "went offbeat" [in the synchronized foot stomping/hand clapping routine or messed up a word because they waited too long to say it, girls who didn't know a cheer were usually reluctant to attempt to perform it.
I'm using past tenses about foot stomping cheers in this post (and in other pancocojams posts) because (based on my direct observation and based on the lack of current comments about these cheers and the lack of examples of current performances of these cheers, I believe that old foot stomping cheers are no longer performed [the same way that they were traditionally performed] and new foot stomping cheers don't seem to be created.
The BIG caveat for the above statement is that (usually unbeknown to the people chanting these cheers), a few old foot stomping cheers still live on with some of the same words, but with modified textual structure and performances as softball cheers and other contemporary girls' sports cheers.
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THE EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF "ROCK THE BOAT" CHEERS
WARNING - One of the examples that is given below includes an amended spelling of a curse word.
The earliest dated examples that I've come across for "Rock The Boat" cheers are foot stomping cheers from the 1980s.
I coined the term "foot stomping cheers" in 2000 to distinguish examples of that category from other cheerleader cheers. However, from my direct collection and from my online collection of these examples, it appears that the girls who performed them and other people usually referred to them as "cheers". Sometimes these examples were called "chants", "steps", or "cyphers".
All foot stomping cheers are supposed to begin with the group voice. The examples below that begin with a soloist either are fragments of the full cheer or are modified versions of that cheer.
ROCK THE BOAT (Version #1)
Rock the boat,
Rock, rock the boat
[repeat]
My name is Yasmin (rock the boat)
I know I'm fine (rock the boat)
Just like my sign (rock the boat)
My sign is Leo
I go bang-bang choo choo train
Wind me up and I do my thing
Reeses pieces butter cup
Don't mess with me, cause I'll mess you up,
Rock the boat, rock rock the boat...
-Yasmin H. (Latina female; memories of East Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1980s), 2/25/04
-snip-
Yasmin noted that the words in parenthesis were chanted by the other members of the cheerleading squad.
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ROCK THE BOAT (Version #2)
Hey all! Did anyone do cheers? Me and my girls used to "battle" other groups of girls from different neighborhoods. My favorite:
Rock the boat
rock, rock the boat
Rock the boat
rock rock the boat
My name is Mocha
(chorus sings) Rock the boat
I'm feeling fine
(chorus)Rock the boat
Just like my sign
(chorus)rock the boat
My sign is GEMINI
I say bang, bang choo-choo train
wind me up and I do my thang
Reeses Pieces, Butter cup
you mess with me and I'll F*ck you up
If my momma EVER knew I was cursing like that!!
-Sexy Mocha (Brooklyn, New York), http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=5627 Remember When, 7/31/2000
-snip-
This is the way this cheer was written in that comment.
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ROCK THE BOAT (Version #3)
We are the {school's mascot} rock the boat! We're feelin fine rock the boat! Mess with us rock the boat! We'll blow your mind rock the boat! I said a bing-bang choo-choo train come on {school's mascot} lets do our thang. our reeces peices our buttercup all you gotta do is warm us up! we know karate we know cungfu..mess with us and we'll use it on you!
-Kelley; 12/10/2006, cocojams.com
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ROCK DAT BOAT (Version #4)
my names (girls name)(group says)rock da boat
(person says)i am feeling fine (groups says)rock
da boat (person says)you mess with me(group
says)rock da boat(person says)i`ll blow you mind
(group says) rock da boat
-Olivia ; 3/10/2008, cocojams.com
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ROCK THE BOAT (Version #5)
this is how we do it at my school:
my names (girls name)(group says)rock da boat
(person says)i am feeling fine (groups says)rock
da boat (person says)you mess with me(group
says)rock da boat(person says)i`ll blow you mind
(group says) rock da boat
-Olivia ; 3/10/2008, cocojams.com
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ROCK THE BOAT (Version #5)
this is how we do it at my school:
rock the boat dont tip it over
rock the boat dont tip it over
my name is __
yeah!
im feelin fine!
yeah!
u mess with me
yeah!
ill blow ur mind
so bang bang choo choo train
u look at me and i do my thang
no recces pieces no butter cup
i kno karate i kno kung fu
u mess with ill mes with u!
i kno its tottaly off to wat everyone else is sayin but thats wat we sing on the bus all the time.
-slimeshady100, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9QuTsAtQPY, 2010
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This concludes Part II of this series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This concludes Part II of this series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I know another example of that song. I sung it at my camp before. It is similar to example 2. It goes like this:
ReplyDeleteHey ____!
Hey What?
Hey ____!
Hey what?
Can you rock the boat?
I might.
Can you rock the boat?
Alright!
I slide, I glide, I get on the monkey ride and I want you and you, to rock the boat too.
Rock the boat, don't tip it over.
Rock the boat, don't tip it over.
Thanks for sharing that example, Katie.
DeleteFor the folkloric record, it would be great to know Where you learned it (city/state) and when (decade).
And did and the others campers do any motions when you sang it?
I have another example that I normally do:
ReplyDeleteGirl: My name is ___
All: Rock the boat
Girl: I'm feeling fine
All: Rock the boat
Girl: You mess with me
All: Rock the boat
Girl: I blow your mind
All: I said bang bang choo choo train, blow me up and I do my thang, I know karate, I know kung fu, you mess with me, I mess with you. Reese's pieces, seven up, you mess with me, i mess you up! Brick wall, waterfall, girl you think you know it all, you don't. I do. So poof! With the attitude, poof! With the attitude. See my pinkie see my thumb, see my fist you better run! Oh wait, come back. You need a tic-tac. Not one, not two, but the whole six pack. Sorry to be rude, but get a brand-new attitude.
I know it's different from most of these but it originated from a softball cheer that a friend of mine taught me.
Anonymous September 24, 2017 at 10:20 PM, it's five years later and I'm just reading your comment. I'm so sorry that I didn't see this comment sooner.
DeleteIf you get a notification that I'm responding to your 2017 comment, please accept my apology and thanks for sharing your version of this cheer.
Best wishes!