"ABC It's Easy As 1, 2, 3" Playground Rhymes & Their R&B Record Source

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: September 29, 2018

This pancocojams post features examples of playground rhymes that have the line "ABC, it's easy as 1,2,3" and their R&B record source.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who contributed examples that are featured in this post. Thanks to The Jackson Five whose video is featured in this post, and thanks to those who published those songs & that hand clap rhyme on YouTube.

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RHYTHM & BLUES RECORD SOURCE

Video Example #1: JACKSON 5 "ABC" on The Ed Sullivan Show



TheEdSullivanShow Uploaded on May 12, 2010

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FEATURED PLAYGROUND RHYME EXAMPLES
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: I've reformatted some of these examples to song line formations instead of paragraph sentences.]

Playground Rhyme Example #1
A.B.C.
It’s easy as 1.2.3.
My momma takes care of me.
My father don’t yell at me.
Caught you with your boyfriend.
Naughty, Naughty.
Didn’t do the dishes.
Lazy, Lazy.
Ate all the candy
Greedy, greedy.
Jumped out the window.
Man, you’re crazy!
-anonymous woman (White; Washington, D. C), collected by Azizi Powell, 1999

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Playground Rhyme Example #2
A B C
it's easy as 1 2 3
yer mama's got funky feet
oosh ahsh I want a piece of squash
sqhash too sweet I want a piece of meat
meat too tough I wanna ride a bus
Buss too full I wana buy a bull
bull too black I want my money back
money too green I want a limosine
Limosine too long
I wanna write a song
song too old I want a pot of gold
gold to yella' I wanna kiss a fella
fella too fat
and that's the end of that

or
gold too yellow I'll Tickle you with a feather (and you reach out and try to tickle the person who you're playing with)

that's all I can remember right now...
-Reebob; 2/12/2004; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300&messages=155 ; Children's Street Songs; 2/12/2004

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Playground Rhyme Example #3 (with video)
Update: July 24, 2017: This 2012 video is no longer available, but here's my transcription of the rhyme that was featured in that video:

A-B-C, it’s easy as 1-2-3.
My mama takes care of me.
My daddy watches MTV*
Ohh, ah, I wanna piece of pie.
Pie too sweet, I wanna piece of meat.
Meat too tough, I wanna ride a bus.
Bus too full, I wanna ride a bull.
Bull too black, I want my money back.
Money back too green, I wanna a jelly bean.**
Jelly bean not cooked, I wanna read a book.
Book not read, I wanna go to bed.
Bed not made, I want some lemonade.
Lemonade too sour, I wanna take a shower.
Shower too cool, I wanna go to school.
School to dumb, I wanna suck my thumb.
Thumb too dirty, I wanna ride a birdy.
Birdy too slow, and that's all I know.
Close your eyes and count to ten
Whoever messes up, starts all over again.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10.
Snap.
-snip-
[transcription by Azizi Powell]

This is another version of the rhyme that is given as Example #2.

*"MTV" (an acronym that originally meant "Music Television") is an American television station that in its early years almost exclusively showed videos of Pop songs. The television station "BET" (Black Entertainment Television) is sometimes used instead of "MTV".

**In some versions of this rhyme "jelly bean" is given as "lima bean" which makes more sense given the reference to cooking.

The "ooh ah ah i wanna piece of pie" line comes from the 1940 Blues record by Fats Waller.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/06/aunt-maria-jumped-in-fire-there-was-man.html for information about the Fats Waller song and for other examples of "ABC It's Easy As One Two Three".

One early source that I've found for "trading" rhymes is the short story, "Big Boy Leaves Home," from Uncle Tom's Children by Richard Wright (1938). The story concerns a group of black boys who entertain themselves by singing and chanting rhymes.
(from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/w_right.html [Google Book for Richard Wright's Native Son: A Routledge Study Guidebooks by Andrew Warnes]

Bye 'n' bye, Ah wanna piece of pie.
Pie's too sweet. Ah wanna piece of meat.
Meat's too red. Ah wanna piece of bread.
Bread's too brown. Ah wanna go t' town.
Town's too far. Ah wanna ketch a car.
Car's too fas'. Ah fall 'n' break mah ass.
Ah'll understan' it better bye 'n' bye.
-snip-
That story also includes an early version of the "Yo Mama Don't Wear No Drawers" taunting rhyme.

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Playground Rhyme Example #4

ABC, easy as 123, my daddy drank Cocafee(don’t ask what that is) right off of my feet.
That’s how nasty people can be.
Judge, judge, call the judge!*
Mama’s gonna have a baby, a sweet little choc-o-late baby!
If it’s a boy, I’ll give it a toy.
If it’s a girl, I’ll give it a curl.
If it’s a twin, I’ll give them a spin.
Wrap it up in toilet paper,
Send it down the elevator.
First floor, STOP.
Second floor, STOP.

And then it would just go on until someone screwed it up….usually me.
- ChloeMireille, http://kateharding.net/2009/10/02/miss-lucy-had-friday-fluff/ Shapely Prose; October 2, 2009

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The word "Cocafee" is probably a form of the words cold coffee". It is given that way in some other versions of that rhyme that I've read.

Here are some comments about some versions of that rhyme that include the word "coffee" [These comments are from the discussion thread for the Example given as #5 below.]

These are all the comments in that sub-thread as of September 29, 2018; Comments added September 29, 2018 with numbers added for referencing purposes only.

1. Lulu, 2016
"Am I the only one that says "my papa drinks cold coffee?"

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REPLY
2. Dominic Pezzella, 2017
"Lulu no I say that to and Lima been instead of jelly beans"

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REPLY
3. Bri, 2017
"Yes I remember grandpa drinks cold coffee"

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REPLY
4. Alexandra Oseghale, 2018
"No that the way I say it too"

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REPLY
5. Narutogoals Official, 2018
"I learned black coffee"

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REPLY
6. Sarah Tewey, 2018
"I’m on your side I say that to"

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REPLY
7. Erika Magaña, 2018
"No I say ABC easy as 1 2 3 my momma drinks black coffee oh Ah I wanna piece of pie pie to sweet I wanna piece of meat meat to sour I wanna take a sho"

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The line "judge judge call the judge" is usually given as "fudge fudge all the judge". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/12/fudge-fudge-call-judge-twins-triplets.html for examples of the rhyme "Fudge Fudge Call The Judge (mama's having a baby etc.)

The line "That’s how nasty people can be" is a play on the line "that's how easy love can be" from the Jackson 5 record "ABC".

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Playground Rhyme Example #5 [Added July 24, 2017]
abc its easy as 123 handshake



sarah ware, Published on Jun 7, 2013

i hope u enjoy and have fun ps it is not easy !!!!!!
-snip-
Here's my transcription of this version:

A-B-C, it’s easy as 1-2-3.
My mama takes care of me.
My daddy watches MTV
Oh, ah, I wanna piece of pie.
Pie too sweet, I wanna piece of meat.
Meat too tough, I wanna ride a bus.
Bus too full, I wanna ride a bull.
Bull too black, I want my money back.
Money back too green, I wanna a jelly bean.
Jelly bean not cooked, I wanna read a book.
Book not read, I wanna go to bed.
Bed not made, I want some lemonade.
Lemonade too sour, I wanna take a shower.
Shower too cool, I wanna go to school.
School too dumb, I wanna suck my thumb.
Thumb too dirty, I wanna ride a birdy.
Birdy too slow, and wanna blow my nose..
Close your eyes and count to ten
Whoever messes up, start all over again.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10.
-snip-
I've also found examples of this rhyme that begin:
"ABC it's as easy as 123
My mama sings do re mi"....
-snip-
I've also recently found a few examples of a version of this rhyme that begins with these two lines:
"ABC it's as easy as 123
My mama has allergies....

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