Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision- November 24, 2023
This pancocojams post showcases an episode of the Bill Cosby Show in which twin girls perform a hand clap routine of the rhyme "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store". The words to that version of this rhyme are included in this post.
Addendums: Two additional versions of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" are also included in this post, including a version from the West African nation of Burkina Faso.
The content of this post is presented for cultural and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
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Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: The Cosby Show: Uno Dos Siesta
Ricky Prather, Published on Apr 6, 2018
From Slumber Party
Note: It's just only game.;)
-snip-
The video that was originally embedded in this post was "Season 1 Episode 22 - Slumber Party #2
cosbyshow, March 28, 1985
When Rudy complains she has no one to play with, Cliff allows her to have a friend or two sleep over. But the modest gathering soon turns into a rollicking slumber party for eight."
-snip-
Trivia:
Singer Alicia Keys with very short hair appears is in this episode as one of the girls at Rudy’s slumber party.
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WORDS TO THE COSBY SHOW VERSION OF "I MET MY BOYFRIEND AT THE CANDY STORE"
Uno, dos, siesta
I said a-east, a-west
I met my boyfriend at the candy store
He bought me ice cream, he bought me cake
He brought me home with a belly ache
Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
-Kyle Bryant & Dana Bryant ; (performing hand clap game on Season 1, Episode 22 of The Cosby Show; March 1985; The Slumber Party, transcribed by Azizi Powell (additions and corrections are welcome).
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENTS
The words "Uno, dos, siesta" in that version of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" are a folk processed (folk etymology) form of "uno dos tres" (Spanish for "one, two, three". "Siesta" is a Spanish word that means "nap" in English). "Folk processing" occurs another word or phrase is substituted for another word or phrase because of misremembering, misunderstanding, or as an attempt to make sense out of an unfamiliar word or phrase.
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I've heard girls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania say "I'm alive/and on channel 5" (although there is no actual channel 5 Pittsburgh television station.) Another relatively common ending for this rhyme that I've seen online is "6,7,8,9, 10/ I'm dead again".
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Although "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" appears to usually be performed as a two person hand clap game, it's also documented as being chanted while jumping rope.
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By at least the late 1960s in the United States most jump rope rhymes had converted to hand clap rhymes. One reason for this is that people stopped hanging clothes outside to dry. Girls used portions of those clothes lines for jumping rope (individual or group jumping), and with the increased use of clothes dryers, there were fewer jump ropes. In contrast, no equipment is needed to play hand clap games, and they can be played anywhere.
As a substitute elementary school teacher (in Pittsburgh public schools in the early 2000s) I noticed that schools (that I worked in) didn't provide jump ropes during recess, and didn't allow children to bring their own jump ropes to school. I think those schools believed that jump ropes might be a safety hazard (for instance, children could get hurt if they were hit by a swinging rope.)
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I've read that people think that the "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" rhyme means or implies that the girl was pregnant. I'm not sure that children performing this rhyme agree with that meaning. Instead, children (and other people) might believe that the girl's stomach hurts because she ate too much candy and other sweets.
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ADDENDUM- An example of how American playground rhymes are spread throughout the world by missioners, international service providers, or visitors:
Here's a video of girls from Liberia, West Africa in a Ghanaian refugee camp performing "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store":
Three African Clapping Games from Liberia - Africa Heartwood Project
HeartwoodAfrica, Uploaded on Aug 9, 2011
Here is a collection of three Liberian clapping games performed by the children we support in our Refugee Orphan Home at Buduburam in Ghana, West Africa. Try them for yourself! The children are speaking traditional Liberian Pidgin-English which they commonly refer to as Coloqwa (KOH-loh-kwah).
[...]
Clapping Game #2 (1:02-1:28):
Title: Oh Mama
Performed by: Felicia & Victoria; Promise & Jackerline; Temoh & Princess)
(We are going "cera", in "cera", in "cera" - used to establish the rhythm)
Oh Mama, Mama!
Oh Papa, the war!
The war has make in the Burkina Faso.
I say East, the West.
I met my boyfriend in the ice cream shop.
He bought me ice cream on my wedding day.
Mama, Mama. I'm so sick.
Take me to the doctor, shall be quick quick quick.
Shall be quick quick quick.
Doctor, doctor. Will I die?
No my dear, you will live forever more.
Forever more!
-snip-
I'm assuming that staff or volunteers from the USA taught this rhyme to these children. That is one way that playground rhymes are spread throughout the world.
Notice how the beginning portion of this rhyme is changed to include comments about the war and the West African nation of Burkina Faso. Are these children from Burkina Faso living in a refugee camp in Ghana (as indicated in the video's summary)? If so, why is Liberia mentioned in that title and that summary?
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ADDENDUM #2 ADDED January 3. 2017
Hand Jives at English Camp
poppywheeler, Uploaded on Nov 4, 2008
To the East, the West. I met my boyfriend at the candy store....
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Here are the only comments to date from the YouTube discussion thread for this video:
RandomX856, 2010
"lol...the girls used to do this clapping thingy back when i was a kid in the 80s"
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President Edo. 2012
"to the east,the west , i met my booyfriend at the candy shop. he brought me ice cream, he brought me cake, he brought me home way the balliat , momma momma , im so sick , call the doctor , quick,quick,quick doctor , doctor will i die, count to 5 and i be alive 1 2 3 4 5 im alive!! this is from the cosby show xD"
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