MySarahLOL, Aug 21, 2010
On the Planet Mars where the babies smoke cigars all THE
GIRLS from France DO THE HULA HULA DANCE every stuff they take is enough to
kill a snake when the snake is dead they put mustard on his head when the
mustered dries they put diamonds in his eyes when the diamanods break it was
1948 FREEZE!! :).
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents some examples of the children's recreational rhymes "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars", & Similar Children's Recreational Rhymes that are 1970 and later.
With the exception of the showcase video, these examples are from online discussion threads in which the commenters include date (and sometimes also place) "time stamps" in their comments as to when they first chanted or heard these rhymes.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/pre-1970s-examples-of-theres-place-in.html for the companion pancocojams post "Pre-1970s Examples Of "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars" & Similar Children's Recreational Rhymes.
There are additional online examples of these rhymes whose commenters gave no dates for when they first chanted or heard these rhymes.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to the girl who is featured in this showcased video and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. .
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This particular pancocojams series on the song "Streets Of Cairo" and the rhymes "There's A Place Called France", "There's A Place Called Mars" and "In The Land Of Oz' departs from the main mission of this blog which is to provide information about and examples of African American culture and other Black cultures around the world.
Sometimes pancocojams posts focus on children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers because I'm interested in those subjects, regardless of which population originated those compositions.
That said, many of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, that I focus on in this pancocojams blog were originally composed by or adapted by African Americans or other Black people throughout the world.
Furthermore, regardless of who originated or adapted them, it's likely that each of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers that have been published in this blog have been performed or are now being performed by some Black people throughout the world.
****
SOME EXAMPLES OF THESE RECREATIONAL RHYMES
These examples aren't given in chronological order.
Numbers added for referencing purposes only.
1. [This example is chanted in the showcase video in this pancocojams post.]
"On the Planet Mars where the babies smoke cigars all THE GIRLS from France DO THE HULA HULA DANCE every stuff they take is enough to kill a snake when the snake is dead they put mustard on his head when the mustered dries they put diamonds in his eyes when the diamanods break it was 1948 FREEZE!! :)."
-MySarahLOL, Aug 21, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOCyNN9k4bI
**
2. I remember it this way:
There’s a place in France.
Where the naked ladies dance.
There’s a hole in the wall.
Where the men can see it all.
They don’t care.
Because they wear no underwear."
-MuzzBizzy, 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/DoesAnybodyElse/comments/1ird05o/did_anybody_else_sing_theres_a_place_in_france/ Did anybody else sing "There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance"?
-snip-
This example is followed by these two comments:
babeli, 2024
"Omg this is the most similar to what I remember. But the
ladies wore no pants"
**
komparty, 2024
"This is the one I learned as a kid in the 90’s."
**
3."There's a place on Mars
Where that babies smoke cigars.
Where the men wear bikinis
And the women drink Martinis.
Every sip they take
Is enough to kill a snake.
When the snake is dead
They put mustard on it's head.
(I'd like to thank 1991 for that one. No idea where it came
from. I learned if from girls on the playground.)"
-FiftySixer, https://www.reddit.com/r/DoesAnybodyElse/comments/1ird05o/did_anybody_else_sing_theres_a_place_in_france/ Did anybody else sing "There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance"?
**
4. I learned a slightly different version in 1998:
Where the ladies smoke cigars
Every puff they take
It's enough to kill a snake
When the snake is dead
They put diamonds in their head
When the diamonds break
It is time to bake a cake
When the cake is done
It is 1941
-milftails, 2024,
https://www.reddit.com/r/DoesAnybodyElse/comments/1ird05o/did_anybody_else_sing_theres_a_place_in_france/ Did anybody else sing "There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance"?
5. "
Where the naked ladies dance
But the men don’t care
Cause they don’t wear underwear
Circa 1975, central Minnesota"...
-Chique, .https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-real-name-of-that-theres-a-place-in-france-song/155487/9
6. "There’s a place in France
Where the naked ladies dance.
There’s a hole in the wall
Where the boys can see it all.
Was what I heard in St. Louis in the early 70s"
-jack_ss,
**
7. The version we sang where I live (central NJ, late 70s)
goes:
there’s a place in France
where the naked ladies dance
There’s a hole in the wall
Where the men can see it all"
-lost4life,
**
8."Mid-Atlantic area, c 1970
There’s a place in France
Where the alligators dance
One wouldn’t dance
So they shot him in the pants
The pants he wore
Cost a dollar ninety-four
Plus tax.
Also,
There’s a place on Mars
Where the ladies smoke cigars.
Every puff they take
Is enough to kill a snake.
When the snakes are dead
They put diamonds in their head.
When the diamonds crack,
They put mustard on their back.
When the mustard dries,
They put rubies in their eyes…
I don’t understand their motivation, of course. I merely
report."
-Susan, https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-real-name-of-that-theres-a-place-in-france-song/155487/9
**
9. “There’s a place in France
Where the ladies were no pants
And the men go 'round
With their hammers hanging down.”
-Burnaby (Vancouver) BC, c1970. https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-real-name-of-that-theres-a-place-in-france-song/155487/9
**
11. "When I was a kid in the late-60's, we all learned a ditty to the Sol Bloom "snake charmer" song. Our version was:
"There's a place in France where the ladies wear no pants,
"And the men walk around in dirty underwear."
I have no idea if this was some commentary on French customs, but it was the version we learned. Forty years later, my eight year-old sings:
"There's a place in France where the ladies wear no pants,
"And there's a hole in the wall where the men can see it all."
This, of course, made me wonder if there are regional or generational differences in the song? What do the French sing, if anything?
Please post your version, tell us where and when you learned it, and add anything else that might enlighten us on the topic. (Obviously, there's not much going on today.)"
-Mike Windsor, June 27, 2011, https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where
**
12. "In the land of France,
where the ladies wear no pants
the men don't care
cuz they have no underwear"
or
"In the land of France
all the ladies wear no pants
and the men don't care
cuz they have no underwear"
Toronto Canada 1970s"
-David K, May 19, 2022, https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where
**
13. "What I remember as a grade schooler in the mid-80s in central California:
There’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance
But the men don’t care cuz they don’t wear underwear
There’s a hole in the wall where the boys can see it all
But the king doesn’t care cuz he eats his underwear"
-Joe Aguayo, December 12, 2024, https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where
**
14. "In the early 80s, I heard your daughter's version in Ohio. In the mid-80s, I heard it in Colorado, and in the late 80s, I heard the same version in Maryland.
Sounds like it changed country-wide in the 70s?"
-Amy Wiles, https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where
**
15. "our slight modification
"There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance,
"There's a hole in the wall where the men can see it all."
More precise, more lewd, more 70's.
edit - central coast of California, circa 1977"
-Stymie Says "No Fidg, https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment