"Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" Rhymes That Include The "Saw You With Your Boyfriend" Verse (Analysis & Examples)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision- April 18, 2023

This pancocojams post features examples of the playground rhyme that begins with the "eenie meenie sisaleenie" (or similar spelling) verse and also includes the "saw you with your boyfriend" verse. Text analysis and other comments about these rhymes and some other related rhymes are also included in this post.

The content of this post is provided for folkloric and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. 
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DISCLAIMER
The presentation of certain rhymes and certain singing games on pancocojams isn't meant to mean or infer that all of those rhymes originally come from African American or other Black people.

However, given their structure and words (as found below), I believe that some, early examples of "Eenie Meaning Sissaleenie (Saw You With Your Boyfriend)" rhymes (and not the "Eenie Meenie Minie Mo" rhymes that are their sources) originated with African Americans.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S ANALYSIS OF "EENIE MEENIE SISALEENIE" RHYMES 
"Eenie Meenie Sissaleeni" (or similarly pronounced spelling) is a large family of playground rhymes (children's recreational rhymes) that originated in the United States. Those rhymes can be chanted as a three or four line verse without the addition of certain other rhymes. However, it appears that that rhyme's three line or four line "core verse is usually combined with certain other rhymes. Read the section below. 

"Eenie Meenia Sissaleeni" is an extension of the earlier "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" children's rhymes that are used for counting out (choosing it).

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe ,
the earliest "Eenie Meenie Miny Mo" rhyme is documented from children in New York City in 1815.  That Wikipedia page indicates that "Variations of this rhyme with the nonsense/counting first line have been collected since the 1820s. This one, which includes the 'toe' and 'olla' from Kipling's version, is one of many variants of "counting out rhymes" collected by Bolton in 1888:[7]

Eenie, Meenie, Tipsy, toe;

Olla bolla Domino,

Okka, Pokka dominocha,

Hy! Pon! Tush!"...

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THE CORE VERSE: THREE LINE STRUCTURE OF EENIE MEENIE SISALEENIE (SAW YOU WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND" RHYME
Some versions of "Eenie Meenie Sissaleeni" (or similar words) have a three line structure
such as: 
Eenie Meanie Justa Leanie
Ooca lacka Trackalacka
I love you.

In those examples, the first line contains an internal rhyme based on the "eenie" syllable, and the second line contains an internal rhyme based on the "acka" syllable.

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SOME CORE VERSES FOR "EENIE MEENIE SISALEENIE" RHYMES
I categorize the three line or four line verses given above as the "core verses" for "Eenie Meenie Sisaleenie". Those verses recited after the core rhyme flow into each other without any transitioning words or phrases.

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CORE VERSE: FOUR LINE STRUCTURE 
I chanted a four line version of this rhyme while doing a partner hand clap routine (Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1950s). We sang: 

Eenie meenie epsodeenie
Ooh aah umbaleenie
Ashie mashie kohkah lashie
I_ love_ you 

[The dashes represent one pause in the beat.]

In the four line "eenie meenie sissalini" verse, the first line contains an internal rhyme made from the the "eenie" syllable.

The last word of the second line also ends with the "eenie" sound and thus rhymes with the first line.

The third line contains an internal rhyme made by the "ie" (pronounced "ee") syllable, and thus rhymes with the first and second lines.

The fourth line is the only one that does not have an internal or end word rhyme.

 -snip-

Here's a four line version of this rhyme from the early 2000s:

Eenie meanie sassaleeny. 
Oops ah tumbalini.
Achi achi liberace. 
I love you.

**   
Since at least the 1970s, it appears that some examples of "Eenie Meenie Sissaleeni" rhymes begin with the four line "eenie meenie sissaleeni" verse and repeat that same verse at the end of the rhyme. 

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ANALYSIS OF SOME WORDS THAT ARE FOUND IN THESE RHYMES 
The words "eenie meenie" undoubtedly have their source in the very old European counting out rhyme "Eeny meenie minie mo". Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe for information about that rhyme. 

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The word "sisaleenie" or similarly pronounced words is a made-up rhyming word with no meaning.

**
I believe that the word "liberace" (also found as "Liberachi", "Liborachi" or similar spellings) is a newer substition for made-up rhyming phonetic phrases such as "kohkah lashie" which have no meaning. "Liberace" (also written as "Liberachi") has its origins in the last name of the flamboyant American pianist/vocalist known by his last name "Liberace" (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace. However, I doubt that most people who've recited that rhyme are aware of that informational tidbit.

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To date, I've only collected one example of "saw you with.your girlfriend" that replaces the word "boyfriend" e.g. "caught you with your girlfriend". 

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SAW YOU WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND
"Saw You With Your Boyfriend" verses are a series of non-rhyming lines that are each followed by a two word or one word response to that particular line - for instance "looked through the key hole/nosy nosy" (or "nosy"). My guess is that the two word response is the earliest version of the responding line as it appears to me to be the more rhythmic than the single word. However, that is just a guess. In some contemporary versions of this rhyme "looked through the key hole" and "looked through the peep hole" has been changed to "looked through the window".

Other independent rhymes (such as verses of the "Down Down Baby" rhymes) may be combined with "eenie meenie sissaleeni" without the "saw you with your boyfriend" lines. Or other independent rhyme*s might be combined with the core verse and be placed before or after those "saw you with your boyfriend" lines.
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*I refer to "saw you with your boyfriend" as a rhyme that can be chanted by itself (i.e. an independent rhyme, or a stand alone rhyme). However, to date (Oct. 2020) I've only come across this rhyme in combination with certain other rhymes". Read the Addendum below for two examples of "saw you with your boyfriend" verses in other rhymes.  

Examples of  those rhymes are given later in this post.
  
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TUNE 
To date, I've heard two different tunes for "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" rhymes. I believe that the most common tune in the United States is the one used in video example given as example #1 and example #2 below. That is the tune that I used when I chanted this rhyme in the 1950s.

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HOW "EENIE MEENIE SISALEENIE" RHYMES AE PERFORMED
As is the case with most playground rhymes in the United States, "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" rhymes were originally chanted while jumping rope. However, since at least the 1970s, they are usually chanted as a partner hand clap game. And, as it appears to often be the case with many hand clap rhymes in the United States, those rhymes are also performed with actions which mimic the words that are chanted.

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VIDEO EXAMPLES WITH TRANSCRIPTIONS
[I made these transcriptions after listening to their videos. Additions and corrections are welcome.]

Video Example #1: Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny Clapping Songs



sharonmnich, Uploaded on Oct 2, 2009

Kids Clapping Songs
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Transcription:

Eenie meanie sassaleeny.
Oops ah tumbalini.
Achi achi liberace.
I love you.
Take a peach.
Take a plum.
Take a stick of bubble gum.
No peach.
No plum.
No stick of bubble gum.
Saw you with my boyfriend
last night.
How'd you know.
Peekin through the peep hole*
Nosy
Ate a lot of candy
Greedy
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
Jumped out the window
Doggone crazy
And that's why they call you.
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Ooh ah babalini,
Achi atchi Liberace,
I love you.
-snip-
*One of the girls seemed to start to chant "looked out" instead of "peeped through".

Additional examples of this rhyme are found in the viewer comment section of this video.

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Video Example #2: Eenie meenie sissalini



Miamichellekaraoke, Published on May 19, 2012

Mia and Michelle demonstrate their new hand game
-snip-
Transcription: Rhyme begins at .021

Ready. Go.

Eenie meanie sassaleeny,
Ooh ah babalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you,
Take a peach,
Take a plum,
Take a stick of bubble gum,
No peach
No plum
Just a stick of bubble gum
Saw you with my boyfriend
last night
How'd you know
I looked through my window
Nosy
Ate a lot of cookies
Greedy
Didn’t flush the toilet
Nasty
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
And that's why they call you.
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Oops ah tumbalini.
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you.
Oops ah tumbalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you!

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Video Example #3: eenie mini dissemini fun and easy clapping games!



Mitzi Brennan, Published on Apr 28, 2013
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Transcription:
Eenie mini dissemini
You are the one and only
Education
Liberation
I like you.
Downtown baby
Down by the roller coaster
Sweet sweet cherry
No place to go
Didn’t do the dishes
Lazy lazy
Stole a box of chocolates
Greedy greedy
Snogged your boyfriend
Naughty naughty
Jumped out the window
Flippin crazy
Eenie mini dissemini
You are the one and only
Education
Liberation
I like you.
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"Italics" mean that I'm not sure of this word.

From the girls' accents, I assumed that this example of "Eenie Meanie" is from outside of the United States.

[Update: December 16, 2013: I corrected the words that I was uncertain about as per a comment from that video uploader Mitzi Brennan, who thanked me for featuring her video. Mitzi confirmed that she lives in England.]

"Education liberation", "downtown baby", "down by the rollercoaster" etc. are phrases that either come from or are folk etymology forms of phrases that are found in some versions of the playground rhyme "Down Down Baby". For example, "downtown baby” is folk etymology for "down down baby" and "Sweet sweet cherry/No place to go" is a folk etymology form of "sweet sweet baby/I really love you so".

Similar examples of "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" that include phrases from "Down Down Baby" are found in the viewer comments threads for the video given as Example #1 in this post.

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OTHER TEXT EXAMPLES
Example #1
Eenie Meanie Justa Leanie
Ooca lakca Trackalacka, I love you.
Take a peach, Take a plum
Take a piece of bubble gum.
Teacher, Teacher, Dummy Dum
Gimme back my bubble gum.
Saw you with your boyfriend last night.
How do you know?
I was peekin' through the keyhold.
NOSY
Wash them dishes
LAZY
Jump out the window
CRAZY
Peaches on the tree, Bananas on the floor
Jump back baby. I Don't Love You No More!
-Donetta A. (Pittsburgh, PA 1984); collected by Azizi Powell,
1998; posted on Cocojams by Azizi on 2/26/2006
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Donetta A (African American woman) responded to a voluntary written survey of playground rhymes that I conducted at my former work place. Donetta said she learned this rhyme when she was growing up from her cousin who visited her from the South. She indicated that she performed it as a partner hand clap game.

The line "peaches on the tree, bananas' on the floor" reminds me of the "apples on the shelf /I'm so tired of living by myself" verse that is found in in Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes Wise And Otherwise.* Versions of that line are found in other African American playground rhymes, Blues songs, and other compositions along with the line "I've seen the line "Jump back, baby I don't love you no more" or similar lines such as "Step back, baby/I don't love you no more".

*This is the last verse of the rhyme entitled "Mama's Darling" (p. 188) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm
"I has apples on de table,
An' I has peaches on de shelf;
But I wish I had a husband—
I'se so tired stayin' to myself."

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Example #2:
Eenie meenie sicileenie ooh ahh combaleenie ochie cochie liverochi C-O-D
Take a peach, take a plum, take a stick of bubblegum
No peach, no plum, just a stick of bubblegum
Saw you with your boyfriend last night
How'd you know?
Peeked through the peek hole
Noisy
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
Ate a box of candy
Greedy
Jumped out the window
Now I know you're really crazy, thats why we call you
Eenie meenie sicileenie ooh ahh combaleenie ochi cochi liverochi C-O-D
Source:
Me and my friends used to love this!
-qwerty, http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080126135642AA0Q3LB "Hand clap game.. What are the words?", 2007
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Asker's rating [the highest rating 5 stars] & comment
"Haha so did we! i was trying to think of it the other day and i couldnt. Thanks!
-ashley jonasss; (asked 2007).o

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Example #3:
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Opps ah tumbalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you,
Take a peach,
Take a plum,
Take a stick of bubble gum,
No peach
No plumb
No stick of bubble gum
Saw you with your boyfriend
last night
How'd you know
I was peaking through the key hole
Nosy
Didn't do the dishes
Lazy
Stole a box of candy
Greedy
Jumped out the window
Dog on crazy*
That's why they call me...
Eenie Meanie Sassaleeny,
Opps ah tumbalini,
Achi cachi Liberace,
I love you!
- http://funclapping.com/Eenie.php

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Example #4
eenie meenie sissaleney
o a tumbaline
achie gachif temberachi
i love you
take a peach
take a plum
take a sitck of bubble gum
no peach no plum
just a stick a bubble gum
saw you with your boyfreind last night
you werea huggin anda kissin
anda holdin on tight
how do i know
LOOK THROUGH THE WINDOW
NOSEY
ATE ALL YA COOKIES
GREEDY
DIDNT DO THE DISHES
LAZY THATS WY DEY CALL ME
eenie meenie sissaleney
o a tumberlinie
achie gachie liverachie
i love you
-jazz09932, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C2cBh_NZNU, 2012
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This version of "Eeny Meenie Sisaleenie" is found in the comment thread for this video. I reformatted this example from its paragraph form (a form that seems to be the default for YouTube.com) to lined poetry form. However, I left the capitalizations that the blogger wrote "as is". I think those words were capitalized to serve as a "correction" for the words to the rhyme that were chanted in the video. Btw, I also believe that the tempo in that video is slower than the tempo that I've usually found for this rhyme.

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ADDENDUM - TWO EXAMPLES OF "SAW YOU WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND" VERSE WITHOUT THE "EENIE MEANIE SISALEENI" VERSE

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
-snip-
This example was collecting via a voluntary written survey that I conducted at my former workplace. As per my directions, the woman indicated the geographical location where she performed this rhyme. She wrote that she learned it when she was a child living in a "mostly Black neighborhood". She also wrote that she performed it as a hand clap game.

"ABC it's easy as 1, 2, 3" is lifted from the Jackson Five R&B song "ABC". That song could help to date the earliest examples of rhymes with that introductory verse.

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Example #2
Ziz Zag zag
take a piece take a plum
take a piece of bubble gum
do you like it?
do you love it?
do the alabama shake it
shake it up
shake it down
shake it all around
Spying on my boy friend - baby
didn't do the dishes - lazy
jumped out the window - crazy
and thats the facts of boys boys boys
- Miranda R, http://octopuses.chaoticinsanity.com (also given as "Octoblog- "Schoolyard games"), December 5, 2004. [This website is no longer available].

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