The Children's Rhyme "Gigalo" ("Jigalow") - Examples & Probable Sources (Updated Post)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update - January 18, 2024

This post was originally published on pancocojams in December 2011 http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/12/childrens-rhyme-gigalo-examples.html.

A fourth video, and selected comments from two of these videos have been added to that 2011 post.

This pancocojams post provides text, video examples, and comments about the children's playground rhyme "Gigalo" ("Jigalow").

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who contributed examples of these rhymes. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to those who are featured in the videos and who published those videos on YouTube.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES ABOUT "GIGALO" /"JIGALO" CHEERS/RHYMES
Azizi Powell, Sept 2018

"Gigalo" (also spelled "Jigalow") is a children's recreational composition that has different performance activities.

I recall reading a YouTube discussion thread in which a commenter recalled playing "Gigalo" in the 1970s, but unfortunately I can't find that comment now. In the late 1980s I observed my daughter and some of her female friends performing "Gigalo" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Given its textual structure and performance activity, I believe that the Gigalo rhyme is of African American origin. However, it's clear from reading online examples of "Gigalo" that this cheer/rhyme is also known and performed by non-African Americans (mostly girls).

From the number of YouTube video examples and comments, it appears that "Gigalo" is quite widely known in the United States. However, "Gigalo" isn't included in any off-line publications of children's rhymes that I have come across. Before the internet it was rare for most African American children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers to be included in books, records, and other publications of children's rhymes. Instead, those rhymes were passed on by word of mouth.

Most publications of children's rhymes only include the adult approved version of playground rhymes and not the multiple versions of rhymes that children really say. The failure to publish examples of African American playground rhymes is just one aspect of this point, but it is a critical aspect since-in my opinion- many American children's recreational rhymes come from African Americans.

In part because recreational rhymes and cheers traditionally weren't written down, many of those compositions were short lived, lasting only for a short space of time in certain neighborhoods. But, for some reason/s, the "Gigalo" rhyme/cheer has survived sometimes with changes in its words, but not its tune, and sometimes with some changes in its performance styles.

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HOW THE NAME FOR THIS CHEER/RHYME/SONG IS SPELLED
The word "Gigalo" and "Jigalo" is a folk processed form of the words "Jack a low". "High Low Jack A Low" is the American name for the British card game "All Fours".

Here's information about this card game:
From http://www.woodburystrings.com/bands-for-hire/high-low-jack/
"HIGH-LOW-JACK is one of several names for an old-time card game that originated in the 1600s in England and is still very popular there. Known as All-Fours in England, it was the most popular gambling game in America until after the Civil War when Draw Poker began to overshadow it. It continued to be popular throughout the 19th century, and was most commonly known as Seven Up or Old Sledge. It is still popular today in various forms including Pitch or Auction Pitch."

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SOME ADULTS' OPPOSITION TO CHILDREN PERFORMING RHYMES/CHEERS ENTITLED "GIGALO"("JIGALO") 
Because the word "gigalo" has a sexualized meaning, some adults who aren't aware of the history of those rhymes, believe the gigalo rhymes refer to that sexualized meaning and are opposed to children performing those rhymes/cheers.

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MY USE OF THE SPELLING "GIGALO" FOR THESE RHYMES/CHEERS
I used the spelling "gigalo" when I published an example of that cheer in 2001 on my no longer active cocojams.com website". That example was the one that I saw my daughter and her friends perform in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1980s.

The cocojams.com cultural website was consistently online from 2001 to much of 2014 when I voluntarily deactivated it. Judging from the number of recreational examples that I received on that website's easy to use email form, a lot of that website's readers were children and pre-teens who had probably never seen those examples written down. 

I also used the spelling "gigalo" in the discussion thread about that cheer/rhyme that I started in 2007 on the Internet folk music forum Mudcat http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100807 [hereafter given as "Mudcat: Gigalo"]. I believe that at least some of the examples of that cheer/rhyme that are found in that discussion thread spelled that word "gigalo" instead of "jigalo" or "jigalow" because they read how I spelled that word and because the word "gigolo" is a relatively English common word. 

One problem with documenting children's recreational rhymes and cheers online is the copycat effect that often occurs when people repeat the spelling if not the words themselves of examples that come across online. 

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"GIGALO" RECREATIONAL CHEERS/RHYMES PERFORMANCE STYLES
Gigalo can be performed as circle singing game, as foot stomping cheers, or as hand clap games with imitative motions. Here are descriptions for each of these performance styles 

Circle Singing Games
Based on examples of YouTube videos and other online example of "Gigalo" that I have come across (as of January 14, 2024), that rhyme appears to most often be performed as an imitative singing game by children standing forming a circle, but not holding hands with one person at a time standing in the center of the circle. At some point of the song, the "middle person" performs actions that conform to the words of the rhyme and the rest of the people forming the circle then chants and joins with the middle person, imitating that dance or other movement that the middle person is doing . Another term for imitative singing games is "show me your motion" singing games. At the end of that iteration of that rhyme, another person's name is called out, the former middle person rejoins the circle formation, and the game immediately begins again from the beginning with the person whose name was called out as the new middle person.

Foot Stomping Cheers
The textual structure (the way the words are structured) of many examples of "Gigalo" that I have seen or come across online fits my definition of "foot stomping cheers" because the words of the cheer are divided into the group and consecutive soloists. 

This group/consecutive soloists structure is the signature structure for foot stomping cheers. By "group/consecutive soloist" I mean that the group's voice is heard first, and then a soloist's voice is heard. This pattern of alternating voices continues until a soloist's slightly longer portion occurs. That "soloist portion may be the end of the cheer, or the cheer might end with the group (and, sometimes also the soloist) repeating the soloist's words.

At the end of that rendition of the cheer, the complete cheer immediately starts again from the beginning with a new soloist. The order of soloists is selected before the cheer activity begins. That pattern of consecutive soloists continues until everyone in the group has had one turn as the soloist.

That said, "Gigalo"/"Jigalo" cheers/rhymes don't always fit the alternating foot stomping/(individual) hand clapping pattern that is characteristic of other foot stomping cheers that I'm aware of.

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Hand Clap games with imitative motions 
Gigalo can be performed as a partner or three, four, or more hand clap routine that combines hand claps with imitative motions. Two people, three, or four people chant this rhyme while facing each other and performing a hand clapping routine and imitative movements that conform with the words of this rhyme.

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TEXT EXAMPLES OF "GIGALO" ("JIGALOW" and similar spellings)
(Examples in this post are given in no particular order)

Example #1
All: Gig ah lo-o
Gig gig a lo-o
Gig ah lo-o
Gig gig a lo-o
Group: Hey, Kayla
Kayla: What?
Group: Are you ready to gig?
Kayla: Gig what?
Group: Gigalo
Kayla : My hands up high
My feet down low
And this is the way
I gig a lo
Group: Her hands up high
Her feet down low
And this is the way she gigalos
-Tazi M. Powell.; foot stomping cheer, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid to late 1980s, collected by Azizi Powell in the 1980s and transcribed in the 1990s from an audio tape that was made in the 1990s.

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Example #2 & #3
GIGALO
This is a handclap/foot stomping cheer called Gigolo.
Gig-olo-o
Gig-Gig-olo-o
Gig-olo-o
Gig-gig-olo-o
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah!
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: what.?!
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: Well, my hands up high, my feet down low and thats the way I gigolo (does dance/motion of her own)
Group: Well, her hands up high, her feet down low and thats the way she gigolos (group repeats the unique dance/motion)
Repeat with a new girl and new dance/motion.)

OOOORRR:

Gig-olo-o
Gig-Gig-olo-o
Gig-olo-o
Gig-gig-olo-o
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah!
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: what.?!
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: Well my back aint right my bra too tight my hips keep shakin from left to right and THATS the way I gigolo (does dance/motion of her own)
Group: Well my back aint right my bra too tight my hips keep shakin from left to right and THATS the way she gigolos(group repeats the unique dance/motion)

(Repeat with a new girl and new dance/motion.)
-Guest, 17yr old kid at heart:); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300&messages=171 "Children's Street Songs"; July 20, 2010

Editor: Note that the informant indicates that "this is a hand clap/foot stomping cheer." It's possible, and perhaps likely, that she (or he) could have used the phrase "foot stomping cheer" in imitation of my use of that phrase in earlier posts on that discussion thread.

The "show us how you get down" line is found in in mid 1980s foot stomping cheer "Get Down"... The lines "my back is aching/my bra's too tight" are commonly found in the very popular hand clap rhyme "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train".

-snip-
Most examples of "Gigalo" are posted online without any information about their performance activity. Here are two such examples:

Example #4 Gigalo: performance activity unknown

JIGALO
here is the real version ppl.

HEY(Girls name)
Girl:what?
ME: are you ready to jigalo?
girl:yeah!
Both: my hands up high!
My feet down low!
This is the way I jigalo!
jig-a-low
jig-jig-a-looow
jig-a-low
jig-jig-a-looow
(you keep repeating until you get bored. You also do a little dance :) hoped this helped
-Guest, meesha ; "Mudcat: Gigalo" ; May 17, 2010

**
Example #5 performance activity unknown
JIGALOW
my friend taught me this.

my hands up high
my knees down low
but this the way i jigalow
the sky is blue
the grass is green
and this the way I do my thing
your daddy cook
your momma bake
but this the way my booty shake
-No name; 2/15/2007 ; Cocojams:FSC

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Example #6:
Refrain (Unison)
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low

Part I
(Call) Jasmine: Hey Stephanie!
(Response) Stephanie: Say what?
Jasmine: In-troduce yourself!
Stephanie: Know what?
Jasmine: In-troduce yourself!
[They exchange roles here.]
Stephanie: My name is Ste-phanie
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: I got the mucle.
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: To do the hu-stle
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: I do my thang
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: On the video screen
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: I do the ro, ro, ro, ro, ro-bot (punctuates each syllable with Do Do Brown)
Jasmine: She do the ro, ro, ro, ro, ro-bot (Jasmine imitates Stephanie's version of the dance)

Refrain (Unison)
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low

Part 2
Stephanie: Hey Jasmine!
Jasmine: Hey what?
Stephanie: Are you ready?
Jasmine: To what,?
Stephanie; To jig
Jasmine: Jig-a-low?
(unison): jig what?

[Exchanged roles again]

Jasmine: Well, My hands up high, my feet down low.
and THIS's the way I jig-a-low
[Jasmine creates a stylized move on THIS's]
Stephanie: Well, My hands up high, my feet down low.
and THIS's the way she jig-a-low
[Stephanie mimics Jasmine's stylized move on THIS's.]
-Kyra D. Gaunt' book The Games Black Girls Play: Learning The Ropes From Double -Dutch To Hip-Hop (University Press, New York, 2006, page 82);
-snip-
This example combines the foot stomping cheer "Jigalow" with the foot stomping cheer "Introduce Yourself".

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GIGALO VIDEO EXAMPLES
Example #1: playing gigalo at cheer camp



Uploaded by bby209angl on Aug 3, 2010
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes only:
1. blurrrdesign, 2013
"I can't believe this is an accepted cheer. Do these kids ever know that a Gigolo is a male prostitute? I'm thinking they do since thier moves replicate having sex. Yet it's still allowed."

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REPLY
2. Allie Wilson, 2018
"excuse me hunny that is not accepted here"
-snip-
My response to blurrrdesign's comment is that words that are spelled and/or pronounced the same don't necessarily have the same meaning. The word "jigalo" (with various spellings) in this children's game/dance doesn't mean "male prostitute". Read the information given above for the British and American (USA) origins of the children's game "Gigalo".

**
3. Kelli M., 2014
"We used to do this recess lol....many many years ago"

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4. sourjuicesss, 2014
"I used to play this when I was little. I'm only 9 doe. I loved playing little competitions with my friends.

**
5. Amelia Morado, 2016
"lol,we did this for one of our dances during football games!!XD"

**
6. Lillian P, 2016
"people still doing that game lololol"

**
7. Angelo Tyreev, 2017
"i played this game in second grade"

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Video Example #2: Playing jigalo



Regan Leigh Woodruff, Uploaded on Jan 28, 2009

just a bunch of people dancin'
-snip-
Notice how the people playing this game aren't doing any foot stomps while they sing "Gigalo".

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Video Example #3: shows us how you gigolo!



Uploaded by yfcsharmel on Sep 9, 2008

Yfc camp september 5-7 2008.

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Video Example #4: 9 YEAR OLD YOUNG JARVEZ - "JIGGALO"



Deno Terrorteno, Published on Jan 27, 2011
-snip-
This is a Hip Hop song that is performed by Young Jarvez, an African American boy. 
Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread:
neekyboo77, 2016
"Man, I remember singing this little ditty with my friends back in the early 80's. This was cool to see. Back then it was one of them "fast girl" songs lol."
-snip-
I'm really surprised that this video doesn't have its comment feature closed. It should, given that it is full of profanity and homophobic comments and the Facebook-like way that some commenters are posting there (presenting personal information online like YouTube discussion threads are a social forum) Example:
EMC187, 2013: "Young javes is my frend he use to go to my school highlands elemantry".
-snip-
Updated: January 13, 2024 - This video's discussion thread is deleted. I don't know when that occurred. However, I consider this video to be historically important particularly because of the way the visuals document how African American children (girls and boys) performed this "cheer"/song. That said, historically my research indicates that "Jigalo"/"Gigalo" was rarely performed by boys. 

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Racialized Versions Of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" ("I Like A Black Boy And He Likes Me" and other racial referents)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: March 19, 2026

This pancocojams post provides selected examples of and comments about verses of the racialized rhyme "I Like Coffee I Like Tea". This rhyme is also called "Down Down Baby".

This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on race/ethnicity in contemporary [post 1960s] English language children's playground rhymes.

In the early 2000s I coined the term "racialized rhymes" to refer to examples of playground rhymes that include racial references although those rhymes previously didn't mention race. Most of these rhymes refer to "black", "white", "colored" people (racial referents), but may also includes references to "black skin".
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html for a closely related 2021 pancocojams post entitled "Racialized Versions Of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" Rhymes That Include The Words "I Like A White Boy & He Likes Me / So Step Back Black Boy..."

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT [Updated August 7, 2022] 
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on race/ethnicity in contemporary [post 1960s] English language children's playground rhymes. These comments update those that I wrote in 2007 on a Mudcat folk music discussion thread about versions of this rhyme. 

In the early 2000s I coined the term "racialized rhymes" to refer to examples of playground rhymes that include racial references although those rhymes previously didn't mention race. Most of these rhymes refer to "black", "white", "colored" people (racial referents).and may also include referents to black skin.

The earliest dates that I have found for racialized examples of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" is the 1970s (United States). 

Almost all of the examples of these "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" rhymes that I have come across have the "I like a Black boy (or a "Colored boy") and he likes me wording. Many of the rhymes that I've come across have the referent "Colored" even those that referent for Black Americans hasn't been used since the 1960s. I haven't come across any examples of these rhymes that include the referent "African American" since that referent would really mess up the rhythm and flow of that rhyme. 

Some examples have "I like a Black boy/White boy and he likes me" wording (sometimes with the contributor indicating that the racial referent that is chanted depending on who is chanting that rhyme-presumably a Black girl would say "I like a Black boy" and a White girl would say "I like a White boy).

I have come across a few examples of these rhymes with the words "I like a White boy and he likes me". 

I only come across a few online examples of these racialized "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" rhymes that mention other races/ethnicities besides Black and White people. Here's a link to one example that includes the words "I like a Mexican boy and he likes me." That example is given in the Addendum to https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html .

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AN EXAMPLE OF "I LIKE A BLACK BOY" WORDING
Down down baby down by the roller coaster
sweet sweet baby mama never let you go
if you wanna kiss me just say you love me

Shimmy shimmy coco pop shimmy shimmy pow
shimmy shimmy coco pop shimmy shimmy pow

I like a black boy and he likes me
so step back white boy I ain't shy
I bet you 5 dollars i'll beat yo behind

Last night and the night before
I met my boyfriend at the candy store
he brought me ice cream he brought me cake
he brought me home with a belly ache

I said momma momma i'm so sick
call the doctor quick quick quick!

I said doctor doctor shall i die
he said close your eyes and count to 5

I said ah 1 ah 2 ah 3 ah 4 ah 5...
i'm alive on channel 5
scooby dooby doo on channel 2
big fat lady on channel 80
and all the rest on channel 8"
-GUEST,Meme; 03 Jul 14;  https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653 "Mudcat: Down Down Baby, Race In Children's Rhymes"
-snip-
I started that Mudcat discussion thread in April 2007. Comments may still be added to that thread.

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AN EXAMPLE OF "I LIKE A WHITE BOY" WORDING 
Down down baby down down the roller coaster sweet sweet baby I'll never let you go shimmy shimmy Coco Puff Shimmy Shimmy aah shimmy shimmy coco puff shimmy shimmy aah. I like coffee I like tea I like a white boy he likes me step back black boy you don't shine I bet you $5 I can beat your behind. get the rhythm of the head, ding dong. get the rhythm of the hands clap clap, get the rhythm of the feet stomp stomp  get the rhythm of the hot dog, get the rhythm of the hot dog (move your body like a snake motion each time you say hot dog). Put them all together and see what you get, ding dong (move head from left to right when saying ding dong), clap clap, stomp stomp, hot dog. Put them all backwards and see what you get. Hot dog, stomp,stomp, clap,clap, ding dong.

Amazing how it's a similar song but different in many ways...
-Sarah Bukoski, 2016 [comment in the discussion thread for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCyBMztWUFk "Learn FUN hand clapping game "Down Down Baby", published by KSquared, Nov 9, 2013  

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WHY I THINK THESE 'i LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA" RACIALIZED RHYMES WERE ORIGINALLY CREATED
Here's a comment that I wrote in April 2007 early on in that Mudcat thread (quoted with minor changes)

"As to my opinions about these rhymes, it seems to me that with regards to childrens rhymes, children are much more interested in the rhythm of the words than the meaning of the words themselves. It certainly appears as though children care whether 'the right words' are recited-"right" here meaning the words to that particular rhyme that they learned and which are recited in their neighborhood. If a child recites the rhyme a different way, others will say that she or he "messed" up. So it certainly appears as though children are conscious of the words they are are reciting. However, I don't think this means that children are concerned about what the words "mean'. Instead, I believe that children think about these rhymes as a play acting i.e. in the theatrical sense of the word (a story with characters and plots and actions.) The rhyme's story is actually quite common-a boy approaches a girl and asks her for a date. The boy is rebuffed by the girl who says she already has a boyfriend. The story could have ended there. But this rhyme adds the element of the boy being identified as White, and there is [at least in my mind] the assumption that the girl is Black {or non-White]. Furthermore, the girl takes exception to the boy asking her for a date. She tells him that she already has a boyfriend who {it can be assumed} is of the same race as the girl. Furthermore, the girl threatens to get her boyfriend {and/or other boys of her race} to beat up the White boy. How much of this do children 'get' by osmosis, or by repetition, or otherwise? Are we not seeing a rise in interracial schooling in the United States? Isn't interracial dating and interracial marriage on the increase in the USA? These rhymes are certainly anti-interracial dating. Also, these rhymes appear to give a stamp of approval to fighting. Perhaps the changes in these rhymes came about when schools were just being racially/ethnically integrated. As such, the aggression and reference to race in these rhymes reflect the difficulties associated with those particular times. Hopefully, times have changed and the interracial relations between students of different races have improved.  Still, I'm very concerned about the normalization of in-group/out group perceptions and interactions where the only acceptable interaction between people of other races is fighting. If our cultures do not address these perceptions among children that people who aren't part of the same race/ethnicity that you are are different than you and are therefore unacceptable, how will we ever have a world where differences don't make any difference? How will there ever come a time when  race and ethnicity are descriptors that have no positive or negative valuation?" ****

Please add to the folkloric record by sharing any versions of these racialized rhymes that you know. Please remember to add demographic information (which city/state you learned this rhyme or which country if outside of the USA; the decade or year you first learned this rhyme; your race/ethnicity.) Thank you

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OVERVIEW OF I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA RHYMES
"I Like [Love] Coffee I Like Tea" is a large family of children's recreational rhymes/songs that have been documented as early as 1869. Examples of these rhymes/songs include:

"I love coffee, I love tea,
I love the boys and the boys love me,
Wish my mama would hold her tongue,
She loved the boys when she was young.
 I wish my papa would do the same,
For he caused a girl to change her name."

**

"Some likes coffee, some likes tea

Some likes a pretty girl, just like me

Such a getting upstairs and a playing on the fiddle

Such a getting upstairs I never did see "

**
"Molly, my sister and I fell out,
And what do you think it was all about?
She loved coffee and I loved tea,
And that was the reason we couldn’t agree."

**
"I like coffee I like tea
I like the boys and they like me"

**
"I like coffee I like tea
I want [child's name]
To come in [or "jump in"] with me.

None of these examples include any references to race or any confrontational content.

However, a version of "I Like Coffee" from Great Britain contains this racial referent:
"I like coffee I like tea
I like sitting on a black man's knee".

Here's an excerpt from https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/01/examples-of-comments-about-childrens.html

“Iona Archibald Opie's and Peter Opie's 1959 book The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren appears to be the earliest publication that includes the "sitting on a black man's knee" versions of "I Love Coffee & I Tea" rhyme. However, the Opie's version of that rhyme is a question: "Do you like coffee? Do you like tea? Do you like sitting on a blackman's knee"?

I believe that this version is a "trick question" was supposed to result in an automatic and "obvious response from children who weren't [aren't] Black (the intended audience for that and other rhymes) that "Yes. I like coffee and yes I like tea" but NO. I don't like sitting on a Black man's knee." (Having said yes both times, the "trick" is that the person answering the question would be lulled into responding "yes" to a question that about an action that is extremely unacceptable (for children who aren't Black).

Few analysis of children's recreational rhymes that I've read consider that this rhyme and some other children's recreational rhymes might have different meanings for Black children than they do for White children. Although we [Black people] teach our children that they shouldn't sit on any strange man's lap-unless he's the Santa Claus at a cultural event during the Christmas season- for the most part, sitting on the knee of a Black man who is known to a Black child doesn’t have the same risque, sexualized, and scary connotations that it had in the past and probably still have in the 2000s for White children and other non-Black children.”...
-end of excerpt-

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It's important to note that this "I Like Coffee" rhyme carried/carries the implication that there is something risque and/or wrong about sitting on a Black man's knee only when it is recited by non-Black children. That implication wouldn't have been present/isn't present when this rhyme was/is recited by Black children.

According to the definition given above, this "sitting on a black man's knee" example of "I Like Coffee" is what I call a "racialized rhyme".

This pancocojams post focuses on post 1960s* racialized examples of "I Like Coffee" rhymes that originated in the United States. I don't know if any examples of these rhymes are found outside of the United States.

For the record, I should note that the only racialized examples of "I Like Coffee" that I've found to date [2018] include the racial referents "black", "white", or colored (including the folk processed spelling "color"). I've never come across any versions of these rhymes that referred to Asian, Latino/a, or any other race/ethnicity (with ethnicity here having the USA definition of Latino/Hispanic).

*An anonymous commenter shared this recollection with me on March 12, 2013 via email:
"A Down down baby / colored boy version was sang on the school yard at my elementary school in 1977 during double dutch at recess. [Seattle, Washington]" end of quote.

The earliest date that I've come across thus far for racialized, confrontational versions of "I Love Coffee"/"Down Down Baby" rhymes is 1977. However, those racialized rhymes that fit a standard textual format that is documented in this post could have been chanted before that date. [I've added italics to highlight this sentence.]

Like most contemporary children's rhymes, racialized examples "I Like Coffee I Like Tea' is composed by stringing together couplets (pairs of lines with the same length and ending in a word that rhymes or nearly rhymes. Most of these couplets are from stand alone rhymes (i.e. rhymes that can be recited by themselves, but are usually combined with other recreational rhymes.)

Racialized and non-racialized versions of "I Like Coffee" are combined with "Down Down Baby" rhymes. ("Down Down Baby" is also known as "Shimmy Shimmy Co Co Pop" or similarly sounding titles.) "I Like Coffee" verses are also combined with several other rhymes, particularly versions of "Last Night, The Night Before" (and particularly the version of that rhyme that is most often called "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store." Racialized and non-racialized versions of "I Like [Love] Coffee" are also often combined with verses of "Apple On A Stick", "Take A Peach, Take A Plum", and "Eeny Meenie Epsideenie". The "I Like [Love] Coffee" lines may appear anywhere in those rhymes.

Most racialized examples of "I Love Coffee" that I've collected were/are chanted by two girls while doing hand clap routines. However, like other hand clap rhymes in the United States, these rhymes may have initially been chanted by girls while jumping rope and may still be chanted by girls while jumping rope.

The "I Like Coffee" portion of these rhymes include references to race and confrontational content.

[Added January 31, 2019]
As a means of comparison, here's an example of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" that doesn't include a racial reference, but the first verses of that example (Until the line "Step back Jack) are similar to racialized examples of that rhyme:

I like coffee
I like tea
I like a little boy
And he likes me
Little boy, little boy
Don't you cry
I've got another boy on my mind
Step back Jack
Your hands too black
To the front
To the back
To the side by side
To the front
To the back
To the side by side
The president's got a hole in his underwear
-Barbara Michels, Bettye WhiteApple On A Stick- The Folklore Of Black Children (1983; page 33)
-snip-
The rhymes in this book were collected from Houston, Texas.

Note that the lines "Step back Jack/Your hands too black" are other examples of racializing this example of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea". However, this post focuses on the addition of racial references in that rhyme.


-end of January 31, 2019 addition-

Here's an example of a racialized example of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" (without the other verses that are usually recited with it.)

I like coffee I like tea
I like a [racial term] boy and he likes me.
So step back [different racial term] you don't shine
I'm gonna get a [same racial term as initially given] boy
to beat your behind"

Lines from other rhymes follow that couplet. [Read the examples below.]

I've found the same or similar versions of this racialized examples of "I Like Coffee" ("Down Down Baby") on multiple websites that provide examples of contemporary children's rhymes. I've also heard this version of "I Love Coffee" recited in my adopted hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and have directly or indirectly (via telephone of email and from the internet) collected the same or similar versions from persons in New York City, Georgia, Michigan, Connecticut, and Maryland. This leads me to believe that this version is probably found throughout the United States.

UPDATE: January 2019:
Other examples of racialized versions of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" [from the comment section of this post] that include demographics are from Seattle, Washington, New Orleans, Louisiana, "the South", the San Gabriel Valley (Southern California), and Detroit, Michigan.
-end of January 2019 Update-

In almost all cases that I have found, the rhyme is voiced from the standpoint of females, i.e. "step back black boy/ you don't shine/ I'mma get a white boy/ to beat your behind". However, I've read at least one example that is composed from the standpoint of boys ("step back white girl you don't shine/ I'mma get a black girl to beat your behind"). And at least one example of this rhyme is composed from the standpoint of girls fighting other girls for whatever reason or reasons.

I've also read an example of "I Love Coffee" which uses the phrasing "step back white/black boy/ I'm gonna get a white/black boy to beat your behind" (Example #7 below). In response to my query, the contributor who posted that example clarified that in the integrated setting he grew up in, children reciting this could choose to say "white" or black" and usually did so to "match" their race.

These racialized lines express the societal expectation that a person should only be romantically interested in someone from their own race. The girl who is approached by a boy from another racial/ethnic group not only tells that boy that she already has a boyfriend from her racial group, she also tells the boy who approached her romantically that "You don't shine" (In standard English, this probably means "You're not a star", "You're not special"). The girl also threatens the boy from another racial group who approached her, saying that she's going to get a boy from her race/ethnic group to fight him ("beat your behind"). Presumably, she says that she will do this if that boy "bothers her" again (approaches her again with romantic intent.)

I believe that these racialized references and confrontational lines in "I Like Coffee" rhymes reflect the racial tensions between school children that often occurs with increased school integration.

Unfortunately, in the past and to perhaps a somewhat lesser extent now, children have been socialized to believe that race/ethnicity (and gender) limits who they will be involved with romantically. And unfortunately, confrontational attitudes toward other races/ethnicities are all too frequently still the norm in the USA and elsewhere.

Children's playground rhymes often reflect the mores of the society in which children live, move, and have their being. Therefore, girls (or boys) who recite rhymes with racial content are usually echoing what they have absorbed from society in myriad (often unconscious) ways. Just as I don't think that every mention of race or ethnicity is racist, I don't think that every mention of race in children's playground rhymes is racist.

A commenter who shared an example of this rhyme she remembered from her childhood on a mudcat discussion thread that I started in 2010 wrote "I am VERY saddened that we said this in elementary school."
-GUEST,guest, http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653 Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes, 12 Dec 10

Here’s my response to this comment:
Guest, guest, with regard to your ending comment, I believe that children's playground rhymes often reflect the mores of the society in which children live, move, and have their being. Therefore, girls who recite rhymes with racial content are probably just echoing what they have absorbed from society in myriad (often unconscious) ways.

Unfortunately, it was (and to a large extent still is) the norm for children to believe that race/ethnicity (and gender) limits who they will be involved with romantically. And unfortunately, confrontational attitudes toward other races/ethnicities are all too frequently still the norm in the USA and elsewhere. In my opinion, the fact that you, and I (and I'm certain others) recognize this, regret it, and challenge this as a norm, is a hopeful sign.

****
TEXT EXAMPLES OF RACIALIZED I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA RHYMES

Note: I usually capitalize the racial referents "Black" and "White". However, in this post, unless I'm writing my own comments, I adhere to the format used by the contributors of these rhyme examples, and spell those and other racial referents such as "Colored" with a lower case beginning letter.

Example #1
I remember
Down Down Baby Down Down the rollercoaster
Sweet Sweet Baby I'll never let you go
Shimmy shimmy cocoa puff shimmy shimmy I
Shimmy shimmy cocoa puff shimmy shimmy I
I like coffee I like tea
I like a colored boy and he likes me
so step back white boy
you don't cause a cool colored boy gonna bet your behind
He'll beat it once he'll beat it twice
He'll beat it beat it beat it
So let's get the rhythm of the head
Ding dong
Sho' got the rhythm of the head head
Ding dong
Let's get the rhythm of the hands
(Clap,Clap)
Sho' got the rhythm of the hands
(Clap,Clap)
Let's get the rhythm of the feet
(Stomp, Stomp)
Sho' got the rhythm of the feet
(Stomp, Stomp)
Let's get the rhythm of the Hot Dog (While doing the snake)
Sho' got the rhythm of the Hot Dog
Ding dong, clap,clap,stomp,stomp,Hot Dog
-Guest ,Pazzion; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350 "I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes"; 5/26/2005 [no race or location given]
-snip-
[Added October 18, 2018]
Here's some information about the term "colored":
In the United States "colored" ["Colored"] is short for "Colored people". This term, with or without capitalization, was used from the mid 19th century to around the mid 20th century as a referent for Black Americans. In the United States the term "Colored People" and "Colored" has almost completely been retired since around the 1970s, although it is still present in the official name for the civil rights organization NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Other than that usage, the term "Colored People" or "Colored" (in the United States) is largely considered offensive. Note the term "People of Color" (which refers to all races/ethnic groups other than White people) doesn't have the same meaning as "Colored People". "People of Color" has been used in the United States since the 2000s, and is largely considered favorably.

****
Example #2
I love coffee
I love tea
I love a Black boy and he loves me
so step back White boy
you don't shine
I'mma get a Black boy to beat your behind
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.
Mamma, Mamma, I feel sick.
Call the doctor - quick, quick, quick.
Doctor, Doctor, will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive.
1-2-3-4-5. I'm alive.*
-African American girls (6-12 years old), various neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and various neighborhoods in surrounding communities of Pittsburgh; collected by Azizi Powell, 1980s-2006; posted on cocojams.com, 2/26/2006 [Cocojams.com was my cultural website. That website is no longer active. Click https://cocojams2.blogspot.com/2014/10/hand-clap-jump-rope-rhymes-examples-i-j.html for a post on my cocojams2 children's rhyme blog that features "I Love Coffee I Love Tea" and some other rhymes that begin with letters I-J.

*Sometimes "and on channel 5" is added to the end of this rhyme. Prior to cable television, there was no channel 5 in Pittsburgh. That number is used for its rhyming effect.

Editor:
This version appears to be widely recited among African American girls in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area from about the late 1980s-early 1990s to at least 2010. See example #3 for another version of that rhyme that is also recited among African American girls in Pittsburgh.

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Example #3
Zing, Zing, Zing,
and ah 1-2-3.
I like coffee, I like tea.
I like a black boy and he likes me.
So step back, white boy, you don't shine.
I'll get the black boy to beat your behind.
Last night and the night before.
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 feel sick
Call the doctor, quick, quick, quick
Doctor, doctor, will I die?
Close your eyes and count to five
1-2-3-4-5
I'm Alive!
See that house up on the hill.
That's where me and my baby live.
Eat a piece of meat
Eat a piece of bread.
Come on baby. let's go to bed
-Kayla. (African American girl, age 5; recited for Alafia Children's Ensemble, Fort Pitt Elementary School chapter, (Pittsburgh, PA), 2000; collected by Azizi Powell, 2000; Cocojams.com handclap rhymes [website no longer active]

****
Example #4
...I learned a version of Down down baby that went like this:

Down down baby, down by the roller coasters
Sweet sweet baby, I'll never let you go
Shimmy shimmy coco pop
Shimmy shimmy rye
Shimmy shimmy coco pop
Don't make me cry
I like coffee, I like tea
I like the ??? boys, and they like me.

Now as I sang this to my daughter, I could not for the life of me remember what the adjective on "boys" was. Having read a bit about the rhyme on your site and on Mudcat, I am now pretty sure that the missing word was "colored". Now, I am white and the little girls who taught me the rhyme were mostly white, and this being the late 80s, in liberal Seattle, I don't think we had any idea what "colored" meant. My guess is that when I grew up and learned about the term and our country's history of racism, I mentally blocked out the "racist" term from my memory of the rhyme. Interesting.
-Emma M; (Greenlake Elementary School; Seattle Washington, late 1980s) ; May 10, 2010; Cocojams.com handclap rhymes[website no longer available]

Editor:
I exchanged several emails with Emma M. She confirmed that the version of this rhyme she remembers stopped after the last line given above. As part of my response to Emma's email, I wrote that the referent "Colored boy" isn't inherently racist. I also wrote that since "Colored" hasn't been used since the 1960s as a referent for African Americans, if any young African American (or if anyone else) used that phrase now, it's very likely that they don't know what it means. That goes double for the phrase "I like a color boy". Children who chant those lines may have been doing so from rote memory, vocalizing the rhythmic utterances without thinking about what the words they are saying really mean.

Emma responded to that email by writing "I agree with you that the term "colored" isn't inherently racist, but as soon as I learned about it, I certainly I would have perceived its use in the modern era by a bunch of little white girls as, at the very least, very embarrassing, if not outright racist."
-snip-
Emma also shared with me that she had talked with another (White) female friend of hers who went to another Seattle school at the same time as she did, and who also remembered saying the line "I like a colored boy" with the "Down Down Baby" rhyme. Emma also wrote that "the 1980s there was bussing and [Seattle] schools were fairly well integrated."

****
Example #5
down down baby, down down the rollercoaster,
sweet sweet baby ill never let u go.
shimmi shimmi coco puff shimmi shimmi pow
shimmi shimmi coco puff shimmi shimmi break it down,
i like coffie i like tea i like a white boy and he likes me.
so step back girl cuz he is mine.
i bet u five $ i can beat ur behind
.. to the front to he back to the side side side.
to the front to the back to the side side side.
i can beat u with ur head ding dong(repet)
i can beat u with ur feet ((stomp stomp)) repet.
i cant beat u with ur hands ((clap clap)) reapet.
i can beat u with my hot stuff(hands on hips)reapet
now put it all together and c what u got.
ding dong, stomp stomp, clap clap, hot stuff.
now lets put it all backward and c what u got.
- summmm13lzs;http://hubpages.com/hub/Recess-is-BACK-Hand-Clapping-Games; July 2010 (retrieved August 21, 2010)

****
Example #6
ilike coffee
i like tea
i like the other boy and he likes me
so step back white boy
you dont shine
i'll get the other boy to beat ya behind
last night
the night before
i met my boyfriend at the candy store
he bought me icecream
he bought me cake
he brought me home with a stomach ache
i said "momma, momma, i feel sick"
"call the doctor...quick quick quick"
"doctor, doctor. will i die"
he said "count to five and you'll be alright"
i said "1, 2, 3 ,4 ,5... i'm alive!"
-cryss; http://roughdraft.typepad.com/dotmoms/2004/05/theres_a_song_i/comments/page/2/ There's A Song In My Heart; November 23, 2007

Editor:
I believe that "the other boy" is a folk etymology form of "the colored boy". That racial referent for African Americans is no longer used in the United States and is therefore likely to be unfamiliar to children nowadays.

****
Example #7
I went to elementary school starting in 1980, in Bloomfield, Connecticut (adjacent to Hartford). The girls (including my sister) did clapping games on the bus everyday it seemed, and when they hung out in the street, etc. Demographic note: my family is White; Blacks (including many Jamaicans) are a majority in the town, and were most of our playmates.

The version to this one went:
"I like coffee, I like tea
I like a Black/White boy an' he likes me
So step back White/Black boy, you don't shine
I'll get a Black/White boy to beat your behind."

The girls would switch the race of the boy, depending on who was singing. Sometimes there'd be confusion if a White and a Black girl were playing together, and they'd sort of get jumbled up on that word and try to push their version. Sometimes they would agree on a skin tone based on a previous conversion about who the girl whose "turn" it was actually "likes." The reason why I remember distinctly that they did it both ways was that as a little kid I tried to imagine what "you don't shine" meant. I'd try to reason what skin tone "shined" more [sic]! Needless to say, I never figured it out!
-Gibb (White male; Bloomfield, Connecticut); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045&messages=66 "Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme"; 3/5/2009

***
Example #8
I always heard it as...

Down, down baby down down the rollercoaster
Sweet sweet baby, mama never let you go,
shimmy shimmy cocoa puff
shimmy shimmy pow
shimmy shimmy cocoa puff
shimmy shimmy wow
i like coffee, i like tea,
i like a white boy and he likes me
so stand back black boy you don't shine,
i got a white boy to kick your behind,
kick it rough, kick it tough, kick it till you get enough

I am VERY saddened that we said this in elementary school.
-GUEST,guest, http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653 Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes, 12 Dec 10
-snip-
[Added October 18, 2018]

Here’s my response to this comment:
Guest, guest, with regard to your ending comment, I believe that children's playground rhymes often reflect the mores of the society in which children live, move, and have their being. Therefore, girls who recite rhymes with racial content are probably just echoing what they have absorbed from society in myriad (often unconscious) ways.

Unfortunately, it was (and to a large extent still is) the norm for children to believe that race/ethnicity (and gender) limits who they will be involved with romantically. And unfortunately, confrontational attitudes toward other races/ethnicities are all too frequently still the norm in the USA and elsewhere. In my opinion, the fact that you, and I (and I'm certain others) recognize this, regret it, and challenge this as a norm, is a hopeful sign.

****
Example #9 [Added July 4, 2014]
Down down baby down by the rollercoaster sweet sweet baby mama never let you go if you wanna kiss me just say you love me

Shimmy shimmy coco pop shimmy shimmy pow shimmy shimmy coco pop shiimmy shimmy pow

I like a black boy and he likes me so step back white boy I aint shy I bet you 5 dollars ill beat yo behind

Last night and the night before I met my boyfriend at the candy store he brought me ice cream he brought me cake he brought me home with a belly ache

I said momma momma im so sick call the doctor quick quick quick! I said doctor doctor shall i die he said close your eyes and count to 5

I said ah 1 ah 2 ah 3 ah 4 ah 5... im alive on channel 5 scooby dooby doo on channel 2 big fat lady on channel 80 and all the rest on channel 8
-GUEST,Meme http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653 Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes, 3 July, 2014
-snip-
This is the first example that I've read in which the girl chanting the rhyme says that she will beat the boy's behind rather than finding a boy to do it for her.

"Yo" in this example means "your".

****
Example #10 [Added June 21, 2020]
I like coffee
I like tea
I like the colored boy
And he likes me.
So stop that white boy
Me don't shine
I'm going to give that boy
A kick in the behind.
Last night, the night before
I met my boyfriend at the candy store.
He brought me ice cream
He bought me tea
He brought me home [Hesitates, looks at me through lowered eyes.]
And he try my gate.
I said "Mama Mama I feel sick.
Call the doctor quick quick quick/
Doctor Doctor, will I die?
Close your eyes and count to five.
1-2-3-4-5.
See that house on top of the hill?
That's where me and my boyfriend live.
Cook that chicken. Eat that rice.
Come on baby, let's shoot some ...
Let's shoot...wait. Let's shoot some dice."
-fifth & six grade African American girls at John Dibert Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, collected by Jeanne Pitre Soileau & included in her book Yo' Mama, Mary Mack, and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux: Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play (October 2018) 
-snip-
Quoted from Google Books with no page number given. https://books.google.com/books?id=xPzIDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT61&lpg=PT61&dq=Yo%27+Mama,+Mary+Mack,+and+Boudreaux+and+Thibodeaux:+i+love+coffee+i+love+tea&source=bl&ots=jLJCNPiutm&sig=ACfU3U1n-ZTVuuRs8aMs0dRUofEXhnTPEQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1pquTkZTqAhUylnIEHdn8CdYQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Yo'%20Mama%2C%20Mary%20Mack%2C%20and%20Boudreaux%20and%20Thibodeaux%3A%20i%20love%20coffee%20i%20love%20tea&f=false

The author (who is White) wrote that her mother remembered chanting this much shorter version of that rhyme in the 1920s (New Orleans, Louisiana)
"I love coffee
I love tea.
I love the boys 
And they love me.

Soileau also wrote that in the early 1950s she and her White friends jumped rope and chanted that same version her mother chanted.

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Visitor comments are welcome.

The Children's Rhyme "Gigalo" ("Jigalow") - Examples & Probable Sources

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update - October 15, 2025

This pancocojams post provides text, video examples, and comments about the children's playground rhyme "Gigalo" ("Jigalow").

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who contributed examples of these rhymes. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to those who are featured in the videos and who published those videos on YouTube.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES ABOUT "GIGALO" /"JIGALO" CHEERS/RHYMES
"Gigalo" (also spelled "Jigalo" and similar spellings) is a children's recreational composition that has different performance activities.

I recall reading a YouTube discussion thread in which a commenter recalled playing "Gigalo" in the 1970s, but unfortunately I can't find that comment now.

In the late 1980s I observed my daughter and some of her female friends performing "Gigalo" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Given its textual structure and performance activity, I believe that "Gigalo" rhyme is of African American origin. However, it's clear from reading online examples of "Gigalo" that this cheer/rhyme is also known and performed by non-African Americans (mostly girls).

The rhyme/cheer "Gigalo" ("Jigalo") isn't included in any off-line publications of children's rhymes that I have come across. Before the internet it was rare for most African American children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers to be included in books, records, and other publications of children's rhymes. Instead, those rhymes were passed on by word of mouth.

Most publications of children's rhymes only include one adult approved version of certain recreational rhymes and not the multiple versions of rhymes, cheers, and singing games that children really say. The failure to publish examples of African American recreational compositions  is just one aspect of this point, but it is a critical aspect since it appears from my admittedly informal research that many if not most contemporary (1950 to date) American children's recreational rhymes, cheers, and singing games come from African Americans.

In part because recreational rhymes and cheers traditionally weren't written down, many of those compositions are short lived, lasting only for a short space of time in certain neighborhoods. But, for some reason/s, the "Gigalo" ("Jigalo") rhyme/cheer has survived sometimes with changes in its words, but not its tune, and sometimes with some changes in its performance styles.

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HOW THE NAME FOR THIS CHEER/RHYME/SONG IS SPELLED
The word "Gigalo" and "Jigalo" is a folk processed form of the words "Jack a low". "High Low Jack A Low" is the American name for the British card game "All Fours".

Here's information about this card game: 
From http://www.woodburystrings.com/bands-for-hire/high-low-jack/ 
"HIGH-LOW-JACK is one of several names for an old-time card game that originated in the 1600s in England and is still very popular there. Known as All-Fours in England, it was the most popular gambling game in America until after the Civil War when Draw Poker began to overshadow it. It continued to be popular throughout the 19th century, and was most commonly known as Seven Up or Old Sledge. It is still popular today in various forms including Pitch or Auction Pitch."

There are several YouTube videos of children playing a partner hand clap game called "High Low Jack A Lo" (also called Hi Lo Piccalo", "Hi Lo Chickalo" and other similar spellings).Here's one of those videos:

High Lo Jack-a-lo

bml128, Mar 27, 2015

My name is... High low Jack-a-lo Jack-a-lo high low High low Jack-a-lo Jack-a-lo high! As featured in 'Let's Play Up' - a new play by Rosan Chakir that is part of Bluebird Foundation's PlayNation initiative. Now, go outside and play!

-snip-
I haven't come across any YouTube videos for "High Low Jack-a-lo" (or other similar spellings) from the United States. Most of the YouTube videos of this hand clap game are from Great Britain. However, I've read comments from people from Canada and New Zealand who indicate that they play this hand clap game but use the name "Hi Lo Piccolo", "Hi Lo Chickalo" and similar spellings.

My guess is that the "High Low Jack A Low" hand clap game came before the African American "Gigalo" ("Jig a lo") singing games since I believe the names "gigalo" and "jigalo" are folk processed forms of the words "Jack a low".   

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MY USE OF THE SPELLING "GIGALO" FOR THESE RHYMES/CHEERS
I used the spelling "gigalo" when I published an example of that cheer in 2001 on my no longer active cocojams.com website". That example was the one that I saw my daughter and her friends perform in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1980s.

The cocojams.com cultural website was consistently online from 2001 to much of 2014 when I voluntarily deactivated it. Judging from the number of recreational examples that I received on that website's easy to use email form, a lot of that website's readers were children and pre-teens who had probably never seen those examples written down. 

I also used the spelling "gigalo" in the discussion thread about that cheer/rhyme that I started in 2007 on the Internet folk music forum Mudcat http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100807 [hereafter given as "Mudcat: Gigalo"]. 

One problem with documenting children's recreational rhymes and cheers online is the copycat effect that often occurs when people repeat the spelling if not the words themselves of examples that come across online

I believe that at least some of the examples of that cheer/rhyme that are found in that discussion thread spelled that word "gigalo" instead of "jigalo" or "jigalow" because they read how I spelled that word on cocojams.com and on mudcat.com coupled with the fact that the word "gigolo" is a relatively English common word. 

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SOME ADULTS' OPPOSITION TO CHILDREN PERFORMING RHYMES/CHEERS ENTITLED "GIGALO"("JIGALO") 
Because the word "gigalo" has a sexualized meaning, some adults who aren't aware of the history of those rhymes, believe the gigalo rhymes refer to that sexualized meaning and are opposed to children performing those rhymes/cheers.

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PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES FOR "GIGALO" ("JIGALO")
Gigalo can be performed as a singing game, a foot stomping cheer, or as a hand clap rhyme with imitative motions. Here are descriptions for each of these performance styles. 

Singing Game
In many examples of this rhyme in YouTube videos and in some other online example of "Gigalo" that I have come across (as of January 14, 2024), that rhyme often appears to be performed as an imitative singing game by children standing forming a circle with one person in the center of the circle. The children forming the circle don't hold hands.

"Gigalo" ("Jigalo") is performed as a "show me your motion" circle game. According to the words that are chanted, at some point of the song, the "middle person" performs actions that conform to the words of the rhyme and the rest of the people forming the circle then chant and join with the middle person, imitating that dance or other movement that the middle person is doing. At the end of that iteration of that rhyme, another person's name is called out, the former middle person rejoins the circle formation, and the game immediately begins again from the beginning with the person whose name was called out as the new middle person

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Hand Clap Game with imitative motions 
Gigalo can be performed as a partner or three, four, or more hand clap routine that combines hand claps with imitative motions. Two people, three, or four people chant this rhyme while facing each other and performing a hand clapping routine and imitative movements that conform with the words of this rhyme.

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Foot Stomping Cheer
The textual structure of "Gigalo" (the way the words are structured) fits the definition of a "foot stomping cheers".

Gigalo has a group/consecutive soloists structure which is the signature structure for foot stomping cheers. By "group/consecutive soloist" I mean that the group's voice is heard first, and then a soloist's voice is heard. This pattern of alternating voices continues until a soloist's slightly longer portion occurs. That "soloist portion may be the end of the cheer, or the cheer might end with the group (and, sometimes also the soloist) repeating the soloist's words.

At the end of that rendition of the cheer, the complete cheer immediately starts again from the beginning with a new soloist. The order of soloists is selected before the cheer activity begins. That pattern of consecutive soloists continues until everyone in the group has had one turn as the soloist.

That said, Gigalo" doesn't always fit the alternating foot stomping/(individual) hand clapping pattern that is a core characteristic of foot stomping cheers.

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TEXT EXAMPLES OF "GIGALO" ("JIGALOW" and similar spellings)

(Examples in this post are given in no particular order)

Example #1
All: Gig ah lo-o
Gig gig a lo-o
Gig ah lo-o
Gig gig a lo-o
Group: Hey, Kayla
Kayla: What?
Group: Are you ready to gig?
Kayla: Gig what?
Group: Gigalo
Kayla : My hands up high
My feet down low
And this is the way
I gig a lo
Group: Her hands up high
Her feet down low
And this is the way she gigalos
-Tazi M. Powell.; singing game/foot stomping cheer, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid to late 1980s, collected by Azizi Powell in the 1980s and transcribed in the 1990s from an audio tape that was made in the 1990s.

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Example #2 & #3
GIGALO
This is a handclap/foot stomping cheer called Gigolo.
Gig-olo-o
Gig-Gig-olo-o
Gig-olo-o
Gig-gig-olo-o
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah!
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: what.?!
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: Well, my hands up high, my feet down low and thats the way I gigolo (does dance/motion of her own)
Group: Well, her hands up high, her feet down low and thats the way she gigolos (group repeats the unique dance/motion)
Repeat with a new girl and new dance/motion.)

OOOORRR:

Gig-olo-o
Gig-Gig-olo-o
Gig-olo-o
Gig-gig-olo-o
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah!
Group: Hey [girls name]
Girl: Yeah
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: what.?!
Group: show us how yuh get down.!
Girl: Well my back aint right my bra too tight my hips keep shakin from left to right and THATS the way I gigolo (does dance/motion of her own)
Group: Well my back aint right my bra too tight my hips keep shakin from left to right and THATS the wa she gigolos(group repeats the unique dance/motion)

(Repeat with a new girl and new dance/motion.)
-Guest, 17yr old kid at heart:); http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300&messages=171 "Children's Street Songs"; July 20, 2010 (henceforth given as "Mudcat: Gigalo"

Editor: Note that the informant indicates that "this is a hand clap/foot stomping cheer." It's possible, and perhaps likely, that she (or he) could have used the phrase "foot stomping cheer" in imitation of my use of that phrase in earlier posts on that discussion thread.

The "show us how you get down" line is found in in mid 1980s foot stomping cheer "Get Down"... The lines "my back is aching/my bra's too tight" are commonly found in the very popular hand clap rhyme "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train".

-snip-
Most examples of "Gigalo" are posted online without any information about their performance activity. Here are two such examples:

Example #4 Gigalo: performance activity unknown

JIGALO
here is the real version ppl.

HEY(Girls name)
Girl:what?
ME: are you ready to jigalo?
girl:yeah!
Both: my hands up high!
My feet down low!
This is the way I jigalo!
jig-a-low
jig-jig-a-looow
jig-a-low
jig-jig-a-looow
(you keep repeating until you get bored. You also do a little dance :) hoped this helped
-Guest, meesha ; "Mudcat: Gigalo" ; May 17, 2010

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Example #5 

JIGALOW
my friend taught me this.

my hands up high
my knees down low
but this the way i jigalow
the sky is blue
the grass is green
and this the way I do my thing
your daddy cook
your momma bake
but this the way my booty shake
-No name; 2/15/2007 ; Cocojams
-snip-
This example was posted on the "Cocojams Foot Stomping Cheer" page of my
no longer active cocojams website that was online from January 2001 to November 2014. That website received a lot of its children's rhymes and cheers content from its easy to use  content submission page. 

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Example #6:
Refrain (Unison)
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low

Part I
(Call) Jasmine: Hey Stephanie!
(Response) Stephanie: Say what?
Jasmine: In-troduce yourself!
Stephanie: Know what?
Jasmine: In-troduce yourself!
[They exchange roles here.]
Stephanie: My name is Ste-phanie
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: I got the mucle.
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: To do the hu-stle
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: I do my thang
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: On the video screen
Jasmine: Yeah!
Stephanie: I do the ro, ro, ro, ro, ro-bot (punctuates each syllable with Do Do Brown)
Jasmine: She do the ro, ro, ro, ro, ro-bot (Jasmine imitates Stephanie's version of the dance)

Refrain (Unison)
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low
Jig-a-low, jig, jig-a-low

Part 2
Stephanie: Hey Jasmine!
Jasmine: Hey what?
Stephanie: Are you ready?
Jasmine: To what,?
Stephanie; To jig
Jasmine: Jig-a-low?
(unison): jig what?

[Exchanged roles again]

Jasmine: Well, My hands up high, my feet down low.
and THIS's the way I jig-a-low
[Jasmine creates a stylized move on THIS's]
Stephanie: Well, My hands up high, my feet down low.
and THIS's the way she jig-a-low
[Stephanie mimics Jasmine's stylized move on THIS's.]
-Kyra D. Gaunt' book The Games Black Girls Play: Learning The Ropes From Double -Dutch To Hip-Hop (University Press, New York, 2006, page 82);
-snip-
This example combines the foot stomping cheer "Jigalow" with the foot stomping cheer "Introduce Yourself".

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GIGALO VIDEO EXAMPLES
Example #1: playing gigalo at cheer camp



Uploaded by bby209angl on Aug 3, 2010

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Video Example #2: Playing jigalo



Regan Leigh Woodruff, Uploaded on Jan 28, 2009

just a bunch of people dancin'
-snip-
Notice how the people playing this game aren't doing any foot stomps while they sing "Gigalo".

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Video Example #3: shows us how you gigolo!



Uploaded by yfcsharmel on Sep 9, 2008

Yfc camp september 5-7 2008.

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