Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post documents dates for some examples of United States English language children's hand clap rhymes, or jump rope rhymes.
This compilation doesn't include examples of children's "choosing it" rhymes, "taunting rhymes", "singing games", "cheerleader cheers", including "foot stomping cheers", or "softball cheers".
These performance dates are given in the contributors' comments or are found in the collector's/edito'rs notes about a particular American English language hand clap rhyme/or other type of American English recreational rhymes.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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This post is a revised copy of a now deleted 2021 pancocojams post on this subject. That 2021 version of this post had no visitor comments.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-compilation-of-united-states.html for another 2021 pancocojams post entitled "An Alphabetized Compilation Of A Few United States Children's Playground Rhymes That Were Given With Date & Place Demographical Information".
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/foot-stomping-cheers-demographics-city.html for a pancocojams post entitled "Foot Stomping Cheers Demographics: City & State Locations (1970s through 2010)".
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
Although most of the content of this pancocojams post focuses on African American culture and other Black cultures throughout the world, this post is part of pancocojams's content that focuses on children's rhymes and cheers that were performed or still are performed by children (mostly girls) regardless of their race/ethnicity.
That said, this post and other pancocojams posts about children's rhymes and cheers focus on versions of recreational rhymes, cheers, and singing games that are performed by African American girls, and the ways that those rhymes and cheers may have been (or may be) performed by some African American girls that may be different from the ways they were performed by some girls of other races/ethnicities.
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HOW THESE ENTRIES ARE PRESENTED IN THIS PANCOCOJAMS COMPILATION
The comments in this compilation may include words to the complete version of a particular rhyme, or partial words of a version of a particular rhyme, or the contributor's demographic comment with the title of that rhyme and no words to that rhyme.
These comments may also include the name of the city/state or nation where the contributors lived when they first heard or chanted these rhymes or cheers. Other demographic information and information about these examples' performance activities may also be included in these featured comments.
The examples in this 2026 post are given in numerological order (for examples whose titles begin with numbers) or alphabetical order based on the first letter of the first title that is usually given (in the 2020s USA) for those examples. Multiple versions of the same rhyme are given in no particular order, but are numbered for referencing purposes only.
The titles for these rhymes are given in upper case letters. Other titles that may be used for the same rhyme are given in parenthesis. The titles for these rhymes aren't chanted.
These entries in this pancocojams compilation may include my brief editorial notes.
These rhyme examples of these rhymes may be included in other pancocojams posts.
A, B
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C, D
CHILI CHILI BANG BANG
"chili chili bang bang let's see rica do her thang
i can't
why not
i just can't
why not?
cause my back hurt and my bra too tight with my hips shakin from the left to the right
to the left
to the right
to that left
back to the right
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"Hood Cheers" mean "cheers that were performed in (predominately) African American working class or poor neighborhoods. Commenters in that lipstickalley.com forum were/are mostly African American.
WARNING: Some comments and rhymes in that lipstickalley.com forum include profanity and/or sexually explicit references.
(The title "Chili Chili Bang Bang" is probably a folk processed form of the title for the rhyme "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". That "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" rhyme is probably a folk processed form of "Down Down Baby". This version includes a version of the rhyme "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train".
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CINDERELLA DRESSED IN YELLA
"In the 70s we did Cinderella Dressed in Yella as a jump-roping game... I still remember all the words LOL Sweet family and the best instructional clapping game video I've seen."
-lissastube, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6aCugwqZJ4&t=87s&ab_channel=Lowtechgames , "6 HAND CLAPPING GAMES"
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DOUBLE DOUBLE THIS
"I was born in 1990 and we called it double double this this in chicago"
-Priddy Lipz, 2020 [comment], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-NKrzvqz_I&t=309s&ab_channel=Geneas "90’s hands games !!!!!"
This video and its discussion thread are no longer available.
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This comment refers to the hand clap rhyme that the two young adult Black American women from Newark, New Jersey called "Hands Up To 85". A comment about that rhyme is given below in this pancocojams post.
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DOWN DOWN BABY (Comment #1)
"Here's a pretty innocuous version. Clapping rhyme, Atlantic City NJ, late 70's:
Down Down Baby, down by the roller coaster
Sweet Sweet Baby, my heart's in love
Ooh, che-chihuahua
Biscuit
I solemnly love her
Biscuit
She is so sweet
Biscuit
Like a cherry treat
Biscuit
Touche Turtle, pull down your girdle
Biscuit
-Ruth Archer, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653&messages=29 "Down Down Baby-Race in Kid's Rhymes", 10 Apr 07
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DOWN DOWN BABY (Comment #2)
"Here's a version I used in a preschool in the 1990's. It is another non-confrontational, non-racial example of this rhyme. I used this "singing game" because the preschool was predominately black and I identified this as a culturally relevant game.
Sweet sweet baby, I'll never let you go. (hug yourself)
Shimmy shimmy co-coa pop, (hands on hips and shimmy hips)
Shimmy shimmy bop! (hands on hips and shimmy hips)
Shimmy shimmy co-coa pop, (hands on hips and shimmy hips)
Shimmy shimmy bop! (hands on hips and shimmy hips)
-From: GUEST,MW, 19 Oct 10; https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653, Lyr Add: Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes
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DOWN DOWN BABY (Comment #3)
[Editor's note: This commenter refers to racialized versions of "Down Down Baby" that includes the line "Step back White boy, you don't shine/Imma get a Black boy to beat your behind.]
"Very cool to finally find a historical resource of the musically interesting trauma I experienced in 1st grade 1971 North East Houston Texas. I’ve asked everybody all my life and they’d never heard the song sung to me after I was beat up by the neighbor children. I was an easy to beat up white kid (actually Hispanic) so they did it as often as possible until I stopped walking to and from school.
Me with a bloody nose crying on the ground would hear:
White patty white patty you don’t shine
You got bumps on your booty like Frankenstein.
There were 2 or 3 other verses that I can’t recall but that one would make me laugh. I tried to laugh with them in hopes I could be friends.
Thanks for this cathartic resource!"
-GUEST, Ehaw, 7 Oct 20, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653, Lyr Add: Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes
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DOWN DOWN BABY (Comment #4)
"I'm 62 and played "Down, Down Baby" in L.A. in the 60's. LOVE you 2 beautiful ladies!"
This video and its discussion thread are no longer available. "90’s hand games (part 2)"
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"L.A." = Los Angeles, California, USA
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E, F
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G, H
HANDS UP TO 85
"We did “hands up” a little different. Born in 91. We would do “hands up 85...and the focus was whatever topic; names, colors etc lol
I miss this stuff man 😭”
-Kerra Lordeus, 2020 [comment] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-NKrzvqz_I&t=309s&ab_channel=Geneas "90s Hand Games" "90’s hands games !!!!!"
This video and its discussion thread are no longer available.
[This is a version of the "Concentration" hand clap game]
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HEY, BABY, HOW 'BOUT A DATE
Hey baby, how about a date?
I'll meet you round the corner
'Bout half-past eight.
Hands up!
Tachie Tachie Tachie
Hands down!
Tachie Tachie Tachie!
Sans BOOTS!
Tachie Tachie Tachie
Hands down!
Tachie Tachie Tachie!
Sans BOOTS!
- Barbara Ray (African American female), memory of childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s; collected in November 1996 & in August 2009 (second interview) by Azizi Powell
Barbara explained that rhyme was performed like a singing game with two vertical lines of girls facing each other while they clapped the hands of the person standing across from them.
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I, J
I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA (Comment #1)
"Here’s how I heard it as a child in late 70s/early 80s Atlanta:
I like coffee I like tea
I like the Jackson 5 and they like me
So step back white boy you don’t shine
I’ll get the Jackson 5 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 stomach ache
Mama mama I feel sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor doctor shall I die
Close your eyes and count to 5
1 2 3 4 5 I’m alive
See that house on top of the hill
That’s where me and my baby gonna live
Gonna cook some oatmeal cook some bread
Come on baby let’s go to bed
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I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA (Comment #2)
"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! Needless to say, I never figured it out!"
-Guest Gibs, 05 Mar 09, originally published on http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045&messages=154&page=2 RE: Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme
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Here's a portion of my March 5, 2009 response to Guest Gib (posted to that "Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme" thread)
..."Here's my take on that "you don't shine" phrase:
In this context, "shine" means to be as radiant as the sun or stars. Saying "you don't shine" to a boy means that you don't think that he is anything special (in looks, and/or in actions, or in his very being) as he or she thinks he is. "....
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K, L
KEEP THE KETTLE BOILING
"Diamonds, Rubies, Pearls and Aces
Keep the kettle boilin n leave no spaces.
We use to jump rope to this in the early 60's in Stow, Ohio. "Leave no spaces" meant as soon as one person left the double dutch jumping, another one in line had to jump right in behind her - without letting the rope come around again."
-GUEST,Belinda, 22 Aug, 07, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300, Children's Street
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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN TOO
Ladies and gentlemen, children too
This brown girl
She gonna boogie for you
She gonna turn all around
She gonna wear her dresses up above her knees
She gonna shake her fanny just as much as she please.
I never went to college.
I never went to school.
But when it comes to boogie,
I can boogie like a fool.
You go in out, side to side.
You go in out, side to side."
- Barbara Ray (African American female), memory of childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s; collected in November 1996 & in August 2009 (second interview) by Azizi Powell
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M, N
NUMBERS
"I was born in '84. In New Orleans "Slide" is called 'Numbers.' Its the same concept with a different rhythm to the clapping. I've heard of slide from one of my cousins from Detroit but never in New Orleans"
-Ink Pen, 2020, [comment] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-NKrzvqz_I&t=309s&ab_channel=Geneas "90s Hand Games" "90’s hands games !!!!!"
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O, P
ORDER IN THE COURT
"from the sf bay area in the 60's:
order in the court
the monkey wants to speak
speak monkey speak
the first one to speak
is the monkey of the week
-Guest, sundaymonkey, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350&messages=221, "I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes", 6/17/2005
-snip-
"sf bay" = San Francisco bay area (California)
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Q, R
ROCKIN ROBIN (Also known as "Twee Lee Lee" or similar words) [Comment #1]
"Zing zing zing
Like a washin machine
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Love to hear the robin sing
Tweet tweet tweet
Rockin robin
We gonna rock to the treetop
All night long
Hustlin and bustlin
And singing that song
Mama in the kitchen stirring that rice
Daddy on the corner shooting them dice
Brother in jail ringing that bell
Sister on the corner selling fruit cocktail
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Love to hear the robin sing
Tweet tweet tweet
Rockin robin
Tweet tweet twee
Rockin robin
Wow looking back there were some questionable lyrics lol
But every girl I ever met during my entire childhood knew this and other rhymes and were an excellent way to break the ice and make friends or chase away boredom. :-) memories
-GUEST,80s Baby, Sweetie, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653, Lyr Add: Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes
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ROCKIN ROBIN (Also known as "Twee Lee Lee" or similar words) [Comment #2]
"Doods, I’m 40 and I remember a lot of these. We also had one about Mc Donald’s Big Mac or something lol. Rockin Robin is older than me."
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This video and its discussion thread are no longer available.
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S, T
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U, V
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W, X
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Y, Z
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