Information About The Late 19th Century & Early 20th Century Black American Musicals Entitled "The Cannibal King"

Edited by Azizi Powell
 
This pancocojams post presents information about African American composer, pianist, and musical director Will Marion Cook.

This post also presents an excerpt of a 2017 University of Nebraska school of music paper about Will Marion Cook's late 19th century/early 20th century Black American musicals entitled "The Cannibal King". 

Part of that excerpt includes the storyline for many of these "The Cannibal King" musical productions.

The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Peter M. Lefferts, University of Nebraska for his research and writing, thanks to the University of Nebraska for publishing this paper online. Thanks also to Will Marion Cole and other people who were associated with The Cannibal King musical productions that are documented in this university paper.  
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-cannibal-king-also-known-as-zulu.html for a 2022 pancocojams post entitled " "The Cannibal King" (also known as "The Zulu King") Children's Camp Song (videos, information, & lyrics)".*

* Pancocojams Editor's Note: The late 19th century/early 20th century musicals (that were referred to as "Negro operas") with the title The Cannibal King may have inspired the creation of 20th century children's camp songs with that title. However, those musicals had different themes and different lyrics than the 20th century "The Cannibal King" camp songs.

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INFORMATION ABOUT WILL MARION COOK
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Marion_Cook
"William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African-American composer, pianist, orchestrator, lyricist, violinist, and choral director.[2] Cook was a student of Antonín Dvořák. In 1919 he took his New York Syncopated Orchestra (Southern Syncopated Orchestra) to England for a command performance for King George V of the United Kingdom, and tour. Cook is probably best known for his popular songs and landmark Broadway musicals, featuring African-American creators, producers, and casts, such as Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk (1898) and In Dahomey (1903). The latter toured for four years, including in the United Kingdom and United States.

Cook served as musical director of the George Walker-Bert Williams Company, working with the comedy partners on Clorindy, In Dahomey, and several other musical successes."...

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A LIST OF SOME OF THE NOTABLE BLACK AMERICANS WHO ARE MENTIONED IN THIS FEATURED UNIVERSITY PAPER ABOUT "THE CANNIBAL KING" SHOWS

Here's a list of some of the notable Black Americans who are mentioned in this paper.

These names are given in alphabetical order (in most cases) based on their last name) 

Black Patti (Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones) - singer 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissieretta_Jones

Harry T. Burleigh- composer, arranger, singer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Burleigh

Will Marion Cook - pianist, orchestrator, lyricist, violinist, and choral director
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Marion_Cook

Bob Cole (Robert Allen Cole Jr)- composer, actor, and playwright who produced and directed stage shows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Cole_(composer)

Paul Laurence Dunbar-poet, novelist, short story writer, and composer
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Laurence_Dunbar

James Weldon Johnson - writer, composer, civil rights activist 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Weldon_Johnson

Abbie Mitchell, opera singer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbie_Mitchell

George Walker, part of musical duo Williams & Walker  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_and_Walker_Co.

Bert Williams-part of musical duo Williams & Walker  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_and_Walker_Co.

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EXCERPT FROM A UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PAPER ABOUT THE BLACK AMERICAN "CANNIBAL KING" MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS 

From https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1067&context=musicfacpub

Faculty Publication school of music

10-17-2017

Chronology and Itinerary of the Career of Will Marion Cook: Materials for a Biography

[by] Peter M. Lefferts, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

..."COOK’S “[THE VISIT OF THE] CANNIBAL KING”

[page] 44

The first glimpse of the long-running Cannibal King project (A). Mattie Wilkes is singing Cook's "Cannibal King" song in late October [1896] in Isham’s production (Washington Bee, October 31 , p. 8), which would presumably have to be during the second part (the variety segment).

She "sings very charmingly the composition of Prof. Will M. Cook, entitled "The Cannibal King"; right now, it is a song, not a show. When Isham's troupe returns to a city, it needs fresh material, especially if returning in the same season (the ads say "Presenting NEW SELECTIONS"). The troupe's newest opener, apparently its third or fourth mini musical skit of the fall, appears in November, at the time of its return engagement in DC at the Academy of Music in  (Monday, November 23-Saturday November 28);

It is Cook's new opus, [The Visit of the] Cannibal King (Washington Post, Sunday, November 22, 1896, p. 19; Washington Bee, November 28, 1896, p. 5); "See the Cannibal King and His Secretary" (DC Morning Times, November 22, 1896, p. 12).

[...]

From Abbie’s memoirs and a song title page, Cook was working on an "opera," The Cannibal King, as early as 1896; further, he had three songs published this year, and Riis says the covers tie them to The Cannibal King (Riis, Dahomey edn., p. xviii, and notes 7 and 8). At least one does: WorldCat reports "Love is the tendrest of themes: From the Negro opera The Cannibal King," words and music by Cook (NYC, 1896). This song is identified with Cook in a list of colored song writers and their songs published in an article, "Colored Song Writers," in Iowa State Bystander, August 13, 1897, p. 4, which also says "One of the most beautiful sentimental songs in this valued collection of negro music is written by William M. Cook of

[page] 46

Washington, D.C., who is an educated musician and a teacher of music.

[...]

NB: Cook consistently called his shows operas, but this is not, technically speaking, their genre.

[...]

NB: Bob Cole was going to do King Eat 'Em All for Black Patti's troupe before he broke with them (Indianapolis Freeman, December 19, 1896, p. 5), and this topic may have been inspired by Cook; possibly the cannibal king thread goes the other way, and back even before, i.e., even before Cook, to the earliest days with Cole at Worth's, as one of the mini musical comedies for that venue. Cole's announced venture was probably intended to be ready for the next season (1897-1898), but it seems to have been set aside because At Jolly Cooney Island was going too well to shelve, and then Cole broke with Black Patti. In any event, it surely was, or would have been, another playlet. Cole rejoins Cook in a Cannibal King project in 1901, after A Trip to Coontown closes for good (see below).

1896 SONGS

"Love is the tendrest of themes: From the Negro opera The Cannibal

King," words and music by Cook (NY: Howley, Haviland,

1896)

[…]

[page] 72

The roots of this project clearly go back in some way to the 1896 Isham show, and also to the James Whitcomb Riley project of 1898; not part of Williams and Walker enterprise. The gestation of this Cannibal King surely began in 1896 with the mini in the Isham show, but exactly what form it was in in 1898 or 1899 projects is unknown; looking down the road, it was reworked into Jes Lak White Folks of 1900 (Cook-Dunbar), then into the Cannibal King(s) of 1901, and then into In Dahomey of 1902 (see below); continuities of later material are discussed in Graziano and Riis, who do not mention this version at all; relationship to King Eat Em All also needs exploring. Finally, note that the two plot line streams or basic scenarios (Dollar Bill and Silver King, and Cannibal King) that play out over the entire period of the Cook/Dunbar collaboration.

[…]

1901, early: THE CANNIBAL KING

The Cannibal King again [Version E], announced with music by

[page] 82

Cook, but now with a book by Dunbar rather than by Riley or Morton; the precise relationship to the earlier 1896 or 1898 or 1899 shows of this name (or to King Eat 'Em All below) is not known;

This version of the show was probably being worked on by Dunbar in late 1900 and early 1901, before the end of the run of Bob Cole and Billy Johnson with A Trip to Coontown, and thus before any idea of making it a vehicle for them (see below). Rather, it might have been thought of as the next vehicle for Williams and Walker, who had up to now been on the pace of a new show each season; they instead decided on pursuing a second year of Sons of Ham, which could have derailed this new project in the late spring or early summer months; Dunbar reportedly was the original librettist and then backed out; perhaps Dunbar was working to expand Jes Lak/Eph; perhaps this is the moment described by J. W. Johnson when Dunbar is irritated by Cook and won't work with him, which is exactly Armstead-Johnson's reading of JWJ autobiography passage (NB: Cook and Dunbar worked a year later on In Dahomey)

NB: Helen Armstead-Johnson quotes from an unpublished 1978 conference paper by Mercer Johnson (.rec.. Mercer Cook??), which itself is reportedly quoting or paraphrasing from Will Marion Cook's unpublished memoirs. "Conceived as an operetta for Williams and Walker, the first half of the libretto for The Cannibal King [Cook's title] was written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Then Dunbar became involved in writing a novel and lost interest in the operetta. Cook then called in Cole and the Johnson brothers to complete the libretto."

This sounds more or less right (but see below in October 1901).

[...]

Cannibal King began as Cook production, and if under his own management, this may be part of the problem; he was not a good manager; perhaps the show advertised in October (see below) represents fresh, new professional management of Ed H. Lester, who was primarily a show manager, but this did not seem to help.

[page] 86

… SCENARIO:

The plot has essential elements that go back to earliest stages of "Cannibal King" material (but not Harry Smith and/or South Pacific island Eatemall):

"The plot of the comedy hinges upon the ludicrous attempts of a colored headwaiter at a fashionable Florida hotel, who has suddenly become wealthy, to elevate the tone and mend the manners of his race and make them eligible to society" (Indianapolis Freeman, November 9, 1901, p. 5).

The father is still "Pompous Johnson" but now the daughter is Parthenia, and there are additional new characters. Krasner (1997, 64-65) gives a fuller description: it "is essentially the same as that of Jes

[page] 87

Lak White F'lks . . . . two new elements are added . . . . [and] the text was enlarged," by including two schemers who could have been "intended for either Cole and Johnson or Williams and Walker." This insight offers the possibility that the play was being revised before Cole and Johnson split, or before Williams and Walker were out of the picture. …

1901, in October: Not again mentioned in newspapers until advertised as available in late October (NY Dramatic Mirror, October 19, 1901, pp. 19, 20); Cole is no longer an author, and Dunbar’s name gets top billing as author; possibly this is a re-write to feature Cole in a solo star role; in an article entitled DUNBAR’S COMEDY/ “The Cannibal King” Soon to be Produced in New York/ (Lexington (KY) Leader, October 23, 1901, p. 7), the book is said to have been written by Dunbar and J. W. Johnson; “most of the music is founded on purely plantation melodies”; and the cast will be headed by Cole and Abbie Mitchell; the article provides an elaborate scenario that goes beyond the LoC Act I libretto to tell the story of Act II, without the cliffhanger theft of Pompus’ trunk:

 “The plot is as unique as the music is said to be catchy. It tells of Pompus Johnson, who, for a number of years, has held the position of head waiter at a fashionable Florida hotel, and, having accumulated a snug sum of money, wishes to become a factor among the Florida Negro aristocracy. He has sent his daughter, Parthenia, a beautiful quadroon, to Vassar College, where she graduates with honors, having kept her Negro parentage a secret. Pompus has heretofore countenanced the aspirations of Jerry Jenkins, an under waiter at the hotel, to his daughter’s hand, but now he begins to look with disfavor upon his suit. Jerry must gain a higher position in the wor[l]d; he must become a butler in some rich family, or second waiter in a hotel, or at least approach near the

[page] 88

dignity of a head waiter before Pompus will agree for him to marry his daughter.

A couple of dark schemers, hearing of the prosperity of Pompus, concoct a plan to swindle him out of a large sum of money by playing upon his credulity and vanity. Disguised as a conjure man one of them informs Pompus that many years before Capt. Kidd had buried a vast treasure in an old well located on Pompus’ place.  Pompus falls an easy victim to the scheme and readily gives them the amount of money asked for the secret, and to the great chagrin of the schemers digs and really finds an old chest filled with gold and jewels in the very place indicated by the fakirs.

Being now wealthy Pompus seeks a wider field of social action than Florida affords, and moves to New York, where he beings a series of lavish entertainments in his magnificent South Fifth avenue residence.

Jerry Jenkins, being discarded—for Pompus, like his paler brother, now seeks a scion of nobility or royalty to wed his daughter- --enlists in the army as a common soldier and goes to the Philippines.

Pompus enters into negotiations with Eat ‘Em All, the Cannibal King, who has been residing in Paris, to marry his daughter, Parthenia. Eat ‘Em All on his way to America has caused a panic on the ship by breaking into the store room and devouring all the raw provisions, and on his arrival is locked up in jail.

One of the schemers, who is being released from jail just as Eat ‘Em All is being locked up, and, learning from him the reason for his presence in America, impersonates the Cannibal King at the house of Pompus, where elaborate preparations are being made for the approaching marriage. The actions of the fakir disgust Pompus, and everybody else, with royalty; so Jerry, who returns from the Philippines as a Captain and who informs Pompus that he has inherited the wealth of an uncle who made a fortune in trips as a railroad porter, marries Parthenia.

An attempt is made in “The Cannibal King” to keep both play and music true to the nature and characteristics of the Southern Negro. Most of the music is founded on purely plantation melodies.

The company, composed of the best Negro singers to be found in America, has been engaged and will be headed by Bob Cole and Abbie Mitchell.

[...].

Armstead-Johnson (1981, pp. 135-37) gives more details.

1901, in August: This show never got to the stage,

[...]

[page] 96

1903, in April: short profile of Cook (The Theatre Magazine, 3/3, no. 26 (April 1903), p. 96-97), about the time In Dahomey leaves for England: "Mr. Cook is not proud of "In Dahomey," but thinks that his new opera, "The Cannibal King," on which he has been at work for several years, will entitle him to serious critical consideration. The libretto, written by a colored man, is said to be exceedingly clever and the score to contain some fine bits of composition. This opera will be presented early next season with a company composed entirely of colored singers. In the cast will be Miss Abbie Mitchell . . . and Harry T. Burleigh . . . . He is also at work in collaboration with Harry B. Smith on a musical play in which one act is laid in the South." [So he is looking to Fall 1903 for Cannibal King, and the Smith show must refer to A Girl From Dixie.]

NB: Bob Cole writes an article for Colored American Magazine which appears in March 1902, in which he says he is writing the libretto for Cook ("The Negro and the Stage," Colored American Magazine 4/11 (March 1902), pp. 301-306 at p. 306); the Indianapolis Freeman picks up on this, and reports in May that Mr. Cole is writing a libretto for Mr. Cooke's "The Cannibal King" and Dunbar is out of the business (Indianapolis Freeman, May 24, 1902, p. 5); in light of 1901 perhaps this is way late and the article was written and submitted long before it appeared in print. Or else Cole is still involved in 1902, and when Cook says the libretto is written by a colored man he means Cole and not, for example, Dunbar.

My suspicion is that if there is a Cannibal King variant that is still viable after In Dahomey, then it centers on the return of the Vassar Girl theme, i.e., going back to the Clorindy element of an educated black returning to the student's point of origin but feeling out of place. 1903, in May: on the day of the London premiere of In Dahomey, an interview with Cook appeared in the London Daily News, May 16, 1903, p. 6, and in it Cook says that in September 1903 he is "going to produce a little musical melodrama of my own, conducting it myself" (Green, "In Dahomey in London"); it is not known which if any subsequent show is what he had in mind at this time, but it could be Lucille, and from the Christmas 1902 and April 1903 items above, it could have been a variant of Cannibal King."...
-snip-
The paper continues with a chronology of other plays by Will Marion Cook. 

I gather from reading this paper that Will Marion Cook's "The Cannibal King" show was never fully produced, although some songs from "The Cannibal King" were sung in portions of "The Cannibal King" that were produced and/or in other Will Marion Cook shows. 

Please correct me if I am wrong about this by adding a comment in this pancocojams discussion thread below. Thanks!

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Visitor comments are welcome. 

The Toxicity Of Some Children's Recreational Rhymes (Part III- Recreational Rhymes & Socialization)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision -April 28, 2026

This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series about the toxicity of the messages that certain English language jump rope and/or hand clap  rhymes (also known as "skipping songs" and "hand games") convey about romantic relationships. 

This post presents a few online excerpts about girls' recreational rhymes and socialization.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-certain-jump-rope-or.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents statements about the toxicity of certain recreational rhymes about romantic relationships. This post also presents a few examples of jump rope or hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic references.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-certain-jump-rope-or_26.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents examples of children's hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic messages because they include references to paying for sex or because they include references to rape.

Warning- These examples contain some sexually explicit language. However, these rhymes are only mildly explicit compared to some really dirty children's recreational rhymes that aren't featured on this pancocojams blog. 

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The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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HAND CLAP RHYMES ARE PART OF GIRLS' SOCIALIZATION
 "AI Overview [in response to my question "What do hang clapping games teach girls about romantic relationships?]

Hand-clapping games, often played by young girls, function as a form of social conditioning and non-threatening practice for navigating complex social dynamics, including aspects of romantic relationships. These games, frequently passed down through oral tradition, explore themes of intimacy, courtship, betrayal, and social hierarchy.”…

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GAMES BLACK GIRLS PLAY-Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop by Kyra D. Gaunt

AI Overview

"The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop by Kyra D. Gaunt was first published on February 6, 2006, by NYU Press. It is a non-fiction, academic work in ethnomusicology, focusing on the intersection of black music, culture, and children's games."...

**
From https://www.amazon.com/Games-Black-Girls-Play-Double-Dutch/dp/0814731201
"When we think of African American popular music, our first thought is probably not of double-dutch: girls bouncing between two twirling ropes, keeping time to the tick-tat under their toes. But this book argues that the games black girls play―handclapping songs, cheers, and double-dutch jump rope―both reflect and inspire the principles of black popular musicmaking.

The Games Black Girls Play illustrates how black musical styles are incorporated into the earliest games African American girls learn―how, in effect, these games contain the DNA of black music. Drawing on interviews, recordings of handclapping games and cheers, and her own observation and memories of gameplaying, Kyra D. Gaunt argues that black girls' games are connected to long traditions of African and African American musicmaking, and that they teach vital musical and social lessons that are carried into adulthood. In this celebration of playground poetry and childhood choreography, she uncovers the surprisingly rich contributions of girls’ play to black popular culture."

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EXCERPT OF JOURNAL PAPER ABOUT HAND CLAP GAMRS AND VIOLENCE
From https://lupinepublishers.com/anthropological-and-archaeological-sciences/pdf/JAAS.MS.ID.000213.pdf "Clapping Games on You Tube: A Construction Tool of Gender Violence and Other Types in the Child Stage" by  Joanna Riera and Jenny Cubells Serra*

Journal of Anthropological Sciences and Archeological Sciences

Department of Social Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

*Corresponding author: Jenny Cubells Serra, Department of Social Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB, Campus

Published October 11, 2021

"Introduction

Boys and girls have the ability to subtly interpret their environment and position themselves critically with respect to ways of life, as thinking subjects and participants in the production, planning and circulation of knowledge [1]. Through imaginative play, children become an active role in cultural construction, such as violence or gender [2]. It has been described in the literature [3,4] that boys and girls play representative games of adult activities with a taboo nature (murder, death, abuse, weddings, sex, rituals...).

Under a presumably innocent framework- “it’s just child’s play”-that avoid responsibility for actions, death, violence, sex and gender identity coexist in many of them, testing the limits of the norms hegemonic of our society and offering alternatives (Riera, 2015).

Among these discourses, violence is one of the most exploited. Clapping games are evidence of this function. These are motor songs in which two or more participants stand opposite each other–or in a circle if there are more than two-and hit their hands or other parts of the body, sometimes interspersing descriptive gestures. In them, there is a cyclical choreography that is repeated while the lyrics of the song are sung (Casals y Autora, 2021). In general, girls between 6 and 10 years old are the usual protagonists, although it depends on the historical moment...

This cultural product is constantly changing and adapting according to the sociocultural context. In its repertoire, traditional music, fairy tales, the record industry, commercial products and the Internet are mixed; continuously transforming and reconstructing the songs that children use to play [7]. Previous research on English Clapping games highlights the ability to use singing to experience the limits of their social life as well as the power relationships that appear into the game [6]. Knowledge about the co-construction of identities is also provided [8], as well as the subversive character that appears in narratives and gestural play [4] and the construction and maintenance of transmission [9]. In addition, its repetitive transmission pattern and the emotional charge associated with the speech of the lyrics, make the learning process easy to establish (Berger & Luckman, 2003). In relation to its rhythmic-melodicgesture structure we highlight the recent study by Casals and Autora [10]. Social networks have become increasingly important as an oral transmission strategy in current childhood [11] and potentially influence the construction of identity of children and adults (Burn,2010). Virtual ethnography is an increasingly used tool in the quantitative and qualitative paradigm in the field of social sciences [7,12-15]. Since 2005, YouTube is the digital platform for viewing and uploading videos on the Internet par excellence worldwide [11]. [7] used YouTube to make a netnography on the transmission mechanisms of two Clapping Games. [12] studied ways of learning, playing and creating through English Clapping
games uploaded to this platform. As of June 1, 2016, there were almost 50 million total views of the videos that were part of this study, demonstrating the importance of this context in children’s oral transmission of Clapping games. Despite the international importance of these games in the social development of the participants in the networks, in the forms of  stereotypes, violence, gender and other elements of the cultural context that are built in them there has not been carried out any comprehensive
analysis of the thematic content of Spanish Clapping games."...

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THE TOXICITY OF SOME CHILDREN'S RECREATION RHYMES THAT REFER TO ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND SEX 

This write-up is partly a reprint of a 2025 pancocojams post entitled "Risque Recreational Rhymes That Are Part Of Some Girls' Sexual Education"
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/09/recreation-rhymes-as-part-of-girls.html

That portion of that pancocojams post also includes a quote from a Mudcat folk music discussion thread that I started in 2009 about the rhyme "We Wear Our Hair In Curls"
-Azizi, 23 August 09, Subject: We Wear Our Hair In Curls https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101

As of the date of this pancocojams post (April 26, 2026) that Mudcat discussion thread is still open for comments.

Here's a portion of my first comment in that discussion thread: 
"We wear our hair in curls" is the second line of a rhyme or song that begins with the line "We are the _____ girls". The name of the city where the people singing the song live is usually inserted into the blank space of that first line. Instead of the city name, the name of the singer's school, camp, or another group that they belong to may be used. I chose the title "We wear our hair in curls" because in this forum the blank space in that first line might make that title confusing.

I believe that "We wear our hair in curls" originated as a children's playground rhyme or song. A version of this rhyme was popularized by drag queens who sung it during the 1969 Stonewall Riots (examples and more information about that significant event will be provided below)."...
NOTE: Some of the examples that will be posted to this thread are sexually explicit."...
-end of quote-

One of my comments in that discussion thread includes a link to the 2003 book "Values in Sex Education: From Principles to Practice" by J. Mark Halstead and Michael J. Reiss

Here's an excerpt from that book that I didn't include in that Mudcat discussion thread:

This excerpt is from a no longer active link that I received as a result of a Google search for information about books or journal articles about sex education for children.

I quoted this same excerpt in the 2025 pancocojams post "Risque Recreational Rhymes That Are Part Of Some Girls' Sexual Education: More Examples Of Sexualized ("Dirty") Versions Of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" ("We Are The ___ Girls")" https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/09/recreation-rhymes-as-part-of-girls.html

"Another example of the hidden curriculum is found in the playground where the children learn a world of rules and rituals that have little to do with adults. Skipping and clapping songs are a central part of this world and are passed from child to child, from group to group.  These songs were studied as an extension to the research on children developing sexual values (Halstead 2000b), and it was found that many of the songs are charged with sexuality and sexual awareness. Indeed, adults can sometimes be shocked by their rude, violent, scurrilous and surprisingly worldly wise nature. They give expression to children's sometimes limited understanding of sexual matters, and make a significant contribution to children's informal sex education."... 
-end of quote-
Here's another excerpt from that book about a girls' only discussion group that was part of the research that this book reported on:
"The girls in the sample are happy to talk about what they expect their sexual life to be like in the future. They seem very aware of the problems of early pregnancy which they are able to spell out quite clearly. Interestedly, falling in love is never mentioned by these girls as a prelude to sexual experience. However, there is a sense among some of the girls of not being fully in control of their lives, and they are aware of the possibility that their early sexual encounters might occur "accidentally", that is without full intention, as a result of drink or fear of being  'dumped' or rebellion against an over protective father or simply out of curiosity"...
-snip-
With regard to the statement from the book "Values in Sex Education: From Principles to Practice" that "Interestedly, falling in love is never mentioned by these girls as a prelude to sexual experience", I agree with that statement if the word "never" is changed to "seldom" or "rarely".

I believe that many more examples use the word 'like" than love. 

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This concludes Part III of this three part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

The Toxicity Of Certain Jump Rope Or Hand Clap Rhymes (Part II-Paying For Sex Or Rape)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - April 28,  2026

This is Part Ii of a three part pancocojams series about the toxicity of the messages that certain English language jump rope and/or hand clap  rhymes (also known as "skipping songs" and "hand games") convey about romantic relationships. 

This post presents examples of children's hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic messages because they include references to paying for sex or because they include references to rape.

Warning- These examples contain some sexually explicit language. However, these rhymes are only mildly explicit compared to some really dirty children's recreational rhymes that aren't featured on this pancocojams blog. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-certain-jump-rope-or.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents statements about the toxicity of certain recreational rhymes about romantic relationships. This post also presents a few examples of jump rope or hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic references.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-some-childrens.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents two quotes from the 2003 book "Values in Sex Education: From Principles to Practice" by J. Mark Halstead and Michael J. Reissand. This post also presents  my comments about the negative messages that are conveyed by the "dirty" examples of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" and, by extension, other "dirty" recreational children's rhymes that are featured in this pancocojams series. 

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The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who contributed examples of these hand clap rhymes that are included in this post.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMAT FOR THIS SERIES
In this series I list a statement that I believe reflects toxicity in these rhymes. I then usually present one example of a complete jump rope or hand clap  rhyme and/or lines from one or two jump rope or hand clap rhyme/s to demonstrate what I mean by my contention that that example reflects what I consider is toxic.

There are probably other toxic messages that are found in jump rope and/or hand clap rhymes. Also, there are certainly other rhymes that I could have given to serve as examples of these . These are just the ones that I thought of at this point in time.

Please share additional examples of these types of rhymes in the discussion thread for this post along with the toxic message you think they reflect 

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SOME EXAMPLES OF TOXIC MESSAGES IN JUMP ROPE OR HAND CLAP RHYMES
These messages are given in no particular order with citations for the online source.
Numbers are given for referencing purposes only.

1. These rhymes may minimize the experiences and consequences of voluntary pre-marital sex (without an exchange of money)

Examples:

a) "Jack and Jill went up the hill
to have a little fun,
Stupid Jill forgot the pill,
and now they have a son.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water
Jack got horny, Jill got corny
and now they have a daughter.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to smoke some marijuana
Jack got high, unzipped his fly
and Jill said "Ooh, I wanna."
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml

**
b) "James Brown glad to meetchea drop your draws and follow meshea in the
bushes we may goshea lay down and be assochea won't your daddy
be surprised to see your belly rise won't yo momma be disgusted
to see your belly busted 2,4,6,8,10 ............"
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml

**
c) "Jack and Jill went up a hill.Jack got horny and Jill got corny and now they have a son. Jake and Jill went up a hill.Jack got corny and Jill got horny and now they have a daughter"
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml

****

2. These rhymes minimize the wrongful actions and consequences of prostitution. 

a.) "Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' rice
Daddy's on the corner, shootin' dice
Brother's in jail, raisin' hell
Sister's on the corner selling fruit cock tail"
-numerous sources including GUEST, Spain, 5/30/2006, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350&messages=221 ,I'm Rubber. You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
-snip-
This is a portion of the hand clap rhyme "Rockin Robin" (also known as "Twee Lee Lee".
GUEST,Spain prefaced her memory of this hand clap rhyme by writing "There was also the street Rockin Robin that I heard/played in the same [Boston summer] camps."..

**
b. "In Virginia Beach in 1991 we used to sing:

 "Swing swing swing on a summery day

Hey! hey!

Rockin in the tree top all day long
Huffin and a puffin and a singing my song
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Like to hear the Robin go

Tweet tweet tweet!
Rocking Robin
tweet tweet a leet
Rocking Robin
tweet tweet a leet

Mama's in the kitchen cooking fried chicken
Daddy's in bed, half way dead
Brothers in school acting a fool
Sisters down the street singing
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do"

We also sang the last line as "selling fruit cocktail" but we were all aware of what it meant and did the hand motions, and if our moms heard us we couldn't sing it that way any more!"
-.Anonymous, July 21, 2022 http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/documenting-some-examples-of-verse-from.html "The Origin & Examples Of Rockin Robin/ Tweeleelee" Hand Clap Rhyme's "Mama In The Kitchen" Verse [discussion thread comment]

**
c. "Mama's in the kitchen cooking rice
Father's on the corner shooting dice
Brother's in jail raisin Hell
Sister's 'round the corner selling "Fruit Cocktail"
Rockin' Robin

When you said fruit cocktail you had to place your hands on your chest/breast area for Fruit, place your hands on your groin area when saying Cock, and place your hands on your butts when saying Tail.

It wasn't until I was grown that I figured out what sister was really selling. Such Innocence."
-Saudade, Aug 9, 2013 https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/ghetto-childhood-rhymes.553524/page-2 "Ghetto Childhood Rhymes

**
d. "I'm from Wichita, KS and we had the SAME  ones - only we would say sister on the corner saying p**sy for sale - or Ima get my n**ga to kick your behind- my cousins would come down from Colorado for summers and teach us new ones. Looking back yes they were CLEARLY inappropriate but in the back of my mind I knew it was part of our culture that we didn't have to share with white people and I was proud of the fact that the white girls at my school couldn't do it. It was like our own thing. And with all the cultural misappropriation now days, I'm glad we call have that commonality as black girls growing up. I'm actually getting my degree in child development and was searching for reminders here on youtube for the hand eye coordination aspect of the rhymes and hand movements. We'll just have to use REVISED versions of them. LOL! Thanks for sharing your story."
-Rebecca Martin, 2018 [comment], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfzHL_1PdbY "Let's Discuss: Black Girl Childhood Hand Games and Sing Songs", published by EbonyJanice Peace, Aug 4, 2014 
-snip-
This is the way this comment was written in that YouTube video's discussion thread.

*These examples are from the widely known four person hand clap rhyme entitled "Rockin Robin". In African American communities these rhymes appear to usually be called "Twee Lee Lee" or similar titles.

The reference to the words "Ima get my n**ga to kick your behind" is probably from racialized versions of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" hand clap rhymes. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html for some examples of those rhymes.  Note: I'm also concerned about the societal messages that those racialized rhymes convey, but that is off topic for this particular pancocojams series.

I consider many versions of "Twee Lee Lee" rhymes to also be problematic because they include toxic violent references to James Brown or another Black man having glass shoved up his butt.    

****
3. These rhymes minimize the wrongful actions and consequences of being raped.

Examples

a. "lol I remember this stuff being very inappropriate... me and my lil hot tail on the play ground goin in

 my boyfriend made me do it, he really, really, really, bust my booty...

he really, really, really, turned me around,

he really really, really, really, criss crossed me down"
-ms804rudnezz, Aug 9, 2013 https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/ghetto-childhood-rhymes.553524/page-2 "Ghetto Childhood Rhymes

**
b. "James Brown got the beat yeah, drop ya draws and follow me yeah, in the bushes we may go yeah, in the bushes on the floor yeah, yo moma may be surprised, to see yo belly rise, yo daddy may be disgusted, to see yo cherry busted."
-HowLongYah Aug 9, 2013 https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/ghetto-childhood-rhymes.553524/page-2

**
c. "Tah rah rah bom di ay

I can't come out today

It happened yesterday

The boy across the way

He paid me fifty cents

To go behind the fence

He said it wouldn't hurt

And pushed it up my skirt

My mommy was surprised

To see my belly rise

And hear the baby cry

Tah rah rah bom di ay"
-@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5648 [This version of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" rhymes is from Mudcat folk music forum's" DT" (Digital Tradition), a compilation of folk song lyrics.]

**
d.  "This version from Pennsylvania in the mid-1960s: 

Ta ra ra boom de ay
How did she get that way?
It was the boy next door,
He laid her on the floor.
Her mommy was surprised
To see her tummy rise
And hear her baby's cries forevermore."
-Staxman, December 31, 2023, https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html

**
e. "Hi! Wow, this is really awesome, this song popped into my head today, I remember it from school, probably around the year 2000 when I was 12ish, and I'm from the UK! South England! The one I remember goes something like this: We are the (name of your school) girls, we wear our hair in curls, and we wear dungarees to show our sexy knees, I met a boy today, he gave me 50p, to go behind a tree and have it off with me, we went behind a tree, he lifted up my skirt, he counted 1 2 3 and stuck it into me, my mummy was surprised to see my belly rise, my daddy jumped for joy it was a baby boy!

I mightve forgotten parts of it, but that's basically what I can remember! Wow, it's really crazy but so cool that this rhyme is familiar with people all over the world it seems! So interesting seeing all the variations!
-AnonymousAugust 3, 2023
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html

**
f. "We are the Beaver Girls,
We wear our hair in curls,
We have our dungarees down to our sexy knees.
You know the boy next door?
He pushed me on the floor,
We did it once or twice,
It wasn't very nice
La la la bum shaka
La la la bum shaka
La la la bum skaka
My mother was surprised
To see my belly rise
My father jumped for joy
It was a baby boy.

I cant believe we were singing this in primary school! I doubt we knew what it meant!"
-j9127, 2008, https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=680317 Playground games/rhymes [United Kingdom]

**
g. Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay

-collected by Joe Bethancourt

Tune: "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay"

"Ta ra ra boom de ay, have you had yours today?
I had mine yesterday, a girl across the way!
I laid her on the couch, and all she said was "Ouch!"
Her mother was surprised to see her belly rise!"
-From Brent B., http://www.kayshapero.net/child3.htm, "Children's Songs,Part Three" [no date given or publishing date for that online page]

-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/09/recreation-rhymes-as-part-of-girls.html for the pancocojams post "Risque Recreational Rhymes That Are Part Of Some Girls' Sexual Education: More Examples Of Sexualized ("Dirty") Versions Of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" ("We Are The ___ Girls")". That post includes information about the history of the "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye song as well as what is believed to be the earliest lyrics for that American vaudeville song. (For the historical record, it should be noted that "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" was originally sung by an African American woman Mama Lou in a St. Louis, Missouri night club )

In addition to its sexual references, many examples of these hand clap rhymes that have their source in the 19th century "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" song also are toxic because they reflect society's preference for males (in the verse "My father jumped for joy/it was a baby boy")

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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

The Toxicity Of Certain Jump Rope Or Hand Clap Rhymes (Part I-Romantic Relationships)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision- April 26, 2026

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the toxicity of the messages that certain English language jump rope and/or hand clap  rhymes (also known as "skipping songs" and "hand games") convey about romantic relationships. 

This post presents statements about the toxicity of certain recreational rhymes about romantic relationships. This post also presents a few examples of jump rope or hand clap rhymes  that I believe include toxic references.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-certain-jump-rope-or_26.html  for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents examples of children's hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic messages because they include references to paying for sex or because they include references to rape.

Warning- These examples contain some sexually explicit language. However, they are only mildly explicit compared to some really dirty children's recreational rhymes that aren't featured on this pancocojams blog

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-some-childrens.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents two quotes from the 2003 book "Values in Sex Education: From Principles to Practice" by J. Mark Halstead and Michael J. Reissand. This post also presents  my comments about the negative messages that are conveyed by the "dirty" examples of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" and, by extension, other "dirty" recreational children's rhymes that are featured in this pancocojams series. 

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The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who contributed examples of these hand clap rhymes that are included in this post.

****
TERMS THAT ARE USED IN THIS SERIES ABOUT THE TOXICITY OF CERTAIN JUMP ROPE/HAND CLAP RHYMES 
TOXICITY - "the quality, state, or relative degree of being poisonous"
-from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toxicity
-snip-
By toxic, I mean harmful to a person's psychological wellbeing, including self esteem and harmful to the creation and ability to sustain a healthy monogamous  heterosexual relationship and friendships with people outside of your heterosexual relationship.

Here are two examples of  jump rope rhymes /hand clap rhymes about romantic relationships that I don't consider to be toxic because they promote a romantic relationship between a girl and a boy who are committed to each other, leading to marriage.

(While I recognize the validity of  LGBTQ relationships, this pancocojams post focuses on heterosexual relationships)

Bluebells Cockle Shells  
Bluebells, cockle shells,
Eevie, ivy, over;
Mother went to market
To buy some meat;
Baby's in the cradle
Fast asleep.
The old clock on the mantel says
One o'clock, two o'clock.
(to twelve o'clock)
Bluebells, cockle shells,
Eevie, ivy, over;
I like coffee, I like tea;
I like the boys, and the boys like me.
Tell your mother to hold her tongue;
She had a fellow when she was young.
Tell your father to do the same;
He had a girl and he changed her name.

- http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101113222223AAw99M5 "What are your favorite jump rope rhymes,

****
K. I. SS. I. N. G
(NAME) and (NAME)
Sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

First comes love
Then comes marriage
Then comes baby
In a baby carriage!

**
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP - "an emotional, intellectual, and often physical bond between people characterized by love, intimacy, mutual care, and commitment+
-AI Overview

**.
"the commitment of significant time, energy, resources, and emotions into another person, with some kind of physical intimacy involved (sex, cuddling, kissing, sharing a bed etc)"
-Street-Tiger0192, 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/aromantic/comments/u8e5g8/what_does_it_even_mean_to_be_in_a_romantic

**
SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS - "relationships involving intercourse"
-snip-
In the context of jump rope and/or hand clap rhymes, I'm referring to examples that imply or directly refer to having voluntary or involuntary (rape) sexual intercourse and examples that are refer to having sex (i.e. sexually explicit examples)

Also, in the context of jump rope and/or hand clap rhymes, I consider kissing to be separate from having sex, necessarily be a part of be a female and a male kissing to be engaging in sex, although kissing can be a prelude to and part of having sex

In the context of this discussion, "kissing" can be an indication that two people are in a romantic relationship and/or "kissing" can (just) mean that two people are sexually attracted to each other  

**
NORMALIZE  - "to make (something) conform to or reduce (something) to a norm or standard"
-https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/normalize

-to allow or encourage (something considered extreme or taboo) to become viewed as normal
-https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/normalize

**
VALUED - "what is considered important, desirable, preferable, worthy"; what is glorified
-snip-
In this discussion, I refer to something having a "high value" or a "low value"
for instance, in the types of jump rope / hand clap rhymes that are the focus of this series, "girls being able to attract males" is considered a "high value" while commitment to one male (monogamy) is considered a "low value".

****
DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMAT FOR THIS SERIES
In this series I list a statement that I believe reflects toxicity in these rhymes. I then usually present one example of a complete jump rope or hand clap  rhyme and/or lines from one or two jump rope or hand clap rhyme/s to demonstrate what I mean by my contention that that example reflects what I consider is toxic.

There are probably other toxic messages that are found in jump rope and/or hand clap rhymes. Also, there are certainly other rhymes that I could have given to serve as examples of these . These are just the ones that I thought of at this point in time.

Please share additional examples of these types of rhymes in the discussion thread for this post along with the toxic message you think they reflect 

****
SOME EXAMPLES OF TOXIC MESSAGES IN JUMP ROPE OR HAND CLAP RHYMES
These messages are given in no particular order with citations for the online source.
Numbers are given for referencing purposes only.

1.Rhymes convey that society places a very high value on girls being sexy.

Examples: 

a) "We said

 "I went to a chinese restaurant, to buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread They wrapped it up in a five pound note and this is what they said, said, said. My... name... is... Elvis Presley, girls are sexy, sitting in the back seat drinking Pepsi, the boys go (kiss sound) and the girls go Whoo (jump up and do the air splits)".
-"eyeball-beesting, 2026
https://www.reddit.com/r/Britain/comments/1qjapdu/does_anyone_know_the_rest_of_this_rhyme/

b) "My mother, your mother, lived across the street 1819 Blueberry Street Everytime they had a fight this is what they said: Boys are rotten, made out of cotton Girls are handy, made out of candy Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider Girls go to Mars to get more candy bars Boys drink whiskey to get more friskey Girls drink Pepsi, to get more sexy"
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml

**
c) "This is what I remember from in Windsor, UK in the late 90s.. I went to a Chinese restaurant to buy a loaf of bread bread bread He wrapped it up in a five pound note and this is what he said said said My name is Elvis Presley Girls are sexy Sitting in the back seat Drinking pepsi Had a baby Named it daisy Di di Di di da Brown bread"
-katarpillarkake99,2024, 
https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/koqcql/90s_hand_clapping_rhymes/

**
2. Rhymes convey that "girls being sexy" means girls who have big boobs and a big butt i.e.  girls who have a body that is physically attractive to males

Example:

"We used to do it: my name is Dina Gloria I’m a superstar, I’ve got a fabulous body and a flashy car, I’ve got the hips, the lips the fabulous kicks, turn around touch the ground and do the splits."
-Demi_silent, 2026
-https://www.reddit.com/r/Britain/comments/1qjapdu/does_anyone_know_the_rest_of_this_rhyme/

**
3. Rhymes convey that girls (should) place a high value on being physically attractive and (should) expect multiple boys to be attracted to them because they are physically attractive 

Examples:  

a). I am a pretty little Dutch girl
As pretty as I can be
And all the boys
In the neighborhood
Are crazy over me"...
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Dutch_Girl assessed 5/23/2010
-snip-
The phrase "in the neighborhood" is given in some versions of this rhyme as "around my block" or similar phrases. 

**
b) I am a pretty little Dutch girl,
As pretty as I can be, be, be,
And all the boys in the baseball team
Go crazy over me, me, me,
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Dutch_Girl , assessed 4/25/2026
[The example given above from 2010 is no longer included on that page.]

**
c) [Example of "I'm A Little [school grade]  
for swing swing swing our school did this
c,c,c at the bottom of the c
im a little (whatever grade or age) pretty as can be be
and all the boys around my blox are fightin over me me
my boyfriends name is CHRIS BROWN!"...
-Lauren, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU&t=4s [This website is no longer available]; 90's hands games!!! Part 1, published by Geneas, Nov. 4, 2018

**
4. Rhymes convey that it's normal for a girl & a boy to sneak and make out (i.e. kiss and possibly do other things besides kissing)

Example:

Eenie Meanie Justa Leanie
Ooca Acla 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. (African American female, memories of Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, 1984); collected by Azizi Powell, 1998 
-snip-
Donetta said she learned this rhyme from her cousin from the South (USA) when her cousin visited her in 1984.

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5.Rhymes convey that it's likely that their boyfriend will cheat on her with another girl. 

(This message can also be worded that "a boy shouldn't be trusted/believed when he says that he'll be faithful to you) 

Another way of saying this is that rhymes convey that boys place a low value on being monogamous (faithful to their girlfriend)

Examples:

a). "Zing Zing Zing
at the bottom of the sea.
I am a little __ second grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.

My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with cherry pie curls
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
1-2-3-4
Get your black hands off of me!"
- Diarra, K'azsa, and Michelle (African American girls), Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 2004; collected by Azizi Powell, September 2004

The dashes indicate that you pause for a beat before saying the next word or the next syllable.
-snip-
The line "Get your black hands off of me" is an example of racial toxicity that is found in some recreational rhymes.

**
b). "The one we used to sing all the time was

I am a little first grader. As pretty as can be be. And all the boys around my block go crazy over me me. My boyfriend name is Jello. He lives in Alabamo. With a big fat nose and 35 toes and this is how my story goes. One day I was walking. I saw my boyfriend talking to the the ugliest girl named (insert ugly girl name) in the world and this is what he said to her. M-I-S-S miss you. K-I-S-S kiss you. L-O-V-E love you and this is what I said to her.

See my pinkie. see my thumb. See my fist you better run. Recesse's Recesse's Coco Puff mess with my man I'll mess you up."

-Cidnei Gregory, 2019 (Chicago);  "Let's Discuss: Black Girl Childhood Hand Games and Sing Songs"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfzHL_1PdbY&t=2s&ab_channel=EbonyJanicePeace .

**
c) "My boyfriends name is Billy

He comes from picadilli, with crinkled nose and curled up toes and this is how my story goes... one day he gave me peaches, one day he gave me pears,one day he gave me 50 cents and kissed me on the stairs. One day he took me to the pictures to see a western film, but every time I turned my back, he kissed another girl. So I gave him back his peaches, gave him back his pears, I gave him back his 50 cents and kicked him down the stairs ....boot"
-Cathy Johnson, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/groups/2505270952950325/posts/3291541887656557/"Discontinued and Nostalgic Snacks and Blasts from the Past! :

****

6. Rhymes convey that a boy kissing a girl doesn't necessarily mean that he loves her.

Example:

"i Went down town to meet charlie brown
he gave me a nickle that bought me a pickle
the pickle was sour so he bought me a flower
the flower was dead so this is what he said:
down down baby down by the rollercoaster
sweet sweet baby never wana let you go
just because i kissed you doesnt mean i love you"...
-Sarah, Octoblog, Schoolyard games; 7/17/2005, quoted in 
https://cocojams2.blogspot.com/2014/10/hand-clap-jump-rope-rhymes-examples-i-j.html

****
7. Rhymes convey that it's normal for a girl to engage in sexual activity that stops before sexual intercourse (i.e. "sexual foreplay")

Example:

-"When Suzy was a baby, a baby Suzy was was was. She went, “waaah waah! Waah waah wah!” When Suzy was a teenager, a teenager Suzy was was was. She said, “ooh ahh! I’ve lost my bra! I found my knickers in my boyfriend’s car!”
-Not-Today-Satan, 2020
https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comments/k0ss6a/what_the_bloody_hell_were_the_school_playground/

****

8. Rhymes convey that it's not uncommon to get pregnant outside of marriage. 

Example:

"Uno, dos, siesta *
I said a-east, a-west
I met my boyfriend at the candy store
He bought me ice cream, he bought me cake
He brought me home with a belly ache
Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!"
- Kyle Bryant & Dana Bryant ; (performing hand clap game on Season 1, Episode 22 of The Cosby Show; March 28, 1985; episode title: "The Slumber Party"
;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9nuA6nTqro
-snip-
*Black American commonly call "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" rhyme "Uno Dos Siesta" or a similar title.

While this rhyme doesn't directly refer to the girl getting pregnant and going through labor, many older girls and many adults think that is what these words refer to.  

**
b) "Here is a song we used to do on the playground in Birmingham, AL back in the 80s:

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 stomachache
mama mama i feel sick
call the doctor quick quick quick
doctor doctor will i die
close you eyes and count to five
i said a one, a two, a three, a four, a five
I'm alive

[Optional part] we would do sometimes (a little risque for little girls):

see that house on top of that hill
that's where me and my baby gon' live
we gon' cook some cornbread
cook some meat
come on baby let's go to bed and do the boom boom boom." 
 -Joi, Cocojams, 3/23/2008
-snip-

Notice that there's no mention in this rhyme of this couple being married when they move in together and "go to bed and do the boom boom boom." 

-snip-
"Cocojams.com" was the name of my cultural website that was online from 2001-2014.

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visiting comments are welcome.