Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of an ongoing pancocojams series of posts that explore the values that are expressed in particular foot stomping cheers.
This post provides my editorial comments about and showcases ten examples of foot stomping cheers that refer to girls' sexiness and romantic relationships.
Click the "values foot stomping cheers" tag for more posts in this pancocojams series.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.
All content remains with their owners.
Thanks to all those who contributed examples that are included in this post.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html for Part I of a three part pancocojams series on foot stomping cheers.
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html for Part I of a five part alphabetical listing of foot stomping cheers.
****
[added August 29, 2017] Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/08/values-expressed-in-foot-stomping_24.html of this series for a few videos that show performance movements that are similar to foot stomping cheers. One of those videos shows a vintage Sesame Street clip of girls chanting a jingle whose tune is exactly the same as the foot stomping cheer "L.O.V.E." and whose performance activity is somewhat similar.
****
GENERAL OVERVIEW ABOUT FOOT STOMPING CHEERS [slightly revised 8.25/2917]
Foot stomping cheers are recreational compositions that originated with African Americans girls pretending to be cheerleaders in front of pretend audiences. These foot stomping cheers were (are?) usually performed by girls, particularly by working class African American girls ages around 5-12 years. The earliest demographic information about these types of cheers that I've found so far is the late 1970s (Washington D.C. and Atlantic City, New Jersey).
"Foot stomping cheers" are also called "cheers" or "steps".
Foot stomping cheer compositions have a distinctive call & response textual structure that I've termed "group/consecutive soloists". That term emphasizes the fact that these cheers traditionally begin with the group voice, and then the soloist's voice, and these cheers always immediately begin again from the beginning, repeating multiple times until every member of the group has had an equal length turn as the soloist. These chanted words are accompanied by a metronome type synchronized choreographed routine that is made up of bass sounding foot stomps alternating with (individual) hand claps (or sometimes body pats). The word "metronome" is purposely used because the cheer's movement routine is performed without stopping throughout each iteration of the cheer. If someone "messes up the beat" by forgetting a word of the cheer or missing the beat in the movement routine, the cheer must begin again from the beginning.
The values that I've identified in foot stomping cheers and showcased in separate posts in this series are "self-confidence", "physical attractiveness", "sexiness/romantic relationship", "toughness/confrontational language", and dancing/stepping skills. Most of these values are interrelated, but are discussed separately to allow space to showcase selected cheer examples of each value.
As of the date of this publication, I've only found on example of foot stomping cheers that includes profanity other than the mildly profane word "ass". The only two examples of foot stomping cheers that I've found that could be said to refer to race or ethnicity are one example that includes what is commonly known as "the n word" (That example represented that word by the letter "n" followed by randomly selected keyboard symbols) and one example that refers to skin color by the soloist referring to herself as "this light skin chick"(in an example of "Hollywood Swinging").
As of this date, I haven't found any examples of foot stomping cheers that refer politics (including mention of any President's name), religion, race/ethnicity, skin color, national names or other geographical places except for city or neighborhood references, or historical events. Furthermore, few (pre-2000) examples of foot stomping cheers refer to sports (such as basketball or football, including any sports related activity such as making a basket or scoring a touchdown).
****
PART III - THE VALUES THAT REFER TO GIRLS' SEXINESS AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS
(These cheers are given in alphabetical order).
These examples aren't meant to be all of the examples of in this categories that I've collected or found as of this date.
EXAMPLE #1:
CHEERING IS MY GAME
Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (Twice)
CALL: Barbara. Barbara is my name.
RESPONSE: Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (similarly)
Cheering is my game.
Freddy. Freddy was my man.
But Ken is my main man.
Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (Twice)
Cheer continues until each girl announces her name and her boyfriend’s name.
-"Old Mother Hippletoe, Rural and Urban Children's Songs"; http://www.newworldrecords.org/liner_notes/80291.pdf; (vinyl record, 1978); Barbara Borum and other Washington, D.C., schoolgirls, vocals; Cheerleading; Band 3;
Recorded 1976 in Washington, D.C., by Kate Rinzler
****
EXAMPLE #2:
FLY GIRL (Version #1)
Group: Fly girl one.
Fly girl two
Pump it up, Teresa,
Just like you do (or, “Show me what you do”)
Soloist #1: “Oh” (or “Well”) My name is Teresa
Group: What?
Soloist #1: And I’m a fly girl.
Group: What?
Soloist #1: It takes a lot of men
To rock my world.
‘Cause I can fly like a butterfly,
Sting like a bee.
And that’s why they call me
SEXY.
Repeat the cheer from the beginning with the next soloist. Replace the former soloist’s name or nickname with the name or nickname of the new soloist. Continue until every one has had one turn as soloist.
--Collected by Azizi Powell, African American female (T.M.P.) audio recorded in 1992 (memories of the mid 1980s)
****
EXAMPLE #3
HOLLYWOOD NOW SWINGING/DYNOMITE
Hollywood now swingin'! (4 times)
CALL: Name is Nita.
RESPONSE: Hollywood now swingin'!
Similarly
I know how to swing.
Everytime I swing.
Stevie come around.
CALL: He popped me once!
He popped me twice!
All I felt was -dynomite!
RESPONSE: Dynomite, dynomite! (Twice)
Dynomite!
CALL: Here she is.
RESPONSE: Dynomite!
Similarly
Foxy Brown!
You mess with me,
I'll shoot you down!
Down, down,
To the ground,
Up, up,
CALL: Just out of luck!
RESPONSE: Dynomite, dynomite! (Twice)
-Barbara Borum and other Washington, D.C. schoolgirls, recorded in 1976 in Washington, D. C. by Kate Rinzler, album notes Kate Rinzler, "Old Mother Hippletoe, Rural and Urban Children's Songs"; ttp://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80291.pdf ; 1978
-snip-
I happened upon a copy of the Oh Mother Hippletoe vinyl record set at a library used book sale sometime in the late 1990s. I bought that record for its record notes even though I didn't have a record player at that time. Band 3 "Cheerleading" of that record features four* examples of what the author of the record notes calls "cheers".
*Hollywood Keep Swinging/Dynomite" are probably two different cheers. While I haven't found the exact phrase "down to the ground"/ up up just out of luck" in other cheers or rhymes, the going down" followed by "getting up" words are quite common in foot stomping cheers.
****
EXAMPLE #4
HULA HULA
Group: Hula Hula.
Who think they bad?
Soloist #1: I do.
Group: Hula Hula.
Who think they bad?
Soloist #1: I do.
Well, I think I’m bad cause
Cara’s my name
and love is my game.
I got this boy on my mind
and Lord knows he’s fine.
I got his name on my shirt
and don’t call it dirt.
Group: Ooh, she thinks she’s bad.
Soloist #1: Correction, baby I KNOW I’m
bad.
Group: Ooh, she thinks she’s fine.
Soloist #1:Fine enough to blow YOUR
mind.
-TMP.; Pittsburgh, PA, mid. 1980s; cassette recording in 1992 ; transcribed in 1996 by Azizi Powell
****
EXAMPLE #5
JUMP IN THE CAR
Jump in the car
Put your foot on the gas
Jump back and let ___ pass
She got that whip, whop
Look at that booty
Whip, whop
Don't it look good
Whip, whop
I know you want some
Whip, whop
But you can't get none
Whip, whop
-hotsunset28 http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/43158-Hood-Cheers, 8/18/2006
****
EXAMPLE #6
L-O-V-E
All: L-O-V-E.
L-O-V-E.
L-O-V.
L-O-V.
L-O-V-E.
Soloist #1: Well, Kayla’s my name.
And love is my game.
I got this boy on my mind.
And Lord knows he’s fine.
He calls me his girl.
His number 1 girl.
I don’t know his sign,
But Taurus is mine.
All: L-O-V-E.
L-O-V-E.
L-O-V.
L-O-V.
L-O-V-E.
Soloist #2: Tamika's my name.
And love is my game.
I got this boy on my mind.
And Lord knows he’s fine.
I got his name on my shirt.
And don't call it dirt.
Don’t you worry bout my lover
Cause there is no other.
(Return to beginning and repeat with a new soloist. That soloist repeats the same verses or
similar verses. This pattern continues until everyone in the group has had one turn as the soloist with this cheer)
-T.M.P.(African American female; remembrance of Pittsburgh, PA. in the mid 1980s; Collected by Azizi Powell, 2/1996
****
EXAMPLE #7
I am a 25 year old African American woman from Eastern North Carolina.
The section on the chant L-O-V-E caught my attention we used to do this
when I was younger. We would stand in a circle and we would clap our hands and stomp our feet sort of tapping out the words L- O-V-E.
Group: L-O-V-E, L-O-V-E, L-O-V, L-O-V, L-O-V-E
First Person: Erica's my name love is my game I got this boy on my mind
he's looking real fine he calls me his girl his number one pearl
Then you move on to the next person and they repeat the same thing
only with their name in place.
-no name or date retrieved*, cocojams.com
-snip--
cocojams.com" was the name my no longer active cultural website. People visiting that site (including a large number of visitors who appeared to be children, pre-teens, and teenagars) contributed rhyme and cheer examples on an easy to fill out website form.
*I accidentally forgot to retrieve the name and date that this example was posted on that website.
****
EXAMPLE #8
TABA
This is a call and response chant from the late 70's early 80's Elkhart Indiana
All: Taba Taba Tab. First person: My name is Sonji.
Rest of Group: Tab. First person: I go to school.
Group: Tab. First person: I'm supercool.
Group: Tab I used to gamble. Group: Tab
First person: But now I don’t. Group: Tab
First person: And never will. Group: Tab
First person: Me and my man. Group: Tab
First person: In the van. Group: Tab
First person: Had a fight. Group: Tab
First person: Last night. Group: Tab
First person: He knocked me down.
Group: Tab. First person: I got back up
Group: Tab. First person: And kicked his butt childhood.
The chant starts over again with the next person in the group and so on.
-Sonjala A. (African American female); 3/15/2008, collected by Azizi Powell
-snip-
The term "childhood, in this example, is probably a folk processed form of the exclamation “chile please”.
****
EXAMPLE #9
TELEPHONE
tele-phone, te-te-lephone
hey "bitsy"?
hey what?
your man is on the phone
girl, tell him i ain't home
he only want me for my hips, my lips, my booty and my this(and point to, well your "womanliness")
i know we were some fresh little girls
- bitsy196; http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=4; “remember when”; 6-25-2003
TEATHERBALL (Version #1)
I have been taken BACK!!!! But I remember one that surprisingly (sp?) has not been said.I grew up in LA and I am sure this made across the US (Don't laugh at how I spell this stuff:
****
EXAMPLE #10
TELL IT LIKE IT IS
tell it, tell it, tell it like it is
uh oh!
tell it, tell it, tell it like it is
me: my name is Goddess
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: I'm on the line
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: and I'm gon' do it
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: with a Scorpio sign
homegirls: tell it, tell it
me: and you know what?
homegirls: what?
me: and you know what?
homegirls: what?
(alternate replies)
me: my man was rollin on the ocean, he was rollin on the sea, and the best part about it, he was rolling on me (insert fast azz 8 year old sexy move here)
me: I'm just gon' kick yo butt
-GODDESS!, http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/43158-Hood-Cheers/page2?s=c36b81842e44a5cd4a49678538954ac4
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/08/excerpt-about-steps-foot-stomping.html for a long version of a version of the foot stomping cheer "Telephone" that also is an example of this category.
****
This concludes Part 3 of this multi-part pancocojams series on Values Expressed In Foot Stomping Cheers".
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment