Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision: November 29, 2018
This pancocojams post documents the verse in the children's rhyme that begins with the line "I went downtown to get a stick of butter".
While it might be recited by itself, "I went downtown to get a stick of butter" most often is found as a verse in "Rockin Robin" ("Tweeleelee") hand clap rhymes.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes.
WARNING: Some examples in this pancocojams post include sexually explicit references and/or profanity. The profanity is either given in spelling amended by the contributors or amended by this blog's editor. Also, some of the other examples in these links may contain vulgar, sexually explicit references, profanity, and/or forms of the "n word".
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This post is a continuation of my analysis of children's "Rockin Robin" ("Tweeleelee") hand clap rhymes. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/04/rockin-robin-tweeleelee-analysis.html Rockin Robin (Tweeleelee) - Analysis, Performance Activity, & Text Examples" for Part 1 of that series. The link for Part 2 (which features several videos of that hand clap game) is given in Part I.
Also click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/documenting-some-examples-of-verse-from.html "Documenting Some Examples Of A Verse From The Adult Only Songs "Doing The Dirty Boogie" & "Ala Boogie" In "Rockin Robin" ("Tweeleelee") Hand Clap Rhymes".
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
For the most part, this pancocojams blog focuses on "clean" children's rhymes (rhymes without profanity, sexually explicit references, vulgar rhymes*, and/or rhymes without offensive racial or ethnic references).
However, this post provides some examples of "dirty" rhymes that children chant, either without any accompanying actions or while doing hand clap rhymes or (much less often since at least the 1980s in the United States) while jumping rope.
This post also documents some ways that children self-censor their "dirty" rhymes in front of adults.
My guess is that the "I went downtown to get a stick of butter" verse partially has its source in the "I went downtown to see Charley Brown" (or "Mrs Brown" or first name + last name Brown**) children's rhymes.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/01/multiple-examples-of-childrens-rhyme-i.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Multiple Examples Of The Children's Rhyme "I Went Downtown" (To See Charlie Brown)"
*One example of a Black children's rhyme that is vulgar and, therefore, won't be presented in this pancocojams blog, is "Ain't your mama pretty". Examples of that rhyme can be found on some online blogs that reminisce about Black children's rhymes discussion threads. Links to some of those blogs are given in pancocojams posts such as this one because of the clean (or relatively clean) examples that are also found in those discussion threads.
**I've found a couple of these rhymes that start with "I went downtown to see Chris Brown" (Chris Brown is a R&B singer].
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EXAMPLES OF "I WENT DOWNTOWN TO GET A STICK OF BUTTER"
These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
The "I went downtown to get a stick of butter" verse is given in italics to highlight it.
Example #1:
[I wrote this comment on 11/28/2018 and posted it in the discussion thread for the pancocojams post entitled The Adult Only Songs "Doing The Dirty Boogie" & "Ala Boogie" In "Rockin Robin" ("Tweeleelee") Hand Clap Rhymes.]
Here's my distinct recollection of a cultural session on West African folktales that I facilitated around 2001 in the Northview Heights area of Pittsburgh (which is some distance from the East Liberty area where I lived/live and where I had already collected some examples of what the children called "Tweeleelee" or "Tweedleelee").
I began my session on African folktales by talking about Black children's rhymes and other oral traditions in this country (the United States).
As usual, when I asked the children assembled at this session which hand claps they knew, lots of children raised their hands and/or just called out the title to "Tweedleelee" hand clap rhyme. I recall that I picked four children to come up to the front of the room -three girls and one boy. (Unlike a number of other hand clap rhymes, boys LOVED to chant this rhyme, but in my experience, they didn't like to do the hand claps in public as much as the girls did.) Tweeleelee was and still is usually performed as a four person hand clap rhyme. My plan was to pick two sets of performers, but for the second set, one boy who I selected decided not to go to the front of the room, and so that group only had three players. But that was okay since "Tweeleelee" is often performed with three players.
The children who were chosen and most of the other children enthusiastically chanted this rhyme. However, when the rhyme came to a certain point, one teenage girl (who I believe was an assistant at that community center) loudly yelled out "Squash!". All the children in the room -excerpt for one young girl-immediately stopped chanting. The teenager even more loudly said "SQUASH!" and the girl stopped chanting.
At that time I didn't know why that teenager wanted the group to stop sharing that rhyme with me. I remember an adult working there saying something like "They shouldn't finish that." At the conclusion of my cultural session-which included me sharing my adaptation of a West African folk tale with a song- I privately went up to the teenage girl and asked her would she share the rest of the Tweeleelee rhyme with me, but she declined to do so.
Some years later (around 2003-2004) I collected a version of "Tweeleelee" from some elementary school age girls in the East Liberty area of Pittsburgh that probably included that banned verse. Here's that verse:
"I went downtown to get a stick of butter
I saw James Brown sittin in the gutter
He had a piece of glass
Stickin in his butt
I never saw a black man run so fast."
Another time, one seven year old girl with a very strong personality told her two girl friends who were eight years old to say "butta" instead of saying "butt" in their version of "Tweleelee" that they were sharing with me (in response to my asking them did they know that rhyme.) Here's their version:
I went downtown to get a stick of butter.
I saw James Brown laying in the gutter
He had a piece of glass stickin in his butta
I never saw a Black man run so fast."
I asked why did she say "butter" and she said "because butt is a bad word".
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Example #2
ROCKIN ROBIN
swing swing swing to the usa
hey hey
rockin in a tree to
all day long
huffin and a puffin
and singin that song
all the lil birdies on jaybird street
love to here therobins
go tweet tweet tweet
rockin robin
tweet tweetalee rockin
robin tweet tweetalee
mama in he kitchen cookin fried rice
daddy oUt side shootin some dice
brothA in jail drinkin gingerale
sista roun te corner sellin FRUIT COCTAIL
rockin robin tweet tweetalee
rockin robin tweet tweetalee
batman and robin flyin in the air
batman lost his underwear
batmn said i dont care cause
robin goin to by me azillion more pair
rockin robin tweet tweetalee
iwent down town to getsum btta*
saw james brown sittin ina gutta
gotta piece of glass stuck it up his
i neva seen a black man
runso fast
rockinrobin tweet tweet alee
- j-mil; 3/19/2005 ; (African American male; Maryland), http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php
*btta = butta (butter)
Note: This link is no longer active. blog.oftheoctopuses.com (also known as "Whee Blog") was a multi-page blog with a small group of members who knew each other off-line. My understanding from communicating by email with one of those members was that the page of playground rhymes was the only page that was open to non-members. I added several examples of rhymes on that page, and asked j-mill if he would share information about his race and state. Thankfully, he did so for the folkloric record.
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Example #3:
...remember hand games....
tweedle tweedle dee
treetop
tweedle tweedle dee
treetop
tweet baby tweet baby
your mama says
she rocks in a treetop
all day long
huffin and puffin
and saying a song
all the little birds
james bell street
love the little robins
go tweet tweet tweet
rockin robin
tweet tweet tweet
rockin robin
tweet tweet tweet
i went down town to get a stick of butter
and saw james brown sitting (people cursed on my block) in the gutter
i took a piece of glass and stuck it up his (you know what)
i never saw a (kids are mean) run so fast.
we even played that in college.
hmmm...those hand games were violent and had curses in them, huh?
holla at me if you remember
-MaMaBuddha; [African American female]; Harlem, New York, New York}; 7/31/2000]
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/archive/index.php/t-5627.html
Note: Commenters on this blog were members of Black Greek lettered sororities who lived in the United States and were sharing their memories of childhood games.
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Example #4
ROCKIN ROBIN
Tweet baby tweet baby,
my mama said:
shes rocking in the tree top
all day long
huffing and a puffing and singing that song
all the little girls on dainburn street
love to hear the birds go tweet tweet tweet,
rocking robin tweet twirly
rocking robin tweet twirly.
Batman and robin flying in the air
batman lost his underwear
batman says I don't care
mamas gonna buy me a brand new pair,
rocking robin tweet twirly
rocking robin tweet twirly,
I went down town to get a stick a butter
all i saw was james brown sitting in a gutter
took a piece of glass shoved it up his ahhhhh...
never saw a motha sucka run so fast (crazy isnt it)
rocking robin tweet twirly
rockin robin tweet twirly,
went to the movies to see king kong
all I saw was a rubber ding dong
rocking robin tweet twiyly
rocking robin tweet twirly,
mothers in the kitchen cooking rice,
poppa's in the bathroom shooting dice,
brothers in jail raising hell,
sister's in the corner selling fruit cocktail
rocking robin (some children sing other parts not to sure what they are, the words were the same since I was young but now they add things that relate to their time)
-Guest KLC,(East Harlem, New York, New York, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 ; Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?; July 11, 2008
Editor:
In response to my request for demographic information, KLC posted this information on that same Mudcat thread:
"The children that play these games range from 5 - 12 years old. Both boys and girls play these games but girls are more into it and know a lot more hand games then the boys. The children that I see playing these games are Hispanic, African American, Caribbean, Caucasian and Asian because that is the population that I serve at my program."
-snip-
"(crazy isnt it)" is a comment and not a part of the rhyme.
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Example #5
Twee lee lee
Tree top
Twee lee lee
My bra *
Popscicle popscicle
Your breath stinks.
He rocks in the treetop all day long
huffin' and a puffin' and singin' that song.
all the little birdies on jay bird street
love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet.
Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' rice.
Daddy's outside shootin' dice .
Brother's in jail ringin that bell.
Sister's outside playing fruit cock tail.
I went to the store to get a stick of butter **
I saw Chris Brown*** singing in the gutter .
He had a piece of glass stuck up his sssh****
I never knew a Black man run so fast.
-Naijah S. (African American girl, age 9, Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ; January 14, 2011; collected by Azizi Powell
NOTES:
I had the good fortune of collecting several examples of rhymes from Naijah when she came early to an African storytelling presentation that I did in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
*After she shared other rhymes with me, I specifically asked Naijah did she know the rhyme "Twee lee lee". She said yes, she had been thinking of that rhyme [to share with me], but it wasn't a good rhyme. I said yes, I know what she meant, but I asked her to share that rhyme with me for the sake of the collection. Without any further hesitation, Naijah began reciting that rhyme.
Naijah was very reluctant to say the word "bra". When I reassured her that it was alright to say it for the sake of this collection, she spelled out that word. I repeated it out loud to make sure that that was the right word, and Naijah said that was right but that some of the girls who do this (and she said only girls did these rhymes) didn't like saying that word.
**Naijah ended her recitation with the "Mama's in the kitchen verse". I asked her did she know another verse, and she said yes, but that "It was bad". I again asked her to share "for the sake of this Internet collection". She then recited the verse that is found above.
***Naijah said that some girls say "James Brown" and others say "Chris Brown". She then said that line using the name of "Chris Brown" (who is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor).
**** Naijah said that this was a bad word. I asked her did she know what it was. She said yes, but that when they said this part, she and all her friends said "Sssh! (meaning "Be quiet").
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Example #6
"Do you remember this? If so, how does your rhyme go? A friend said she never heard the version I know. It's quite vulgar and can't believe we were saying this as kids.
Curious to see if it's regional or not. I'm a NY'er and she's from the south.
ETA: I'll share the complete ending later but here's the first part. "I went downtown to get a stick of butter. Saw James Brown sh!tting in the gutter. " Embarrassed
-Wynter, Aug 09 2012, http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/i-went-downtown-to-get-a-stick-of-butter_topic345408.html
-snip-
This was the beginning of an 8 page discussion thread in which people shared their memories of various rhymes. This commenter never finished this rhyme and very few other commenters (besides the one immediately below) indicated that they knew it.
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Example #7
"tweet baby tweet baby your mama says she rocks in a treetop all day long huffing and puffing and singing a song all the little birds on james bell street love the little robins go tweet tweet tweet rocking robin tweet tweet tweet rocking robin tweet tweet tweet
i went down town to get a stick of butter and saw james brown sitting in the gutter i took a piece of glass and stuck it up his azz
never saw a muthf&&ker* run so fast lol
-Ikasuu, Aug 09 2012, http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/i-went-downtown-to-get-a-stick-of-butter_topic345408.html
-snip-
*This word was fully spelled out in this example.
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Example #8
Went downtown to get a stick of butter
I saw James Brown shitting in a gutter
I took a piece of glass
And shoved it up his ass
Never seen a motherf&&ker* run so fast!
-Michele Cunningham, July 23, 2015, http://fillthehours.blogspot.com/2015/07/da-bronx-sings.html
snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this example.
This was one of several "dirty" rhymes that were given in that post. This commenter wrote that she grew up in the South Bronx and East Tremont in the '70s. She wrote that she was surprised that many people outside of the South Bronx knew these rhymes. (Bronx is a borough of New York City.)
However, notice how many of the examples that I found online which noted the city where they learned this rhyme are from New York City:#3 (Harlem); #4 (East Harlem,#6 New York (no boroughs mentioned) , #8 (New York, (the Bronx), and #9 (Queens).
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Example #9
OMG!!! I LOVE THIS THREAD!!!! vixxen13 beat me to most of them but i remember a dirty one lmao ill censor it..
went downtown to get stick of butter
saw james brown sittin in the gutter
took a piece of glass
stuck it up his @..
never saw a m...f...er run so fast
:lol: we were some badddd kids we sang that after "rockin robin"
-EmpressRi, 07-24-2007 (location: Queens @ The Rotten Apple), https://www.nappturality.com/forums/threads/81695-Clapping-Rhymes-hand-Games/page3?s=22cc3a3cdb04b3126620bb29c3788153
-snip-
Queens is a borough of New York City.
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