Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision - April 8, 2022
This pancocojams post presents text (word only) examples and YouTube videos of the African American children's singing game "Pizza Pizza Daddy O.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, recreational, and aesthetic purposes.
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All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and who are quoted in this post.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Some of the content of this post was originally published on pancocojams in 2012 [2020 reprint link given below] and in this post on pancocojams' sister blog "cocojams2" in 2014: https://cocojams2.blogspot.com/2014/11/african-american-singing-games-movement_8.html "African American Singing Games & Movement Rhymes (M-Z)"
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
It's ironical that this American singing game is being taught in some schools in the United States and elsewhere while the R&B record "Annie Had A Baby" by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, which is the undisputed source of this rhyme was banned from radio stations in the United States because of it sexually suggested lyrics. In spite of being banned from radios, "Annie Had A Baby", was a #1 R&B hit song in 1954.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/04/pancocojams-reprint-annie-had-baby-r-1_2.html for the pancocojams post entitled: Pancocojams Reprint: "Annie Had A Baby", The R&B #1 Record That Is The Source Of Playground Rhyme "Pizza Pizza Daddy O". Most of the content of that post was originally published on pancocojams in 2012. The only two comments from the discussion thread of that post (excluding my thank you response) pertain to the rhyme Pizza Pizza Daddy O" and are quoted in the Addendum to this 2020 post.
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
John Melville Bishop, Dec 13, 2009
From the DVD- The Films of Bess Lomax Hawes available from http://www.media-generation.com [Los Angeles African American girls, 1967]
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From http://www.folkstreams.net/context,201 [This link is no longer viable.]
Notes and Transcription of the Singing Games
The singing games in this film are transcribed with introductory notes by Bess Lomax Hawes.
References: Hawes and Jones, "Pizza Pizza Mighty Moe"
..."PIZZA PIZZA DADDY-0
This was by all odds the current favorite during my period of visits to the playground; during the morning's filming, the children played Pizza Pizza four times to every once for the other games. I have seen it in other Los Angeles schools and it has been reported as a "new" game sweeping through Georgia and South Carolina. During the first run-through on the film, the "new" child is leading in the center of the circle; since she is unfamiliar with the repertoire in general, another player standing in the ring begins to call out the steps. The first line of the song varies with the name of the child in the central position; the last eight lines refer to popular social dance steps."
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Another clip of this film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2YodFqZ7nQ
That clip's summary statement indicates that "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" is "A 1967 film by Bob Eberlein and Bess Lomax Hawes that looks at continuity and change in girls' playground games at a Los Angeles school".
"The Jerk" and "Twine" are names of 1960s R&B dances.
That video is an even shorter segment of "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" [1967 film], but also includes clips of the girls doing other singing games.
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Notice that the lyrics of the Midnighters' song "Annie Had A Baby" include the action words "walk", "talk", "sing", and "cling". It wasn't difficult for some creative person or persons to change those verbs to dance or movement words. There's no telling why the refrain "Pizza pizza Daddy O" was used for this rhyme. But those words certainly add a nice rhythmic effect.
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Example #2: Robertson Pizza Pizza Daddy O.MP4
LincolnMusic185 | June 04, 2010
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Example #3: Pizza Pizza Daddy-O MUE 3210
Cathy Benedict, Sep 21, 2014
Game song - (dedicated to Rita Klinger)
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This video shows how university music education students learn "Pizza Pizza Daddy-o" as part of their repertoire of songs that they might teach elementary school age children in their school music classes.
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Example #4: Pizza, Pizza, Daddy-O
PRIS Music, Sep 23, 2014
The PRIS K-2 combined class sing an arrangement of the 1960s playground game song, "Pizza, Pizza Daddy-O".
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Example #5: 07 Amateur Evening 2015 - Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Moscow Swing Dance Society, Jun 21, 2015
Amateur Evening at Moscow Swing Dance Society
Moscow, 20-06-2015
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I added this comment on this video's YouTube discussion thread:
"Although it's five years late, I wrote this comment on this video's discussion thread in case any of the women in that group still check out that video: As an African American community folklorist, I'm impressed not only with the fact that this African American singing game is known in Moscow, but also with how well the women performed it. I'm particularly impressed with the women's stepping skills, but perhaps the fact that they are members of a "Swing Dance" society means they know how to keep the rhythm and move. (As I'm sure you know) like this singing game, "swing" (Jazz) dancing came from African Americans.
Good job, ladies! I added this to a post on my cultural blog [link added]
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I should have mentioned that I thought this group did a good job with a dance/movement (stepping) that isn't part of their own culture because they not only "kept the beat" (stayed in rhythm), but they also sometimes added their own personal styles to the performance of those steps- something African Americans call "adding your own flavor to the mix". This is the opposite of performing synchronized dance routines in a robotic manner with everyone always doing the exact same thing.
The preference for doing the same thing your own way is found in circle games when the entire group "mimics" the motion of the person in the middle. And it can also be found in the different ways that African American church choirs clap single time when they sing uptempo Gospel songs. Furthermore, sometimes when African American church choirs (and those churches' congregations) clap single time, some people might chose to clap double time (clap two times on the beat).
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TEXT (WORD ONLY) VERSIONS
(Given in chronological order)
Version #1: PIZZA PIZZA DADDY O
Mary had a baby (Tanya, Sherry, etc.)
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
How you know it?
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Cause she told me
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
What's his name
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Jessie James
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
What's special?
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Toilet tissue
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's jerk it
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's swim it
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's skate it,
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's freak it,
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's twine it
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's bat it
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's fan it
Pizza Pizza daddy-O
Let's spin it
Pizza Pizza daddy-O.
-from http://www.folkstreams.net/context,201 DVD - "The Films of Bess Lomax Hawes" by Bob Eberein and Bess Lomax Hawes
Editor: The actions that are indicated in this movement rhyme are done with accompanying motions. For instance, "Let's skate it" means to act like you are skating, "Let's bat it" means to act like you are swinging a baseball bat", "Let's fan it" meaning "act like you are waving a fan", "Let's swim it" means to act like you are swiming, and "Let's spin it" means to spin your body around. "Twine", "jerk", and "freak" are specific dance moves which later became the names of specific R&B dances.
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Version #2: PIZZA PIZZA MIGHTY MOE
Evalina?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
Well, have you seen her?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
She's got a wooden leg
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
But can she use it?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
Oh, yes, she can use it.
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
Well, do she 'buse it?
I know she use it.
Well, can she ball it?
Pizza, Pizza, Mighty Moe,
I say ball it!
-Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes, Step It Down... (originally published in 1972), p. 63
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Here's an excerpt from that book's comments about "Pizza Pizza Mighty Moe":
They [Bessie Jones and other people from the Georgia Sea Islands who were the contributors to this book saw] "a remarkable play [performance of the rhyme] presented by the children of Brunswick, Georgia elementary school a few years ago....apparently "Pizza" has caught on among the Island children as well as Los Angeles...."
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I believe that "Pizza Pizza Mighty Moe" is about a girl (whose name is Moe ?) who can really dance (in spite of her wooden leg.) The line "Well, do she 'buse it?" means "Can she really dance well" [To "abuse" something in this sense is a compliment.]. The line "Well, can she ball it? and "I say ball it!", "ball" means to dance really fast and/or "dance really good". That meaning comes from the phrase "balling the jack".
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Version #3: PIZZA PIZZA DADDY-O
(Jimmy) is having a birthday party.
Pizza, pizza, daddy-O!
How do you know?
Pizza, pizza, daddy-O!
Cause I saw it!
Pizza, Pizza, daddy-O!
Let’s jump it!
Jump it, Jump it daddy-O!
Let’s shake it!
Shake it, shake it, daddy-O!
Let’s hop it!
Hop it, hop it, daddy-O!
Let’s twist it!
Twist it, twist it daddy-O!
Let’s monkey it!
Monkey it, monkey it, daddy-O!
Let’s boogie it!
Boogie it, boogie it, daddy-O!
-Linda Gross and Marian E. Barnes, Talk That Talk, (New York, 1989; Simon & Schuster, pp. 444-445, from the Philadelphia (PA) School at 25th and Lombard in South Philadelphia).
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This singing game appears to provide an excuse for the girls to show off their dancing ability. While the commands "let's jump it!", "let's shake it", and "let's boogie it" refer to dancing movements, "the twist" and "the monkey" are actual names of R&B dances.
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Version #4 - PIZZA PIZZA DADDY O
Annie has a boyfriend. [Participants stand in circle without holding hands]
Pizza Pizza Daddy-o [On the words "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O:, participants do a "scissors jump"-jump crossing their feet in front.]
How you know it?
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Cause she told me.
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Let's swim it [make swimming motions]
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Let's rope it [Imitate twirling a rope above their head]
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Let's duck it. [hold their nose and duck down like they are jumping underwater]
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Let's end it. [turn around in a circle with their arms raised over their head]
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
-African American girls & boys (ages 8 & 9 years, collected by Azizi Powell in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2010)
I observed children performing this movement song at a pizza party in their classroom on their last day of school (2010). The same words (with slightly different motions) were sung by students in another elementary school classroom also in the USA (That video is re-posted above). The fact that students from different schools performed the same version of "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" implies that some standard version of that movement song is being circulated among elementary school music teachers who then teach that version to their students. Unfortunately, what appears to have been lost in this process is the notion that the words to this song - and the words to other playground rhymes/movement songs - aren't fixed but can be updated and otherwise changed.
Instead of the words "Anne Had A Baby", some examples of "Pizza Pizza Daddy O" 'clean up' those lyrics by saying "Anne (or some other female name) Had A Boyfriend". I've collected a version of this song with the title & beginning words "Pizza Pizza Mighty Moe" (from Bessie Jones' & Bess Lomax Hawes' 1972 book Step It Down [Version #2 above]. The "mighty moe" words probably are a result of folk processing, when words are misheard or mis-remembered or similarly sounding words are substituted for unfamiliar words. I have also found other versions of "Pizza Pizza Daddy O" that 'clean up' the original "suggestive" lyrics by starting with the words "Jimmy" (or some other male or female name) Had A Party". And there's a YouTube video that shows university music education students singing "[girl's name or boy's name in the middle of the circle] has a friend. [Read example #4 below].
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Version #5: PIZZA PIZZA DADDY O
[girl's name or boy's name] has a friend
Pizza Pizza Daddy O
How do you know?
Pizza Pizza Daddy O
'Cause she [or he] told me so
Pizza Pizza Daddy O
[person in the middle comes up with a movement]
Pizza Pizza Daddy O [The group imitates this same movement]
[person in the middle comes up with another movement]
Pizza Pizza Daddy O [The group imitates this same movement]
[person in the middle says] Let's end it [That person closes her or his eyes, puts her (or his) hand over their eyes and spins around while putting to the others in the circle. The person who is pointed to becomes the new middle person, and the game immediately begins from the beginning
-Cathy Benedict, Sep 21, 2014
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This is the transcription for the video that is given as #3 above.
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Version #6: PIZZA PIZZA DADDIO
The version at my school was "annie has a boyfriend (Pizza pizza daddio) how do you know it? (Pizza pizza daddio) cause she told me (Pizza pizza daddio) let's rope it (rope it rope it daddio) let's swim it swim it swim it daddio) let's twist it (twist it twist it daddio) let's end it (end it end it daddio!)
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ADDENDUM - COMMENTS ABOUT THIS SINGING GAME BEING TAUGHT IN AMERICAN (USA) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MUSIC CLASSESAnonymous, October 14, 2013 at 4:07 PM
"Great article- I think the missing piece is that the KOLDAY early music education method takes American folk songs and uses them intentionally to teach certain rhythm and pitch skills- Pizza Pizza is one of the songs taught in this method. This might be where elementary educators get it..."
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Reply
Anonymous, October 14, 2013 at 4:13 PM
"I should have said that Kolday collects folk songs of many cultures
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