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Friday, April 30, 2021

Kassav' - "Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni" ("Zouk Is The Only Medicine We Have") video, information, lyrics, & comments



Earl Augustin, April 26, 2019

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about the Caribbean music group Kassav and showcases a video of the group performing their 1985 hit song "Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni" ("Zouk Is The Only Medicine We Have"). 

Lyrics for this song are included in this post along with selected comments from the discussion thread of a sound file of this song. These comments document some of the global reach that Kassav' s song "Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni"
 has had and continues to have.    

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Kassav for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of this video and this sound file on YouTube.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT KASSAV
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassav%27
"
Kassav' is a French Caribbean band formed in Guadeloupe in 1979. The core members of the band are Jocelyne Béroard, Jacob Desvarieux, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur and Georges Décimus (who left to form Volt Face and returned). Kassav' have issued over 20 albums, with a further 12 solo albums by band members.

[...]

History

Kassav' was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus (former musicians from the Les Vikings de Guadeloupe) and Paris studio musician Jacob F. Desvarieux. Together and under the influence of well-known Dominican, Haitian and Guadeloupean kadans or compas bands like Experience 7, Grammacks, Exile One, Les Aiglons, Tabou Combo, Les Freres Dejean, etc., they decided to make Guadeloupean carnival music recording it in a more fully orchestrated yet modern and polished style. The name of the band is Antillean Creole for a local dish made from cassava root.

Kassav' is the creator of the fast carnival zouk style. The French Antilles' Kassav' was the first to apply the MIDI technology to cadence and fused the genre with funk, and Makossa.

Music of Guadeloupe and Martinique:

The gwo ka, traditional music of Guadeloupe, of which there are 7 versions (rhythmic).

The bélé, traditional music from Martinique, of which there are 11 variants (rhythmic).

The biguine music of Guadeloupe

The chouval bwa, traditional music of Martinique associated with the city of Saint-Pierre.

The mazurka and quadrille, European music of the French Antilles.

The Compas, modern Haitian méringue popularized by Nemours Jean-Baptiste in 1955.

The cadence rampa (kadans), alike compas, a modern Haitian méringue popularized by Webert Sicot in the very early 60s that spread to the Caribbean.

[…]

Kassav' continued to gain popularity both as a group and by several members' solo recordings, eventually peaking in 1985 with Yélélé, which featured the international hit "Zouk la sé sèl médikaman nou ni" (meaning "Zouk is the only medicine we have" in French Antillean Creole). With this hit song, zouk rapidly became a widespread dance craze in Latin America and the Caribbean, and was popular in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Zouk performers became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special effects, stage spectacles and colorful costumes. One important contribution of Kassav' in concert was the appearance of featured dancers on stage with the band; these dancers were in many ways as much a part of the band as any musician. Kassav' has been noted by its acolytes and aficionados as a dance band par excellence."...

****
LYRICS - Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni"

Kijan zot fé
M'pa ka konpran'n
Zot ka viv' kon si
Pa ni pwoblém'
Poutan zot sav'
Lavi la réd
Kijan zot fé
Pou pé sa kenbé
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
M'pa té konnet
Sécré lasa
Ban mwen plan la
P'mwen pé sa konpran'n
Ban mwen plan la
M'poko sézi'i
Si janmé on jou
Mwen tonbé malad
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Si sé sa mwen an nou zouké
Mi'i kon sa ... Mi'i kon sa ...
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
An malad An malad An malad
An malad An malad An malad

Source: https://genius.com/Kassav-zouk-la-se-sel-medikaman-nou-ni-lyrics
-snip-
These lyrics are in French Antilles Creole. "French Antilles" is a referent for the Caribbean nations of 
Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

I used Google Translate for these lyrics and got results for these lyrics in Haitian Creole. However, a number of commenters in the discussion thread for a sound file of this song wrote that Martiniquen and Guadelopean Creole isn't the same as Haitain Creole.

****
SELECTED COMMENTS
From 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vv1wxZAR1k&ab_channel=sonnowak
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. Jennell, 2014
"Im jamaican and i like this song. I have no idea what theyre saying tho lol"

**
Reply
2. Lis Louimeus, 2014
"It's say zouk is the only medicine we neither nd bunch of other stuff it's pretty much saying the same thing over nd over again"

**
3. AC Downloads101, 2015
"This song is from Guadeloupe, but the kompa mixes in it or from haiti. But legit everyone in the Caribbean loves this song. It should be the national anthem of every island in the Caribbean lol. I loved this song growing up and I still do. They're speaking in patois, but its very similar to Creole."

**
Reply
4. HoneyHo, 2015
"I thought the band is from Martinique. Considering 'Zouk' is music from Martinique."

**
Reply
5. labeau brice, 2015
"@Catrinaboox  zouk is a music from guadeloupe and martinique"

**
Reply
6. Witteny Cineus, 2015
"+Catrinaboox You are right, it is not from Guadeloupe, that's the group Kassav which is from from Martinique, the head singer was born in Haiti, but move to Martinique at a young age. Now zouk music is all over the carribean"

**
Reply
7. Guyver-971, 2015
"+Catrinaboox Zouk is from Guadeloupe !"

**
Reply
8. Witteny Cineus, 2015
"
Now you can't just say Guadeloupe. It's  Guadeloupe and Martinique, originated and popularized by the French Antillean band Kassav' Kassav is a band from Martinique and the lead singers in the 1980s.The Creole word zouke, sekwe, or zouke, etc. from the French verb secouer meaning "shake intensely and repeatedly" was used by Haitian artists who toured the French Antilles during the late 1970s and 1980s. Kassav', the originator of the zouk béton, is a compas music band that has taken compas to many places, and is the only band that continues to include zouk béton in its repertoire, though to a lesser extent."

**
9. Luciansunset S, 2015
"Never gets old.  Since the 80s we're playing this in St Lucia.  Lucians love it."

**
Reply
10. Farah Joseph, 2015
"+Luciansunset S   We creoles love this song in general i am haitian btw"

**
Reply
11. mochabetty, 2016
"+Farah Joseph Yess! haitians LOVE this , heard it at every house party, wedding, communion parties since I was a child!!"

**
Reply
12. k v, 2017
"growing up I used to hear this song alotttt"

**
Reply
13. XXX Vibez, 2018
"Luciansunset S all the way❤❤❤ cant have no fet without this......Ayo"
-snip-
"fet" = party, social gathering

**
Reply
14. Tabitha SwaNN, 2018
"
Lucians have no behaviour when this song is playing …. or any other zouk"

**
Reply
15. Luciansunset S, 2019
"@Tabitha SwaNN  . Very true"

**
Reply
16. Valencia Alvarez, 2019
"
Never got old for Haiti too"

**
17. Walt Slominski, 2016
"Us Honduras love this song especially in the islands with the Garifunas!!🇭🇳💙"

**
Reply
18. Destiney G, 2018
"Walter Slominski   Garifuna Guatemalan we salud al de islanders out there. Big unu self   DjAfrochapin"

**
Reply
19. Destiney G, 2018
"Yes mon we garifuna from Guatemala love zouk musique. We salud you all. DjAfrochapin502 connection"

**
20. Max antoine Cajuste, 2016
"If your Haitian you know this song. All my West Indian stand up. 🇭🇹🇭🇹"
-snip-
"HT"= nation abbreviation for "Haiti"
**
21. Luv Lyfe, 2017
"Growing up in the West Indies everyone sand this song not knowing a word they were saying.  We used to sing "Zouk la sister say she gonna marry me"😭😭😭😭"

**
Reply
22. Valerie Renee, 2018
"LMFAOOOOO WEAKKKKKK"

**
Reply
23. la mama de Mandy, 2018
"😂 I  did the  same for years not same lyrics as in your country in Spanish 😆"

**
Reply
24. Wolf Lauren, 2018
"We always thought the ladies singing at 1:38 were saying "ALL MY LIFE" so that's what we would sing 😂"

**
25. 
Tafari 98, 2017
"This jam was a big hit in Kenya and African continent late 80s and it brings beautiful memories! 😎🙌🙌🙌"

**
26. The star Squad, 2018
"IT DONT MATTER AS LONG AS U FROM THE CARRIBEAN U KNOW THIS 🇭🇹"
**
27. Joe Niati, 2018
"…even we Congolese know this too!!!

**
Reply
28. Fred Warsaw, 2018
"We Liberians know this song too. Our parents played this song a lot in the 80s."

**
Reply
29. a chicken company, 2018
"Haitians adopted this song , but they low key from Guadalupe"

**
Reply
30. Tim Gustave, 2018
"Martinique, fam!"

**
Reply
31. Simone Moss, 2018
"Max antoine Cajuste I’m from Miami of Jamaican and Grenadian decent and I know this song. Don’t know what he is saying but I love this song"

**
Reply
32. Wolf Lauren, 2018
"Sak Pasé Haiti from 🇨🇺"
-snip-
Sak Pasé" is a Haitian Creole greeting that means "What's happening?". 
"CU" = country abbreviation for Cuba
**

Reply
33. P. Daulton Spencer, 2019
"Antigua. 🇦🇬. Spent time with a couple of friends from Guadeloupe. This was 🔥.."

**
34. Aboubacar Bah, 2018
"Where my Haitians and Africans at!?🙄🤪"

**
Reply
35. Mariam Jacobs, 2019
"Hereeee 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬...I remember hearing this song at so many Nigerian parties growing up and never knew the name...so glad I found it..."

**
Reply
36. BANGA2TIMEZ, 2019
"Aboubacar Bah 🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩"
-snip-
CD = Democratic Republic of the Congo

**
Reply
37. Marcus Sanon, 2019
"
And de whole ah de Caribbean!!!!"

**
Reply
38. Happy Angel101, 2019
"🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹"
**
Reply
39. Mauricio Trujillo, 2019
"@Ishraaq Ramdianee  Wow...que curioso saber que existe un país con mi nombre...soy de México🇲🇽"
-snip-
Google translate from Spanish to English: It is curious to know that there is a country with my name ... I am from Mexico🇲🇽"
-snip-
This commenter is probably saying something like "It's funny that you forgot to mention my country". In the context of this comment, the "x" at the end of the word "Mexico" probably comes from the sign for "kisses" but means something like "Best wishes".

**
Reply
40. wihelmina20, 2019
"Ivory coast🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮"

**
Reply
41. Damian Mahabir, 2019
"Suriname here🇸🇷☝"

*️*
Reply
42. Drew Norek, 2019
"DRCONGO 🇨🇩 🇨🇩 we here"

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43. Nun0tha _SLC, 2018
"
I'm fully American but when this song used to play in the Carribbean clubs in NY, I knew it was time for the Kompa segment of the party  to start 🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹"

**
Reply
44. Annaya Akeim Musa, 2019
"Yesssss"

**
Reply
45. kornel'sfish tank productions, 2019
"This isnt a haitian song  though😭"

**
Reply
46. Anderson Louis, 2019
"@kornel'sfish tank productions  zouk and kompa are our culture, the same for guadeloupe martinique guyane, kompa is their culture too. Salsa is from cuba but can you say is not Dominican music ?"

**
Reply
47. Anilyaah Glow, 2019
"It's not kompa"

**
Reply
48. Flo Panaminho, 2019
"NedaBoo its not from haiti"

**
Reply
49. Brenda Frederic, 2019
"Im American  and still jam to this song in 2020❤"

**
Reply
50. Solène Gaston, 2019
"I
t’s from French West Indies not Haïti 😉"

**
51. MegaDiva1999, 2019
"
classic of classics...global hit.Any Black person anywhere in the world relates to and loves this song. #Africanunity #Blackunity"

**
52. King King, 2019
"Yo this song got me dancing in my room trying to practice  for a Haitian wedding or a Haitian party"

**
Reply
53. Le Gob, 2019
"Since its not an haitian song. Keep training"

**
Reply
54. Barbara, 2020
" @Le Gob  we know it's not a haitian song but haitians made it famous that's why people keep saying it's a haitian song"

**
Reply
55. Andy Chang, 2020
"@Unapologetically Purplekissez  Kassav is not Haitian but this song is in Haitian Creole lol so ig it still technically is a “Haitian” song"

**
Reply
56. TNR Family, 2021
"@KEXEK  it’s not Haitian Creole but it’s creole lol because we understand every words lol"

**
Reply
57. Elsa Svenski, 2021
"@Andy Chang  This is not Haitian Creole but Guadeloupean and Martinican Creole (mostly Guadeloupean) You should know that in the French Caribbean Islands, each island has its own Creole so when you hear Creole it is not always Haitian Creole."

**
56. 
Iris Manzanares, 2020
"in Honduras 🇭🇳on our Caribbean coasts we also listen and dance soca up the Caribbean ✌🏼"

**
57. Christina O., 2020
"Nigerian but still a bop 💃"

**
58. Romulo Silva, 2020
"Kassav my band , love this guys , big fan all the way from Angola"

**
59. shangwe Magilani, 2020
"From Tanzania i just love haitian zouk😊❤️"

**
60. Cristian Andres Martinez Espitia, 2021
"Que bueno saber que los orígenes de la champeta colombiana, surgió con sonidos similares y de este tipo de géneros.

Saludos desde la costa colombiana🇨🇴"
-snip-
Google translate from Spanish to English:
"Good to know that the origins of the Colombian champeta, emerged with similar sounds and of this type of genre.

Greetings from the Colombian coast🇨🇴"

**
61. cuttyFLamm CR, 2021
"Big up from Mauritius🇲🇺"

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Racial Referents For Black People That Are Found In Contemporary Children's Recreational Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision- July 27, 2023

This pancocojams post presents a compilation of children's recreational rhymes* that includes the words "Colored" (or folk processed forms of the word "Colored"), "Black", or "Brown" as referents for Black people.

Some of these examples also include racial and/or ethnic referents for White people or for other people who aren't Black.
 
In addition, this post includes my Editorial notes about the use of racial referents in recreational rhymes. Read my comments about the words "the spades go" in this post's comment section below.  

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. 
-snip-
By "contemporary" I mean examples that were chanted in the 1950s on.
 
Recreational rhymes are also known as "playground rhymes" and as "street rhymes" to differentiate them from children's "nursery rhymes" ("Mother Goose rhymes"). 

The racial referent "Black" may also refer to people of some Black African descent other than Black Americans.

The racial referent "Colored" had/has a different meaning in the United States than it does in the nation of South Africa.

****
Click these following links for closely related pancocojams posts:

Racialized Versions Of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea"
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html

Selected Examples Of Referents For Black People In Children's Rhymes:
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/06/selected-examples-of-referents-for.html 

**
Examples Of & Comments About The Children's Rhyme "I Like Coffee, I Like Tea, I Like Sitting On A Black Man's Knee"
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/01/examples-of-comments-about-childrens.html

**
Racialized Versions Of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" Rhymes That Include The Words "I Like A White Boy & He Likes Me / So Step Back Black Boy..."
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html

**
The REAL Meanings Of "The Spades Go" & "The Space Go" In Playground Rhymes
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-real-meaning-of-spades-go-space-go.html

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
This post doesn't purport to include every examples of recreational rhymes that includes one of these racial referents. This post also doesn't include an example from specific "families" ('titles") of  children's rhymes that include one of these racial referents.

This post doesn't include any examples of rhymes that include what is now commonly known as "the n word".  

This compilation also doesn't include children's singing games such as "Brown Girl In The Ring". Furthermore, this compilation doesn't include examples of recreational rhymes in which "black" is used as an adjective (for example: "black power" or "black hands".)  

Brief editorial comments may be included after some examples. However, for more expanded comments, please visit the pancocojams posts whose links are given above. 

Most of the rhymes that include the referents that are the focus of this post also include the racial referent "White".

These examples are given in alphabetical order based on the rhyme's title. (Note that the examples that include "I like coffee I like tea"verses are given under the name of the rhyme that they are combined with.  

Numbers are given for referencing purposes only. The racial referent that is the focus of this post is given in italics when it is first used in that particular example..

Although my preference is to capitalize the racial referents "Black" and "White", I've used the lower case "b" for "black man" as that is how that referent is found in the examples I am quoting.

****
EXAMPLES OF SOME CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYMES THAT INCLUDE CERTAIN RACIAL REFERENTS FOR BLACK PEOPLE

[I added italics for the first use of the racial term in each example.)

I. Ah Beep Beep
Walkin down the street
Ugawa. Ugawa
That means Black power.
White boy.
Destroy.
I said it. I meant it
And I'm here to represent it.
Soul sister number 9
Sock it to me one more time.
Uh hun! Uh Hun!
-Tracy S.,(African American female); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; childhood remembrance, 1968 ; collected by Azizi Powell, 2000 {in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania} 
-snip-
"Soul sister" is a referent for a Black female. "Soul brother" is the comparable referent for Blak males. "Number 9" is a referent for something that is superlative.

****
II, 
DO YOU LIKE COFFEE DO YOU LIKE TEA 
1. "Can you say tea-pot backwards?’ (The person says “pot tea” and you say you know he is)

“Do you feel like a cup of tea??” ‘Yes’. ‘You look like one”.

'Are you soft?’ ‘No’. ‘Are you daft? ‘ ‘No’. Are you far off of it?’ ‘No.’ (You say, ‘I thought not”.)

This last is almost one of those triple-question tricks in which the person is led to expect that the answer given to the first two questions will also do for the third:

Do you like apples?
Do you like pears?
Do you like tumbling
down the stairs?

Or,
Do you like white
Do you like pink?
Do you like falling
down the sink?

Possibly the rhyming aids the delusion, for these formulas are highly popular, particularly with very young children who have just started school. Our daughter, for example, was five years old when she came home with:
Do you like coffee ?
Do you like tea ?
Do you like sitting on a blackman's knee ?"...
-
Iona Archibald Opie, ‎Peter Opie, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, [first published in 1959, page 65]. This portion is given in the section entitled “Guile”.
-snip-
Few analysis of children's recreational rhymes that I've read consider that this rhyme and some other children's recreational rhymes might have different meanings for Black children than they do for White children. Although we [Black people] teach our children that they shouldn't sit on any strange man's lap-unless he's the Santa Claus at a cultural event during the Christmas season- for the most part, sitting on the knee of a Black man who is known to a Black child doesn’t have the same risque, sexualized, and scary connotations that it had in the past and probably still have in the 2000s for White children and other non-Black children.

**
2. "A
nother playground one round my way was

"Do you like coffee?
Do you like tea?
Do you like sitting on a black man's knee?"

There was one black kid in my class when I was eight (1974) and our teacher would regularly mock-glower at him and say "Don't you give me those black looks, boy" in a weird Windsor Davies-type voice, to the poor kid's obvious embarrassment. It was very funny for the rest of us at the time, though."
-Sexton Brackets, Reply #125 on: June 13, 2013, https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=36600.120 Topic: When did you first encounter racism?

****
III.
DOWN DOWN BABY ("I like coffee, I like tea" verse)

1. Down, down baby
Down, down the roller coaster
Sweet, sweet baby
I'll never let you go
Chimey chimey cocoa pop
Chimey, chimey pow
Chimey, chimey cocoa pop
Chimey, chimey pop
I like coffee, I like tea
I like a colored boy and he likes me
So lets here the rhythm of the hands, (clap, clap) 2x
Let hear the rhythm of the feet (stomp, stomp) 2x
Let's hear the rhythm of the head (ding dong) 2x
Let's hear the rhythm of the hot dog
Let's hear the rhythm of the hot dog
Put em all together and what do you get
(Clap clap, stomp stomp), ding dong, hot Dog!
-Yasmin Hernadez; 2004; memories of New York City (Latinx/ African American neighborhood in the 1980s; cocojams.com [cocojams was the name of my cultural website that was active from 2001 to 2014).
-snip-
"Colored" is a referent for Black Americans which was no longer considered acceptable by at least 1970. In the United States the referent "Colored" is considered old fashioned and offensive.
 
"The early 1970s or mid 1970s" are the earliest dates that I've come across for these types of racialized "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" rhymes. That date come from an anonymous Guest who posted on Oct. 9. 2010 to a 2007 Mudcat discussion thread that I started entitled Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653

That commenter wrote "Thank you so much for posting this!!! I went to an all black elementary school in Norfolk, VA in the early to mid 70's and we used the variation you described (shown below).

[quoting me] "The confrontational action in these verses follows a consistent pattern. First, these rhymes are almost always given from a female perspective {which makes sense since the person or persons reciting these rhymes are usually girls}. Secondly, in the rhyme, a Black {or "Colored"} girl rejects the advances of a White boy. Thirdly, the girl tells the White boy that she "likes a Black boy and he likes me". And fourthly {if there is such a word}, the girl threatens to get a Black {or "Colored"} boy to "beat his {the White boy's} behind"...
-snip-
This Guest also quotes me as saying that I hadn't come across any examples of this rhyme in which White people begin the confrontation (i.e "I like a White boy and he likes me, so step back Black boy etc.). However, since I wrote that comment in 2010 I have come across some examples like that (as given in #2 and #5 immediately below and as featured in this pancocojams post: 
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html

That said, the "I like a black boy and he likes me" examples that I've come across appear to be much more widely chanted than any other "I like a [racial referent] boy and he likes me" version of these rhymes.

**
2. "I always heard it as...

Down, down baby down down the rollercoaster
Sweet sweet baby, mama never let you go,
shimmy shimmy cocoa puff
shimmy shimmy pow
shimmy shimmy cocoa puff
shimmy shimmy wow
i like coffee, i like tea,
i like a white boy and he likes me
so stand back black boy you don't shine,
i got a white boy to kick your behind,
kick it rough, kick it tough, kick it till you get enough

I am VERY saddened that we said this in elementary school."
-GUEST,guest, 12 Dec 10, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653&threadid=100653, Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes, 

**
3. " down down baby down by the roller coaster sweet sweet baby mama never let you go if you wanna kiss me just say you love me shimmy shummy coa coa puff shimmy shimmy rah, shimmy shimmy coa coa puff shimmy shimmy rah. I like coffee I like tea. I like a black boy and he likes me so step back black boy you ain't shy I bet you 5 dollars I could beat your behind. Last night and the night before I met my boyfriend at the candy store. He bought me ice cream he bought me cake. He brought me home with a belly ache. I said momma momma I'm so sick. Call the doctor quick quick quick I said doctor doctor shall I die. He said close your eyes and count to 5 I said a12345 I'm alive on a channel 5 I said a678910 I'm dead on a channel 10 with a scooby dooby doo on channel 2. Frankenstein on channel 9. "


that's how me and my friends do it. I'm 14 so...I guess it's sort of there..."
-By Alana on Saturday, July 3, 2004 http://www.streetplay.com/discus/cgi-discus/show.cgi?75/77.html [This web page is no longer available.]

**
4. "Down down baby
down down the roller coaster
sweet sweet baby
sweet sweet i love you so
Jimmy Jimmy coco puffs
Jimmy Jimmy pow
Jimmy Jimmy coco puffs
Jimmy Jimmy pow
take a peach
take a plum
take a stick of bubblegum
no peach
no plum
just a stick of bubblegum
I like coffee and i like tea
I like a colored boy and he likes me
So step back whiteboy you don't shine
I'll get my colored boy to beat ya behind
He beat ya high
he beat ya low
he beat you all the way to Mexico"
-Aiakya at April 4, 2006; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php [This website is no longer available.]

**
5. "Down down baby down by the roller coaster
sweet sweet baby mama never let you go
if you wanna kiss me just say you love me

Shimmy shimmy coco pop shimmy shimmy pow
shimmy shimmy coco pop shimmy shimmy pow

I like a black boy and he likes me
so step back white boy I ain't shy
I bet you 5 dollars i'll beat yo behind

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 belly ache

I said momma momma i'm so sick
call the doctor quick quick quick!
I said doctor doctor shall i die
he said close your eyes and count to 5

I said ah 1 ah 2 ah 3 ah 4 ah 5...
i'm alive on channel 5
scooby dooby doo on channel 2
big fat lady on channel 80
and all the rest on channel 8"
-GUEST,Meme, 3 July 2014, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653&threadid=100653, Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes

**
6. "Went to a pretty racially mixed elementary school in Georgia in the early 90's. We white girls *definitely* knew Down Down Baby as a story of white aggression:

"I like ice cream
I like tea
I like a white boy and he likes me
So stand back, black boy
You don't shine
I got a white boy to beat ya behind!"

I don't remember ever seeing black girls doing that rhyme, so I don't know if they did it differently. But as a child it made sense to me that the rhyme would assert white dominance. It was just another example of the casual racism we were immersed in in rural Georgia. Even at that age my white friends and I understood that a white boy beating up a black boy for flirting with his girl was the expected norm, not the other way around."
-GUEST,mindy, 28 Feb 15, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653&threadid=100653, Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes

**
7. 
"I went to elementary school starting in 1980, in Bloomfield, Connecticut (adjacent to Hartford). The girls (including my sister) did clapping games on the bus everyday it seemed, and when they hung out in the street, etc. Demographic note: my family is White; Blacks (including many Jamaicans) are a majority in the town, and were most of our playmates.

The version to this one went:
"I like coffee, I like tea
I like a Black/White boy an' he likes me
So step back White/Black boy, you don't shine
I'll get a Black/White boy to beat your behind."

The girls would switch the race of the boy, depending on who was singing. Sometimes there'd be confusion if a White and a Black girl were playing together, and they'd sort of get jumbled up on that word and try to push their version. Sometimes they would agree on a skin tone based on a previous conversion about who the girl whose "turn" it was actually "likes." The reason why I remember distinctly that they did it both ways was that as a little kid I tried to imagine what "you don't shine" meant. I'd try to reason what skin tone "shined" more! Needless to say, I never figured it out!"
-Guest Gibs, 05 Mar 09, 
 http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=115045&messages=154&page=2 ,RE: Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme 
-snip-
Here's a portion of my March 5, 2009 response to Guest Gib (posted to that "Not Last Night But The Night Before-rhyme" thread)

..."Here's my take on that "you don't shine" phrase:

In this context, "shine" means to be as radiant as the sun or stars. Saying "you don't shine" to a boy means that you don't think that he is anything special (in looks, and/or in actions, or in his very being) as he or she thinks he is. Perhaps that use of "shine" comes from the outer (or inner glow) that people are said to have because of their auras or their spirit. Theoretically, the aura* of a good or great person shines brighter than that of a person who is evil or ordinary. And a charismatic person would be described as shining brightly."...

**
8. 
"I learned Version of Down Down Baby in virginia in the 90's

Down down baby, down by the rollercoaster
Sweet sweet baby, mama never let you go
Shimmy shimmy coca pop, shimmy shimmy pow!

I like coffee, I like tea,
I like a color boy and he likes me
So step back white boy, you don't shine
I'll get the color boy to beat yo' behind

Let get the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap)
We've got the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap)

Let's get the rhythm of the feet (stomp,stomp)
We've got the rhythm of the feet (stomp, stomp

Lets get the rhythm of the head DING-DONG

(move head side to side)

We've got the rhythm of the head DING-DONG (move head side to side)

Let's get the rhythm of the HOT-DOG

(move body around)

We've got the of the HOT-DOG

(move body around)

Put all together and and what do you get....
clap, clap, stomp, stomp, ding-dong, hot-dog

Say them all backwards and what do you get....

hot-dog, ding-dong, stomp, stomp, clap, clap!
-GUEST,Down Down baby, 30May 07,  https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 , Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
-snip-
"Color" is a folk processed form of the racial referent "Colored"

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/08/playground-rhymes-that-include-names-of_30.html for an example of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" in which the person chanting says that she likes the Jackson 5 so step back white boy you don't shine/I'ma get the Jackson 5 to beat your behind". The Jackson 5 was a highly popular African American R&B group that included Michael Jackson.

****
IV. 
I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA (jump rope rhyme)

 1. " 'Quote:
Originally Posted by sasbear 

This may be classed as un PC now but.this is what we sang ...

I like coffee
I like tea
I like sitting on a black man's knee

we sang it as a skipping song'
-end of quote-
as above then I want so and so in with me."
-snip-
“I want so and so in with me” meansI want [person’s name] to join me jumping rope."
-asher (female), May 9th 2007, http://britishexpats.com/forum/barbie-92/playground-songs-448434/page3/
-snip-
This rhyme is also given in the Opie's 1959 book that is referenced above.

**
2.
I like coffee

I like coffee I like tea I like sitting on a black mans knee With a one and a two and a three (on three lift your skirt, turn tround quickly, bend over and show your bum)
-http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=3&t=381 [I can no longer access this website.]

 

**
3..."
Did you play this one? You'd need a big group, and a big rope with two enders, or one ender (nobody wanted to be an ender) and then you'd tie the other end to a drainpipe. Anyway on 'Bluebells, cockle shells' the rope would be swayed, not turned all the way over until the word 'over' in the rhyme. At this the next girl, it was always a girl (and there was only Barry Morgan in our school who could skip I may be wrong here) would run into the rope. She'd sing;

I like coffee I like tea
I like Sheila in with me

And then Sheila would jump in and you'd both skip together and spell out her name as you jumped. But sometimes, and this would be around 1970 in London, I can remember singing;

I like coffee I like tea,
I like sitting on a black man's knee


Which seems completely shocking today - although we didn't think about it then - and did I think I was skipping about my Dad? Not at all, this was the same mythical black man who famously got caught by his toe, best mates, no doubt with the man from China who was forever doing up his flies. Skipping rhymes were always odd and sometimes rude and sometimes completely scatological. Can I just say I am glad those days are gone? I never felt these rhymes were a sign of any kind of innocence."...
-Catherine Johnson, http://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2015/05/bluebells-cockleshells-catherine-johnson.html , 14 May 2015
-snip-
The portion of this page that caught my attention was when Catherine Johnson wrote
sometimes, his would be around 1970 in London, I can remember singing;

I like coffee I like tea,
I like sitting on a black man's knee

Did I think I was skipping about my dad? Not at all" ...:
-snip-
Here's information from Catherine Johnson's Wikipedia page that explains those sentences: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Johnson_(novelist)
"Catherine Johnson FRSL (born 1962) is a British author and screenwriter. She has written several young adult novels and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2004 drama film Bullet Boy (directed by and co-written with Saul Dibb).[1]

Background and career

Catherine Johnson was born in London, England, in 1962. Her father was Jamaican and her mother was Welsh."...
-snip-
Read my note after the "Do You Like Coffee Do You Like Tea" rhyme about how Black children are likely to interprete certain rhymes differently than non-Black children because we weren't raised to view Black males as scary, inappropriate mates, and/or hyper sexual.

****
V.  I'LL BE

"I'll be. be
Walking down the street,
Ten times a week.
Un-gawa. Un-gawa {baby}
This is my power.
What is the story?
What is the strike?
I said it, I meant it.
I really represent it.
Take a cool cool Black to knock me down
Take a cool cool Black to knock me out.
I'm sweet, I'm kind.
I'm soul sister number nine.
Don't like my apples,
Don't shake my tree.
I'm a Castle Square Black
Don't mess with me.
- John Langstaff, Carol Langstaff,editor, Shimmy Shimmy Coke-Ca-Pop!, A Collection of City Children's Street Games & Rhymes (Garden City, New York, Double Day & Co; 1973, page 57)
-snip-
"What is the story"/"What is the strike" = "What's happening". "What's up?".

"Take a cool cool Black to knock me down" = It would take a cool, cool Black [person] to knock me down. "Cool" is used in its vernacular sense and means "hip" (up to date with the latest street culture and also "unruffled", in control of her or his emotions.

"Castle Square" is probably a neighborhood or a housing development within a particular neighborhood..

****

VI. I'M A BAD SOUL SISTER
I'm a bad soul sister from a bad soul town
It takes 48 whites just to knock me down
Don't you pick no apples from my apple tree!
I'm a bad soul sister, don't you mess with me!
-Guest (from Brooklyn, New York in the early 70's...the Brownsville version), cocojams.com, May 12, 2011
-snip-
Cocojams.com was the name of my cultural website. It was online from 2000 to 2014.  

****
VII. INA LINA THUMBELINA ("I like coffee I like tea" verse) 

"INA LINA THUMBELINA TWO TIMES THUMBELINA IRIATCHEE LIRIATCHEE I LOVE YOU TAKE A PIECE TAKE A PLUM NOT A PIECE OF BUBBLEGUM I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA I LIKE A BLACK/WHITE BOY AND HE LIKES ME SO STEP BACK WHITE/BLACK BOY YOU DONT SHINE IGOTTA A BLACK/WHITE BOY TO KICK YOUR BEHIND SEE THAT HOUSE ON TOP OF THAT HILL THATS WHERE ME AND MY BABY GNNA LEAVE WE GNNA CHOP SOME WOOD EAT SOME MEAT COME ON BABT LETS GO TO SLEEP"
-GUEST,17yr old kid at heart:), 20 Jul 10, http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300, Children's Street Songs

****
VIII. 
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN TOO

Ladies and gentlemen, children too
This brown girl
She gonna boogie for you
She gonna turn all around
She gonna wear her dresses up above her knees
She gonna shake her fanny just as much as she please.
I never went to college.
I never went to school.
But when it comes to boogie,
I can boogie like a fool.
You go in out, side to side.
You go in out, side to side.
-Barbara Ray (African American female), memory of childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s; collected in November 1996 & in August 2009 (second interview) by Azizi Powell
-snip-
An example of this rhyme is performed by the Pointer Sisters as an introduction to their rendition of the song "Wang Dang Doodle" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G6a6bIrmg8 ; published by SafariCreations on May 22, 2009 

****
IX. MISS SUZY HAD A STEAMBOAT

1. Sung to: The Merry Melodies theme song, from the old Warner Brothers cartoons.


"Miss Suzy had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell
Miss Suzy went to heaven
The steamboat went to-
Hello operator
Give me number nine
If you disconnect me
I'll kick your big be-
'Hind the 'frigerator
There was a piece of glass
Miss Suzy fell upon it
And cut her big old-
Ask me no more questions
Give me no more lies
The boys are in the restroom
zipping up their-
Flies are in the meadow
The bees are in the park
Miss Suzy and her boyfriend
Are kissing in the D. A. R. K.
D-A-R-K. D-A-R-K.
Dark Dark Dark Dark
Darker than the ocean
Darker than the sea
Darker than the black boy
That peed all over me!
-Jim, Houston, Texas,  http://inky.50megs.com/idlechild/songs/hellooperator.htm
-snip-
Here's a comment from a woman who shared an example of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" that mentioned "darker than the black bird" that chasing after me":
"Perhaps more often, the “black bird” is instead a “black boy,” which I only heard sung once as a child (by a white girl, to my shock). I’m guessing the “black boy” version precedes the race-neutral one I remember."
-SAHMURAI, April 18, 2016, https://sahmurai.wordpress.com/2016/04/18/miss-susie-a-hand-clapping-history/  Miss Susie: A hand-clapping history

****

2. 
 

Miss Susie had a steamboat,
the steamboat had a bell.
Miss Susie went to heaven
and the steamboat went to

Hello, operator,
Please give me number nine
And if you disconnect me
I’ll kick your

Behind the ’frigerator,
there was a piece of glass
Miss Susie sat upon it
and broke her little

Ask me no more questions,
Tell me no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom
zipping up their

Flies are in the meadow
The bees are in the park
Miss Susie and her boyfriend
are kissing in the

D-A-R-K
D-A-R-K
D-A-R-K
Dark, dark, dark,
Darker than the ocean,
darker than the sea,
Darker than the black boy
who’s chasing after me!
-frugalera, 2014; https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/3zcqt1/miss_susie_had_a_steamboat_the_steamboat_had_a/

****  

X. NINETEEN MILES TO BLACKBERRY CROSS

"Nineteen miles to Blackberry Cross,
To see a Black Man ride on a white horse.
The rogue was so saucy he wouldn't come down
To show me the road to the nearest town.
I picked up a turnip and cracked his old crown,
And made him cry turnups all over the town
-Guest, Children's Street Songs, 01 Jul 04 

****
XI. I DON'T WANNA GO TO MEXICO
"i got one:
i dont wanna go to mexico no more more more
theres a big black policeman at the door door door
he’ll kiss you on the lips he’ll make you do the splits
i dont wanna go to mexico no more more more

then you try to say, shame on you! before your friend (partner) does.
-beth, May 19, 2013, http://losemyway.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/hand-clapping-games/

****
XII. YOU CAN ROLL YOUR EYES
You can roll your eyes,
You can stomp your feet,
but this pretty black girl you SHOLE can't beat!
-
JaneLane, Aug 06 2009,  http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/childhood-songs-or-rhymes_topic205958_page5.html

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Monday, April 26, 2021

Mighty Sparrow - "Bang Bang Lulu" (Calypso sound file, lyrics, & comments)



Marle de bakker, Jul 22, 2010

Golden Oldie

****
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Old Time music sources for the large family of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" and Miss Lucy Had A Baby" children's playground rhymes.

This pancocojams post showcases a sound file of Mighty Sparrow singing a version of the dirty song "Bang Bang Lulu".

Information about Mighty Sparrow is included in this post along with the lyrics for this song and comments about this song.

Thanks to Mighty Sparrow for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
-snip-
WARNING: "Bang Bang Lulu" is considered to be crude ("dirty") as the end word for its verses suggests explicit language or references.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/04/my-lula-gal-and-bang-bang-lulu.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "
My Lula Gal" And "Bang Bang Lulu" - Information With Some Clean And Some Sanitized Examples)"

****
INFORMATION ABOUT MIGHTY SPARROW
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Sparrow
"Slinger Francisco[1] ...(born July 9, 1935), better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World", he is one of the best-known and most successful calypsonians. He has won Trinidad's Carnival Road March competition eight times, Calypso King/Monarch eight times, and has twice won the Calypso King of Kings title.

Career

Slinger Francisco was born in the fishing village of Grand Roy, Grenada, West Indies on July 9, 1935. He moved to Trinidad as a one-year-old with his mother,[1] his father having relocated there in 1937.[2][3] He grew up in Port of Spain.[citation needed] He began singing as a small child, but his love of calypso was discouraged while at Newtown Boys Catholic School, where he sang in the choir.[2][3] At the age of 14 he joined a steel band comprising neighbourhood boys, and performed with the band at Carnival.[2]

He received his performing name "Little Sparrow" during his early career,[1] as a result of his energetic stage performances:

"Your calypso name is given to you by your peers, based on your style. In the old days they tried to emulate British royalty. There was Lord Kitchener, Lord Nelson, Duke. When I started singing, the bands were still using acoustic instruments and the singers would stand flat footed, making a point or accusing someone in the crowd with the pointing of a finger, but mostly they stood motionless. When I sing, I get excited and move around, much like James Brown, and this was new to them. The older singers said "Why don't you just sing instead of moving around like a little sparrow?" It was said as a joke, but the name stuck.[4]"
— Mighty Sparrow

After a couple of years he changed his stage name to "Mighty Sparrow".[2][5] "...

****
LYRICS FOR MIGHTY SPARROW'S VERSION OF "BANG BANG LULU"

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I wanna hear you sing!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
(One more time!)
Lulu's gone away
(C'mon now!)
Who is gonna bang bang
Now Lulu's gone away

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had a boyfriend,
His name was Diamond d___,
Some girls love his diamond,
But Lulu loved his...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I want to hear you sing...)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang Lulu,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had two boy-friends,
One was very rich,
One was the son of a banker,
The other was a son-of-a ...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(Sock it to them!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had a boy-friend,
His name was Tommy Tucker,
He took her to his appartment
And then Tucker tried to...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(One more time!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu has a bicycle,
The seat was made of glass,
And every time she'd ride it
It broke off and went up her...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I want to hear you sing it!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Lulu had some money
From a dirty old man named Hutch
He said if you're a baby
I'll bite you in the...

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

(I want to hear it!)

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

Bang, bang, Lulu,
Lulu's gone away
Who is gonna bang bang,
Now Lulu's gone away

[Repeat ad lib. with scat and fade]


Source: https://www.justsomelyrics.com/2011675/mighty-sparrow-bang-bang-lulu-lyrics.html

These lyrics are given as they were found on that website.

****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM DISCUSSION THREADS OF TWO YOUTUBE SOUND FILES FOR MIGHTY SPARROW'S "BANG BANG LULU" 

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Discussion Thread #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ97Ybfg0Io&ab_channel=Marledebakker
(This discussion thread is for the sound file that is embedded in this post.)

1. edc1951, 2012
"Oh the snickering that went on when we who understood the raciness were with those too young to get it.  and the looks of innocence when a group would break into a chorus of this only to be met with "looks" from our elders..."I'm not saying any bad words..." "

**
Reply
2. Ava Watson, 2019
"edc1951 OMG. I use to hear this song when I was growing up at family parties, but NEVER remembered those lyrics, lol!!! The song crossed my mind and now at 58 I’m realizing what was being said.  If you look at the history of the dong it’s an American dong that has been adapted in many countries. 😳"
-snip-
The word “dong” in this comment is probably a typo for “song”

**
3. boonestead, 2014
"holy crap  we used to sing this when we were kids  didn't know it was an actual song

LOVE IT  funny where you tube may lead you to"

**
4. Rich Townsend, 2015
"This was one of several songs we sang in the Marines while we were marching through the boondocks in the early 60's.  Thanks for the memories!"

**
5. Angela M, 2016
"Got my calypso version from an album my parents owned, brought in from the Grand Bahamas, by Prince Charles and his Royal Cats.  Probably done back in the late '50s. . .  I was floored when I first heard it, thinking, my PARENTS owned this?!?!  LOL!"

****
Discussion Thread #2 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwSuZ56nxIM&ab_channel=EdwardSpencer Mighty Sparrow - Bang Bang Lulu, published by Edward Spencer, Sep 7, 2012

Arranged by Mighty Sparrow

1. Westley P. Crawford, 2014
"This brings back so many great memories of growing up in the Bronx in the 70s. My parents would play this and all of us would dance and laugh...two of the greatest feelings in the world at the same time! THANK YOU MOMMY AND DADDY..I LOVE YOU."

**
2. Shania Sampson, 2015
"so many innuendos!"

**
3. Larry Watson, 2017
"im 61yrs from N.Y.I remembered this song caause i knew i never supose to listen to it as akid. l love it."

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

"My Lula Gal" And "Bang Bang Lulu" - Information With A Few Relatively Dirty Verses Of These Songs

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - August 17, 2023

This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Old Time music sources for the large family of "Miss Susie Had A Steamboat" and Miss Lucy Had A Baby" children's playground rhymes.

This pancocojams post presents information about and examples of the Old Time song/ rhymes entitled "My Lula Gal". This pancocojams post also presents information about and a few relatively dirty versions of the 
"Bang Bang Lulu" rhymes and songs. 

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

Thanks to the unknown composers of these rhymes and songs and thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/similarities-differences-between-bang.html for a
2013 pancocojams post entitled "Similarities & Differences Between "Bang Bang Lulu" & "Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat".

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/04/mighty-sparrow-bang-bang-lulu-calypso.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Mighty Sparrow - "Bang Bang Lulu" (Calypso sound file, lyrics, & comments)."

****
WARNING- This post includes lyrics that aren't suitable for children.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT & EXAMPLES OF "MY LULA GAL " AND "BANG BANG LULU"  SONGS AND CHANTS 

Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_Bang_Lulu
" "Bang Bang Lulu" is a traditional American song with many variations. It derives from older songs most commonly known as "Bang Bang Rosie" in Ireland, "Bang Away Lulu" in Appalachia,[1] and "My Lula Gal" in the West.[2][6] The form "Bang Bang Lulu" became widespread in the United States from its use as a cadence during the World Wars. The song uses the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies".

Traditional song

All versions concern a woman and her various lovers. The early forms were sometimes very directly crude, violent, or infanticidal.[7] Published versions probably drastically understate the song's popularity,[1] particularly since the first mentions allude to 78[8] or 900[9] additional verses unfit for printing. Robert Gordon, the first head of the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song, included his variants of Lulu among the "Inferno" section which was excluded from the library's general collection for its "bawdy and scatological subject matter".[10]

One verse appeared in Owen Wister's 1902 novel on p. 96 The Virginian:[8]
"If you go to monkey with my Looloo girl,
I'll tell you what I'll do:
I'll carve out your heart with my razor, AND
I'll shoot you with my pistol, too—

Nine appeared in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag among its "Railroad and Work Gangs" songs, including Wister's and:[9]

My Lulu hugged and kissed me,
She wrung my hand and cried,
She said I was the sweetest thing
That ever lived or died.[11]

My Lulu's tall and slender,
My Lulu gal's tall and slim;
But the only thing that satisfies her
Is a good big drink of gin.

My Lulu gal's a daisy,
She wears a big white hat;
I bet your life when I'm in town
The dudes all hit the flat.

I ain't goin' to work on the railroad,
I ain't goin' to lie in jail,
But I'm goin' down to Cheyenne town
To live with my Lulu gal.

My Lulu, she's an angel,
Only she aint got no wings.
I guess I'll get her a wedding ring,
When the grass gets green next spring.

My Lulu, she's a dandy,
She stands and drinks like a man,
She calls for gin and brandy,
And she doesn't give a damn.

Engineer blowed the whistle,
Fireman rang the bell,
Lulu, in a pink kimona
Says, "Baby, oh fare you well."

I seen my Lulu in the springtime,
I seen her in the fall;
She wrote me a letter in the winter time,
Says, "Good-bye, honey," that's all.

Sandburg credited many of the verses he knew as derived from the 17th-century Scotch song "Way Up on Clinch Mountain",[12] now usually known as "Rye Whiskey".

Roy Acuff and his Crazy Tennesseans recorded "When Lulu's Gone" under the pseudonym of the Bang Boys in 1936.[13] Another version—"Lulu"—was recorded by Oscar Brand on his 1958 Old Time Bawdy Sea Shanties. Verses from this song also developed into "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms", recorded by Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs and many others after them.[2]

Military cadences

Most military cadences suggested explicit rhymes but skipped back to the chorus rather than complete them ...

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Excerpt #2
From https://secondhandsongs.com/work/59534/all

Written by
Traditional
Publication date
1902
Language
English
Comments
The first printed reference of this licentious ditty comes from the novel "The Virginian", by Owen Wister, where the main character sings one verse (the other 78 verses, said Wister, were "unprintable"). Very popular among cowboys in the XIX century, and then among U.S. soldiers during WWI.

Alternative titles: "When Lulu's Gone", "Bang Away, My Lulu", "She Is a Lulu" and many others. Sometimes "Lulu" becomes "Rosie", "Suzie", "Lula" and so on."

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Excerpt #3
From  http://kristinhall.org/songbook/SeaAndPub/BangBangLulu.html
Bang Bang Lulu: W
ords & Music: Traditional Drinking Song
"
What do people do with children's songs when they grow up and tie one on with like-minded pals?  They morph them into drinking songs.  The basic tune is the same as "Miss Lucy".  Since this is a traditional song, there are as many verses as there are drunken voices to sing them.  My favorite versions are the ones that allude to the "naughty words", but never have to actually say them.  That's the one I learned at camp and I like the clever wordplay.  Here is the chorus and a slew of verses.  Have fun with them or make up your own. 

 

CHORUS:

D                             A7

Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.

[alt: "Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu's gone away"]

D                     G              D      A7    D

Who's gonna bang bang Lulu, now that Lulu's gone away?

[alt:  Who's gonna bang bang, now  Lulu's gone away?}

 

D                                        A7

Lulu had a boyfriend who drove a garbage truck.

D               G               D      A7

Never collected garbage, 'cause all he did was...

 

CHORUS:

 

She had another boyfriend, his name was Tommy Tucker.

He took her to the garden, to see if he could...

 

CHORUS:

 

Lulu had a baby, named him Jungle Jim.

Put him in the basin, to see if he could swim.

He swam down to the bottom, came back to the top.

Lulu got excited, pulled him out by his...

 

CHORUS:

 

Cocktail, ginger ale, five cents a glass.

If you don't like it, you can throw it up your...

Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies.

Ask me that again, and I'll spit right into your...

 

CHORUS:

 
Ikey and Spikey, laying in the ditch

Ikey called Spikey, a dirty son of a...

 

CHORUS:

 

Bring down the children, let them play with rocks.

When they get a little older, they'll learn to play with...

 

CHORUS:


[...]

 

CHORUS:

 

High upon the mountain, sitting on the grass

Her skirt was so short, it showed you all her...

 

CHORUS:

 

[...]

 

CHORUS:

Now, Lulu has two boyfriends, they both are very rich.

One, the son of a banker, the other a son of a...

 

CHORUS:

 

Now, Lulu had a baby, it came as quite a shock.

She couldn't name it "Lulu", because it had a..."

 
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