Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post documents a few online examples of “I Woke
Up Sunday Morning"/ "Roaches & Bedbugs" and other titles from this large family of rhymes/songs whose contributors included some demographic information.
This post begins with a YouTube video entitled "Skeeters & Bedbugs" and the lyrics of that version from that video's summary. I'm including this video in case people aren't familiar with that song/rhyme. However, although the tune is probably the same for all of these examples, the way this song is performed probably differs within the same or different populations during the same period of time and in different periods of time.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric,
cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks to the singer/publisher of this showcase video.
-snip-
For the folkloric record, please add to this compilation in the comment section below. Don't forget to add
demographic information (particularly when (the decade) and where (the city & state and the country, if outside of the United States.). Thanks!
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/08/what-whipper-whopper-means-in-i-woke-up.html for Part I of a two part pancocojams series entitled "What "Whipper Whopper" Means In "I Woke Up Sunday Morning" ("Roaches & Bedbugs") Songs/Rhymes".
**
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/08/examples-of-whipper-whopper-forms-of-i.html for Part II of a two part pancocojams series entitled "Examples of "Whipper Whopper" forms of "I Woke Up Sunday Morning" ("Roaches & Bedbugs") Songs/Rhymes".
Click the tags below for other related pancocojams posts.
**** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE Although the pancocojams blog focuses on Black cultures in the United States and elsewhere around the world, all of the examples of children's rhymes, songs, and cheers may not have originated with Black people.
I focus on children's recreational rhymes, songs, and cheers because I enjoy those compositions and I want to document, share, and study those compositions.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO- Skeeters and Bedbugs
Chinook Breeze, April 27, 2017
I woke up Sunday morning
I looked up on the wall
The skeeters and the bedbugs
Were havin’ a game of ball
The score was 4 to 7
The skeeters were ahead
The bedbugs hit a home run
And knocked me outta bed
Singin’ eeny meeny meeny miny mo
Catch a tigger tigger by the toe
If he hollers hollers let him go
Singin’ eeny meeny meeny miny mo
______________________________________
Repeat: get progressively faster
****
SOME EXAMPLES OF " I WOKE UP SUNDAY MORNING"/"ROACHES & BEDBUGS" OR OTHER TITLES (WITH DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION)
All of these examples are from the United States.
The online sources for these examples are given in no particular order. These examples are numbered for referencing purposes only.
SOURCE #1:
from http://rolandanderson.se/bedbugs.php
1.
This ditty is similar to the initial verses of the "Wiffer Woffer" version above. It's reference to a "lizzy" likely places it in the era of the Model T Ford (1908-1927) which was called a "Lizzy" or "Tin Lizzy". Notably, the only "Bennett county" in the United States is in South Dakota.
I was standin' on the corner, not doin' any harm
Along came a policeman and took me by the arm
He took me to a little house and rang a tiny bell
Along came a lizzie and took me to the jail
I woke up in the mornin' and looked up on the wall
The skeeters and the bedbugs were havin' a game of ball
The score was four to nothing, the skeeters were ahead
The bedbugs knocked a homerun and knocked me out of bed
I went downstairs to breakfast
The bread was hard and stale
Coffee tastes like tobacco juice
At the Bennett County jail"
2. "
This version was sung among the residents of Beech Bluff, Tennessee in the 1920's and 30's, as recalled by Franklin Mainord and recorded by Judy Mainord-Malone
Woke up this morning,
Looked upon the wall
'Skeeter' and the bedbug
Having a game of ball
Score was one to nothin'
The Skeeter was ahead
Bedbug knocked a homerun
And I rolled out of bed
Ain't gonna rain
Ain't gonna rain
Ain't gonna rain no more
How in the world can the old folks tell?
It ain't gonna rain no more
How in the heck
Can I wash my neck,
If it ain't gonna rain no more?
Bullfrog sitting on a lilly pad,
Looked up in the sky
The lilly pad broke,
The frog fell in
Got water in his eyes
I wished I was a bar of soap
In Mary's bathtub
EVERYTIME Mary took a bath -
O where I'd get to rub!
Ain't gonna rain
Ain't gonna rain
Ain't gonna rain no more
How in the world can the old folks tell?
It ain't gonna rain no more
How in the heck
can I wash my neck,
If it ain't gonna rain no more?"
**
3. "I DON'T WANT NO MORE OF THIS ARMY LIFE
This version was popular during World War II
Five o'clock in the morning
and I glanced up on the wall
Bedbugs and the roaches
were having a game of ball
Score was six to nothing
and the bedbugs were ahead
The roaches hit a homer
and knocked me outta bed
I don't want no more of this army life
Gee, Mom, I wanna go home
No, I don't want to more of this army life
Gee, Mom, I wanna go...
Oh boy, do I wanna go...
Gee, Mom, I wanna go home"
**
4. "THE BEETLES AND THE BEDBUGS
This song version evidently comes from Oregon. The secret
agent occurring in a verse in "Bedbugs and Skeeters" above, has here
become a german and hints at a WWII origin
I woke up Sunday morning
and looked up on the wall
the beetles and the bed bugs
were playing a game of ball
The score was seven-nothing
The beetles were ahead
The beetles hit a home run
and knocked me out of bed
I'm singing
eenie-meenie and a minie moe (oh oh oh)
catch a whipper-whopper by the toe (oh oh oh)
and if he hollers hollers hollers
let him go (oh oh oh)
eenie-meenie and a minie moe
I went downstairs to breakfast
I ordered ham and eggs
I ate so many eggs
The ham rolled down my legs!
I'm singing
eenie-meenie and a minie moe (oh oh oh)
catch a whipper-whopper by the toe (oh oh oh)
and if he hollers hollers hollers
let him go (oh oh oh)
eenie-meenie and a minie moe
My mother was a German
My father was a spy
And if you don't believe me
Just call the FBI
I'm singing
eenie-meenie and a minie moe (oh oh oh)
catch a whipper-whopper by the toe (oh oh oh)
and if he hollers hollers hollers
let him go (oh oh oh)
eenie-meenie and a minie moe
I fell into the sewer
That's where I plan to die
Some people call it murder
I call it sewer-cide
I'm singing
eenie-meenie and a minie moe (oh oh oh)
catch a whipper-whopper by the toe (oh oh oh)
and if he hollers hollers hollers
let him go (oh oh oh)
eenie-meenie and a minie moe
Someone, likely wanting to keep the song up-to-date during the 1950's, replaced the German spy verse above with the following:
My mother is a Russian
my father is a spy
And if you don't believe me,
just ask the FBI"
****
SOURCE #2
1. GUEST,Allan
S, .01
Jun 00, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches
and Bedbugs?"
...:"I learned it as follows about 1936 in grade school
I was standing on the corner not doing any harm
When along came a copper and he took me by the arm.
He took me round the corner and rang a little bell.
Along came the ding-dong a-driving like hell.
Seven o'clock in the morning, I looked upon the wall.
The roaches and the bedbugs were having a game of ball.
The score was seven to nothing and the roaches were ahead,
When the bedbugs hit a hone run that knocked me out of bed.
Eight o'clock in the morning, the jailer comes around
And brings you bread and butter that weighs half a pound.
The coffee's like tobacco juice. The bread is hard and
stale;
And that's the way they treat the bums at the Whaley Avenue
jail.
I learned this about 1936 in New Haven, CT which accounts
for the line Whaley Avenue jail. This is where the town jail still is. There
appeared to be several variations of this song all over the country."...
**
2.-Sandy Paton, 01 Jun 00, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches and Bedbugs?"
"Bedbugs and cooties verse was sung as part of "Portland
County Jail" by the fellow I learned it from in the Kansas wheat fields,
about 1945. He sang it thusly:
I woke up the other night
And there upon the wall,
The bedbugs and the cooties
Were having a game of ball.
The score was one to nothing,
The cooties were ahead,
When a bedbug hit a homerun
And knocked me out of bed.
I recall seeing a very similar verse in Gardner &
Chickering's Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, collected from a young lad
in a youth detention facility. Great place to swap songs!"
**
3. Azizi, 17 Nov 05 , https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches and Bedbugs?"
"Here is a version of "Woke Up Sunday Morning" that
I collected in 2002 from Miss Crystal, an African American woman in her
thirties who was a Director of a Summer camp in Duquesne, PA {not far from
Pittsburgh}. I had gone to the camp to gather rhymes from the children. After
the children had shared several rhymes, Miss Crystal suddenly said "I
remember singing this when I was little." She then immediately began to
recite this rhyme in a sing song voice:
Oh I work up Sunday morning
I looked up on the wall.
I saw a gang of roaches
playin a game of basketball.
The score was nine to nothing.
The roaches had the lead.
I went and got my roach spray
and sprayed them 1, 2, 3.
You better stop them roaches
crawlin up my wall.
Feed them chicken & rice
and some day they'll be
shootin dice.
-snip-
BTW, although the age 5-12 year old children had
enthusiastically joined in when one of their classmates began a 'song', they
were completely silent when Miss Cystal recited this rhyme. They later joined
in with another song that Miss Crystal led [Miss Mary Mack], so it wasn't that
they were put off by her authority. It seemed to me that they just were not at
all familiar with "I Woke Up Sunday Morning".
BTW2-In answer to my question, Miss Crystal said
"I Woke Up Sunday Morning" wasn't a handclap rhyme and it wasn't a
jump rope rhyme. She said that "People just sung it."
**
4. GUEST, 21 Dec 10, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches and Bedbugs?"
"Here's a version from Chicago daycamps c. 1955. We called it
"Standin' On the Corner".
Standing on the corner
Smoking my cigar
Along comes a copper
Grabs me by the arm.
Swung me 'round the corner
Rangs a little bell
Along comes a squad car
To take me to my cell.
Six o'clock in the mornin'
I look up on the wall
The bedbugs & the cooties
Are havin' a game of ball.
The score was eight to nothin
The cooties were ahead.
The bedbugs hit a homer
That knocked me out of bed.
Seven o'clock in the mornin'
The mammy came around
She served me hot potatoes
That weighed a hundred pounds.
The coffee tastes like turpentine
The bread is hard & stale.
And that's how they treat you
At the Cook County jail.
There's bars on the windows,
Bars on the doors
I wouldn't be surprised if
There's bars on the floors.
5.
" My Dad taught me this song in the 1950's
I was standing on a corner - not a doing any harm
Along can a policeman and took mr by thr arm
he lead me around the corner and rang a little bell
Along can a chug chug and toke me to my cell
When I awoke the next morning I looked upon the wall
The bedbugs and the roaches were having a game of ball
The score was nine to nothing
The roaches were ahead
The begbugs hit a home run and knocked me out of bed.
My Dad was born in PA but spent most of his growing years in
the Aderondack Mountains. He did serve 4 years in the Navy during WWII...
**
6. GUEST, 31 Oct 17, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches and Bedbugs?"
"standing on the corner doing nothing wrong
along came a policeman and took me by the arm
he brought me to a little box and rang a little bell
along came the wagon and took me to my cell
I woke up in the morning and looked upon the wall
the bedbugs and the cockroaches were having a game of ball
the score was 6 to nothing the bedbugs were ahead
a cockroach hit a home run and knocked me out of bed
I went downstairs for breakfast, the toast was hard and
stale
the coffee taste like tobacco juice.
Down In Charles Street Jail
South Boston.....1937"
**
7.
"Learned this in California early 80's in kindergarten.
I woke up Sunday morning I looked up on the wall,
The beetles and the bedbugs were having a game of ball,
The score was 6 to nothing, the beetles were ahead
The bedbugs got a homerun, they knocked me outta bed,
I'm singin' eenie meenie and a miny moe, moe, moe, moe
Catch a wiffer waffer by the toe and if he hollers, hollers,
hollers
Let him go I'm singing, eenie meenie and a miny moe.
I woke up Sunday morning and ordered ham and eggs,
I ate so many eggs, they all ran down my legs.
I'm singin' eenie meenie and a miny moe, moe, moe, moe,
Catch a wiffer waffer by the toe and if he hollers, hollers,
hollers,
Let him go I'm singin' eenie meenie and a miny moe.
My father is butcher,
My mother is a spy,
And if you don't believe me just call the FBI.
I'm singin' eenie meenie and a miny moe, moe, moe, moe,
Catch a wiffer waffer by the toe and if he hollers, hollers,
hollers,
Let him go I'm singin' eenie meenie and a miny moe."
**
8. GUEST,Guest, 01 Apr 20, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches and Bedbugs?"
While growing up in south Louisiana, we used to sing this
little "ditty," while sitting knee to knee, and doing hand claps with
each other. If you missed a beat, or did the wrong sequence of claps, you had
to start over. These words are a little different to most of the others. We did
this in the fifties when I was growing up.
I waked up Sundaymorning,
And looked upon the wall,
The roaches and the bedbugs were having them a ball,
The score was ten to nothing,
The bedbugs were ahead,
The roaches hit a homerun,
And knockedme out of bed."
**
9. GUEST,David, 06 Aug 23, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=312, "Roaches and Bedbugs?"
"When I was in Chicago, when I was on the run. They wouldn’t
sell me whiskey they wouldn’t sell me rum. They put me in the county jail and
laid me near a wall, the bed bugs and the roaches were having a game of ball.
The score was four to nothing the roaches were ahead the bed bugs hit a home
run that knocked me out of bed. Four o’clock in the morning they rang the
breakfast bell, a couple raw potatoes and god how they smelled. The coffee was
like tobacco juice the bread was hard and stale but that’s the way they treat
the bums down the county jail.
My dad sang this to me when I was young. I figured he picked
it up in WWII."
**
SOURCE #3
1. franklinstahls, January 9, 2009, http://tobinfterry.blogspot.com/2008/06/old-songs.html, Roaches & Bed Bugs Ball Game Song
"The song below was song by Mel & Ben Savidge (resided at
Worleysburg, PA near Harrisburg) at Turbotville High School abt. 1945. The
teacher, Mr. Cub Menges wanted Mel to sing something in particular since the
Stahls were known for singing (older sister Hilda & Bob). Mel was one of
the few boys in the class. Ben & he sang this song with guitars. Mr. Cub
Menges was not happy with this choice of song. The song was supposedly told to the
Stahl family from Mel's Aunt Nellie Stahl (1882-1944). Some of the words to the
above song were repeated by a boy riding on Mel's school bus during a field
trip to Hershey. Mel drove school bus for the Warrior Run school district from
abt. 1990 to 2000. At other times Harry Stump played his grandfather's guitar
and Mel yodeled.
"One day when I was hungry I went down Baker's Street,
And I stopped at Mrs. Casey's house and asked for something
to eat.
The pigs were in the parlor, the chickens behind the door,
The baby's fingers in the soup a smearin' it on the floor.
Went to bed that evening, gazed upon the wall,
The roaches and the bed bugs were havin' a game of ball.
The score was 7-20, the roaches were ahead, a big bug hit a
home run
And knocked me out of bed.
I went down to breakfast, the bread was hard as nail,
The coffee like tobacco juice, just like they serve in
jail."
**
2. Anonymous, February 23, 2010, http://tobinfterry.blogspot.com/2008/06/old-songs.html, Roaches & Bed Bugs Ball Game Song
"Here's the version that my dad used to sing to me in the
1960s. He learned it as a boy in the 1940s:
Standing on the corner
not doing a bit of harm
along came a flatfoot
and took me by the arm
He took me round the corner
and rang a little bell
along came a cop car
and took me off to jail
I went down in my cell
the bed was hard as rock
the cooties and the bedbugs
were gnawing on my socks
I woke up in the morning
and looked upon the wall
the cooties and the bedbugs
were having a game of ball
The score was six to nothing
the cooties were ahead
a cootie hit a home run
and knocked me out of bed
I went down in the kitchen
the meat was getting stale
a weiner did a flip flop
and landed on its tail
The spinach looked like tobacco juice
and the only reason was . . .
Oh, I've never been to Harvard
I've never been to Yale
the only place I've ever been
is in the county jail"
****
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