Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents examples of some children's recreational rhymes that include the word of the North American country of "Mexico".
These examples are presented in this post under their titles with no information other than commenters' comments about their accompanying play activities.
These rhymes and their versions are given in no particular order. The versions are numbered for referencing purposes only.
The contents of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all contributors of these examples.
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Every rhyme from these rhyme families don't include the word "Mexico".
This small collection of rhymes only showcases a few examples from these rhyme families that include the word "Mexico".
****
I DON'T WANT TO GO TO MEXICO [Hand Clap Rhymes]
Pancocojams Editor's Notes
These rhymes are widely known in the United States as "Shame Shame Shame" or "Shame".
These are folk processed examples of rhymes that are documented as early as the beginning of the 20th century. The earliest first line was "I Don't Want To Go To Macy's". "Macy's" was and still is the name of large department stores. In those early rhymes (and in many of the examples in this rhyme family that are still chanted in the 2000s), the chanter doesn't want to go to the Macy's department store because the policeman grabbed her or him by the collar because the policeman suspected her or him of shoplifting.
Read my comments about the history of this rhyme in the comment section below and click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-real-origin-of-i-dont-to-go-to.html "The REAL Origin Of "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" Rhymes (also known as "Shame" & "Shame Shame Shame")"
Example #1
Shame Shame Shame.
I don’t want to go to Mexico
no more, more, more.
There’s a big fat policeman
at door, door, door.
He’ll grab you by the collar
and make you pay a dollar.
I don’t want to go to Mexico
no more, more, more.
Shame.
-African American girls and boys in various mostly Black neighborhoods of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, collected by Azizi Powell, first year collected -1998
****
Example #2
"Shame Shame Shame.
I don’t want to go to Mexico
no more, more, more.
There’s a big fat policeman
at door, door, door.
If he pulls you by the collar
Girl, you better holler
I don’t want to go to Mexico, no more, more, more
Shut the door!”
Each partner tries to be the first to say “shut the door!”. Whoever says it first, lightly taps the other player on the shoulder or on the side of their head and then points to them in a “Got ya!” manner.
-Breeana and Tonoya, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2001.
***
Example #3
"Shame,shame,shame,
I dont wanna go to mexico,
no more more more,theres
a big fat policeman,
at the door door door,if you
grab him by the collar boy you better
hollar if you grab him by the pants,
boy you betta dance,i dont wanna go to mexico
no more more more shut the door
Im 13 and i still play that"
-GUEST Brittany, June 4, 2011, http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 "Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?"
****
Example #4
"We had two Mexico ones:
shame shame shame
I don't wanna go to Mexico no more more more
there's a big fat policeman at the door door door
he'll grab you by the collar, make you pay a dollar,
I don't wanna go to mexico no more more more
SHAME ON YOU
or:
shame shame shame
I wanna go to Mexico some more more more
there's a cute boy knockin on the door door door
he'll grab you by the hips, kiss you on the lips
I wanna go to Mexico some more more more
SHAME ON YOU"
-Jordan Smith, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55TnrD5re5g [link no longer active as of at least Nov. 5, 2019 ]
****
Example #5
"we have one at my school that goes
idont wanna go to mexico
no more more more
there is this really tall guy at the door door door
he'll grab you by the hips
kiss you on the lips
i dont wannna go to mexico
no more more more
(then you try to see who can slap the other on the forehead faster and say shame)"
-Lynn Abrams, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55TnrD5re5g [link no longer active as of at least Nov. 5, 2019 ]
****
Example #6
"My Shame,shame,shame wasn’t like that it was “ shame shame
shame I don’t wanna go to Mexico no more more more there’s a big fat police man
at the door door door if you open the door he will pee on the floor I don’t
wanna go to Mexico no more more more “
-Rizma K, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU 90’s hands games !!!!!, published by Geneas, Nov 4, 2018
****
Example #7
"Our "Shame Shame Shame" goes:
Shame Shame Shame
I don't wanna go to Mexico no more more more
There's two hot guys by the door door door
They'll grab you buy the hips and kiss you on the lips
I don't wanna go to Mexico no more more more"
-ToyTable, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU 90’s hands games !!!!!, published by Geneas, Nov 4, 2018
****
TIC TAC TOE [Hand clap rhymes]
Example #1
"Tic tac toe Buddy got shot by a UFO On his way to Mexico
Landed on a Marshmallow On top of an Oreo THATS DA SONGGGG!!!!! JUST SAYING LOL"
-
****
Example #2
"My school does it like: tic tac toe gimme a high gimme a low
gimme three in a row bunny got shot by a UFO on the way to Mexico why is he
eatin marshmallows"
-@eleanorehenry4869, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWdLkDo5GlY&t=7s "Hand Tic Tac Toe Game", published by Splash Games, Jun 11, 2009
****
Example #3
"The song of it is tic tak toe give me a x give me a o give
me a three in a row dum dum ufo on its way to Mexico"
-@doglover606, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWdLkDo5GlY&t=7s "Hand Tic Tac Toe Game", published by Splash Games, Jun 11, 2009
****
Example #4
"Tic tac toe give me a high give me a low give me a three in a row Johnny got caught by UFO on its way to Mexico"
-https://www.tiktok.com/discover/Tic-tac-toe-give-me-a-high-give-me-a-low-give-me-a-three-in-a-row-Johnny-got-caught-by-UFO-on-its-way-to-Mexico?lang=en, retrieved January 21, 2024
****
Example #5
"tic tac toe give me X give me oh give me three in a row trying to get hit by UFO into Mexico"
-https://www.tiktok.com/discover/tic-tac-toe-give-me-X-give-me-oh-give-me-three-in-a-row-trying-to-get-hit-by-UFO-into-Mexico?lang=en , retrieved January 21, 2024
****
TEXICO [jump Rope Rhymes.]
Example #1
"I am watching a friend's three kids today, and I heard them
in the basement (playroom) skipping rope...Here is one that is new on me:
Texico, Texico, all the way to Mexico
Do the splits, splits
Chinese Kicks, kicks
Turn around, round
Touch the Ground, ground!"
-Neighmond, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56361
"Folklore: Skipping Rhymes & Playground Games", February 3, 2003
****
Example #2
"(This one started with "cradles")
Texaco Texaco
OVER (start twirling the rope overhead) the hills to Mexico
Spanish dancers do the splits
Spanish dancers wiggle their hips
Spanish dancers turn around
Spanish dancers touch the ground
Spanish dancers get out of town (the jumper would jump out)
Standing outside the rope as it was twirling and jumping
into it was called a run-in. Twirling the rope toward the jumper was
"front doors," and twirling it away from the jumper was "back
doors." It was harder to do a run-in back doors than front doors.
"Cradles" was swinging the rope back and forth just above the ground. Swinging it so that it almost went overhead but not quite was called "high waters." The most complex single rope twirl was called "TVs." It went two cradles-front doors-two cradles-back doors-cradles-front doors, etc.
Jumping with two ropes twirling inward was called
"double Dutch." Twirling them outward was called "double
Irish." The ropes were twirled left-right-left-right in a steady rhythm.
If you twirled them both at the same time, you ended up with
"eggbeaters," and that was the sign of an inept twirler."...
-Lydia
Leftcoast, Apr-30-2005,(Wisconsin), http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=270x290 "Anybody remember jumprope rhymes?"
****
Example #3
" Texico, Mexico all the way to Texico (swinging rope on
ground)
where they do the splits, splits, splits (spread legs as if
to do splits)
and high heel kicks, kicks, kicks (bend knees)
and turn around, round, round, (spin)
and touch the ground, ground, ground (bend down and touch
ground W/fingers)
and they eat red hot chili peppers (spin rope quickly)
-no name given,http://www.gameskidsplay.net/jump_rope_ryhmes/jump_texico.htm, retrieved August
22, 2010
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I'm sharing this comment exchange to debunk the FAKE belief that the "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" rhymes were created by enslaved African Americans and were originally titled "I Don't Want To Go To Massas" [Master's house].
ReplyDeletefrom https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/hand-games-played-as-little-girls.5232725/
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: Almost all the commenters on this online discussion forum are African Americans.]
Alleybux237,000, Apr 16, 2023
"BaldheadedStepchild said:
“Plus a lot of those games were from the slavery days.
For example, remember " I don't wanna go to Mexico no more more more, there's a big fat police man at the door door door"
Ok the real one was " i don't wanna go to MASSA'S house no more more more"
This is fake news. Ya'll need to stop it. lol"
I want to reiterate my position that the "I Don't Want To Mexico" children's rhymes aren't racist. "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" rhymes aren't really about Mexicans, or about legal or illegal immigration. Also, those rhymes aren't meant to be interpreted as a way of insulting the nation of Mexico as a place where people should avoid traveling to or living in.
ReplyDeleteThe word "Mexico" in those children's recreational rhymes is a folk processed substitution for the word "Macys" which is the "brand" name of a chain of big department stores. Around about the 1980s, children started chanting the word "Mexico" instead of "Macys" in those rhymes because they were unfamiliar with the word "Macys".
Here's a longish quote about the history of "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" rhymes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/nyregion/fyi-323470.html?mcubz=0 "F.Y.I" by DANIEL B. SCHNEIDER, MARCH 11, 2001
"Macy's Doggerel
Q. Children in New York used to chant a clapping song, almost like a nursery rhyme, about not wanting to go to Macy's. How did it go?
A. Like this:
Oh, I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more
There's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door
He'll pull you by the collar
And make you pay a dollar
Oh, I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more.
The authorship is obscure, but the rhyme was popular by the turn of the 20th century, and might have been associated with an incident that occurred when the modern department store was still in its infancy.
On Dec. 24, 1870, Elizabeth B. Phelps, a suffragist and woman of no small renown, was accused of petty thievery while shopping at Macy's, then at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. At issue was a box of bonbons that Mrs. Phelps dropped on the floor that day. Margaret Grotty, a salesgirl, asserted that Mrs. Phelps was trying to steal it, while she insisted that it had fallen as she was trying to extract payment from her coin purse while juggling her packages. The store detective was summoned.
Mrs. Phelps's arrest was exhaustively covered by the popular press, and it turned out that several other well-to-do women had been detained at Macy's the same day, for other and seemingly innocent lapses in protocol. A judge threw Mrs. Phelps's case out of court, and Macy's was left to struggle with the perception that, whether due to class animosity or confusion over department store etiquette, innocent shoppers were routinely harassed. Though picket lines and boycotts were planned, they never materialized. The rhyme, whatever its origins, survived well into the 1950's."...