Angel Byrd, Oct 16, 2018
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"If You Don't Like My Apples" cheer is performed by the KM Elites cheerleading team during a cheer battle at a community football game. That cheer is performed from 4:31 to 4:54 in this video. The words to that cheer are found below in this post.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents some examples of the "If You Don't Like My Apples" cheerleading cheer.
An explanation of the meaning of this cheer is given in this post.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer of this cheer and thanks to all those who are featured in this video. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in ths post.
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This cheer is a variant form of the 1920s Blues songs "If You Don't Like My Peaches" (Don't Shake My Tree)" or similar words.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/05/partial-chronology-of-songs-with-lyrics.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Partial Chronology Of Songs With The Lyrics "If You Don't Like My Peaches, Don't Shake My Tree" (Or Similar Lyrics) & The Meanings Of Those Lyrics".
The earliest song that I found with that substituted the word "apples" for "peaches" is the Nat King Cole Trio's 1946 Jazz song "If You Don't Like My Apples". Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/05/nat-king-cole-trio-if-you-dont-like-my.html for a pancocojams post about that song.
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"If You Don't Like My Apples" is my title for children's rhymes and cheers that include those words. The oldest example of this rhyme that I've found is published in John Langstaff, Carol Langstaff, Shimmy Shimmy Coke-Ca-Pop!, A Collection of City Children's Street Games & Rhymes {Garden City, New York, Double Day & Co; page. 57; 1973). The "If you don't like my apples" part of that rhyme is given at the end of the rhyme entitled "I'll Be" (Read Example #1 below in this post.]
The words for that verse of the "I'll Be" rhyme serve as the template for the contemporary African American originated "If You Don't Like My Apples" children/teens cheers.
"If You Don't Like My Apples" is particularly used as a stomp and shake cheerleading "battle cheer". "Battle cheers" are confrontational cheers that are chanted during "cheer battles" (also called "cheer offs") in which two opposing cheerleader teams face each other on the basketball court or the football field during half times of their athletic teams games and take turns chanting cheers with accompanying choreographed routines. "Battle cheers" may also be chanted as "bleacher cheers" (cheers that are chanted and performed by each cheerleader team while they stand or sit in the bleachers while the actual athletic game is being played.
Some schools and community organizations don't allow cheerleading teams to perform battle cheers because the cheerleaders or other people who attend those games may take the cheers too seriously and actually engage in physical fights. That's not the intention of these battles cheers. Cheerleading teams are supposed to show off their chanting and choreography skills while keeping their cool. They are supposed to showcase their creativity while performing these cheers, and demonstrate their skill in this cheer battle by choosing the right cheer to use as a clap back (retort) to the other team's cheer. (As such, these cheer battles are similar to the dozens contests).
As commenters in multiple YouTube discussion threads of stomp and shake cheerleading document, it's common for children and teens to chant the same cheers, but create their own movements to those cheers (i.e. "the cheer routine".) Which cheerleading team wins a particular cheer battle is subjective- No official winner is announced. The viewers decide for themselves which cheerleading team had the best cheers and did the cheers the best. With regard to the cheer battle between the KM Elite cheerleaders and their cheer competitors, the Huskies, the overwhelming majority of commenters in that video's discussion thread wrote that KM Elite was the winner of that cheer battle.
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These examples are given in chronological order based on the earliest year for the examples that I have found.
If you know any other examples of these cheers, please add them to this collection by sharing that information (with year and geographic location) in the comment section for this pancocojams post. Thanks!
Example #1
I'LL BE
I'll be. I’ll 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.
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.
Source: John Langstaff, Carol Langstaff, Shimmy Shimmy
Coke-Ca-Pop!, A Collection of City Children's Street Games & Rhymes {Garden
City, New York, Double Day & Co; page. 57; 1973)
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"Black" here means "Black person".
"Castle Square" is either the name of a neighborhood in a particular
city or the name of a housing development (low income housing
"projects") within that city.
Example #2
Subject: RE: Don't Like My Apples Don't Shake My Tree
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Sep 09
"Here's an example of a children's cheerleader cheer that includes the floating verse "if you don't like my apples/don't shake my tree":
Princess writes:
I have sum more:
I'm a Cougar from Cougar town and only a Cougar can knock me down If you don't like my apples, don't shake my tree 'cause I'm a Cougar Don't mess with me!
-Black Princess,
http://beta.beaconstreetgirls.com/clubs/19/post_threads/cheerleading-team?post_thread_id=67414*
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The exact same cheer is posted on http://cheerleading-cheers.blogspot.com/
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"If you don't like my apples/don't shake my tree"
verse is found in American girls' handclap rhymes/jump rope rhymesa and
cheerleader cheers. I'm not sure how common this verse is."
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*That link is no longer active.
I found the exact same cheer on this website:
https://www.liveabout.com/cheerleading-cheers-chants-yells-collection-588618 Cheers, Chants, and Yells Submitted by Cheerleaders, By Valerie Ninemire, Updated on 02/12/21
Here's our newest collection of cheers, chants, and yells
for cheerleaders. If you have a favorite cheer you haven't seen listed, send it
in.
Submitted by: Zuri -"I'm a Cougar from Cougar Town"...
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Example #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPhS6g8fpUc KM Elite vs Huskies Cheer Battle, published by Angel Byrd, Oct 16, 2018 #Uknow
We don't start battles...we just finish them.
#Elitecheerstayready #Uknow
Here's my transcription of the cheer that the KM Elite chanted: [This cheer is performed in the video given at the top of this pancocojams post.]
"I'm a Blazer from Blazer town.
It takes another Blazer to knock me down.
If you don't like my apples
Don't shake my tree.
I'm a bad mighty Blazer.
Don't mess with me.
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"Blazer" is a shortened form of the athletic team's name, the "trailblazers". This cheerleading team is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina (from their Facebook page).
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The word "bad" in this cheer means "very good".
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Example #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPhS6g8fpUc KM Elite vs Huskies Cheer Battle
Here's a comment that was posted in that video's discussion thread in response to a request for the words to that cheer.
LifeWithRena, 2019
"When I was hs we had a cheer like that. It’s goes:
“Imma RAM from Edgewood town and it takes a RAM to knock me
down if you don’t like my apples then don’t shake my tree cause I’m from
Edgewood baby don’t mess with me” so it’s prob something like that"
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"When I was hs" =When I was in high school".
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Another commenter in that discussion thread wrote that she had just tried out for her middle school cheerleading team and they also did that same cheer.
These "If You Don't Like My Apple" cheers appear to have basically the same words except for the substitution of the name of the school's athletic team, the name of the school or community sport's team, or the name of the city where the cheerleader team/sports team is located.
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