The 1963 Rock & Roll Record "I Met My Sugar In A Candy Store" Was Probably The Inspiration For The Hand Clap Rhyme "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" (also known as "Uno Dos Siesta")

Release Topic, May 16, 2024

Provided to YouTube by Zebralution GmbH I Met My Sugar in a Candy Store · Juanita Nixon Rock and Roll Vixens, Vol. 3 ℗ 1963 AMB Released on: 2021-03-19 Composer: Ruth Verst Lyricist: Ruth Verst **** Edited by Azizi Powell My guess is that the Rock & Roll record "I Met My Sugar In The Candy Store" is the inspiration for the hand clap rhyme "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store. This pancocojams post showcases a song file of the 1963 Rock & Roll record "I Met My Sugar In A Candy Store". This post also presents my unofficial partial transcription of that record. In addition, this post showcases a clip from The Cosby Show television series that includes two girls performing the hand clap rhyme "Uno Dos Siesta". "Uno Dos Siesta" or similar words is a common name for the hand clap rhyme "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store". A transcription of the version of that rhyme that was performed on The Cosby Show is included in this pancocojams post . This post also includes my general analysis of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" rhymes as well as information about examples that combine the words to "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" with verses from other rhymes. The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, and recreational purposes. All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to Ruth Verst the composer of the Rock & Roll song "I Met My Sugar In A Candy Store" and thanks to Juanita Nixon for recording that song. Thanks to the unknown composer/s of the hand clap rhyme "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" (also known as "Uno Dos Siesta") and thanks to the publisher of this song file and this video on YouTube. -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/bill-cosby-show-hand-clap-segment-i-met.html for a 2014 pancocojams post entitled "The Cosby Show Hand Clap Segment ("I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" Also Known As "Uno Dos Siesta")"**** MY UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTION OF THE SONG "I MET MY SUGAR IN A CANDY STORE" Composer: Ruth Verst; Lyricist: Ruth Verst; Singer: Juanita Nixon, Record released in 1963 [Words written in italics mean that I'm unsure of that transcription. Question marks mean that I'm unable to decipher what was being sung. Additions and corrections are welcome.] LYRICS:

I met my sugar in a candy store. I never knew a guy so sweet before
He’s got skin like honey and a lot of money
And there’s sugar in his kiss.
I met my sugar in a candy store
You never seen a guy so sweet before.
You know ?????? And I can hardly wait for his kiss.
He's got curly curly hair And crazy brown eyes And he’s got lovely??
He looks so doggone cute
In his strawberry suit with the peppermint stripe on his vest.
I met my sugar in a candy store. There never was a guy so sweet before
When we walk down the aisle
I’ll be wearing a smile
Thinking only of his kiss.
[instrumental]
He has curly curly hair
And crazy brown eyes
And he’s got a lovely ??
In his strawberry suit with the peppermint stripe on his vest.
I met my sugar in a candy store
There never was a guy so sweet before
When I walk down the aisle
I’ll be wearing a smile
Thinking only of his kiss.
When I walk down the aisle
I’ll be wearing a smile Thinking only of his kiss.
‘Cause when I walk down the aisle
I’ll be wearing a smile
Thinking only of his kiss. **** SHOWCASE VIDEO - The Cosby Show: Uno Dos Siesta

Mckinley Pasteris, Apr 6, 2018

From Slumber Party

Note: It's just only game.;) -snip- Here's some information about this television episode: From https://thecosbyshoww.fandom.com/wiki/Slumber_Party "Slumber Party is the 22nd episode of Season 1 of The Cosby Show, also the 22nd overall in the series. The episode was directed by Jay Sandrich and written by John Markus. The episodes originally aired in the United States on NBC on March 28, 1985. -snip-
Trivia: Singer Alicia Keys is one of the girls in this episode who are guests at Rudy’s slumber party. Alicia Keys is the girl with the very short hair sitting on the sofa.
****
WORDS TO THE COSBY SHOW VERSION OF "I MET MY BOYFRIEND AT THE CANDY STORE"

Uno, dos, siesta
I said a-east, a-west
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
Mama mama, I'm so sick
Call the doctor quick quick quick
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Count to five and you'll be alive
I said, a-one, a-two, a-three, a-four, a-five
I'm alive!
-Kyle Bryant & Dana Bryant ; (performing hand clap game on Season 1, Episode 22 of The Cosby Show;  March 1985; The Slumber Party, transcribed by Azizi Powell (additions and corrections are welcome).
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENTS
The words "Uno, dos, siesta" in that version of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" are a folk processed (folk etymology) form of "uno dos tres" (Spanish for "one, two, three". "Siesta" is a Spanish word that means "nap" in English). "Folk processing" occurs when a word or phrase is substituted for another word or phrase because of misremembering, misunderstanding, or as an attempt to make sense out of an unfamiliar word or phrase.

"I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" (also known as "Uno Dos Siesta" or similar words) appears to have been a relatively common hand clap rhyme particularly among African American girls in the 1980s and 1990s. I don't know if examples of this rhyme are still widely chanted by that population or by others in the United States.

There are multiple versions of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store". Many of those versions are longer than the version that was performed on that 1985 episode of The Cosby Show. "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" is chanted separately or is combined with certain other hand clap rhymes.  A number of longer versions of "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" are combined with "I Like Coffee. I Like Tea" rhymes. Some versions of other hand clap rhymes that include words from "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" are "Take a peach take a plum take a piece of bubblegum". "Down by the bank of the hanky panky", "Tweeleelee" ("Rockin Robin")*, and "Down Down Baby". (This is probably not a complete list of all of the recreational rhymes with versions that include words from "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store".)*Some versions of other hand clap rhymes that may include words from "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" are "Take a peach take a plum take a piece of bubblegum". "Down by the bank of the hanky panky", "Tweeleelee" ("Rockin Robin")*, and "Down Down Baby". (This is probably not a complete list of all of the recreational rhymes with versions that include words from "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store".) These examples often include a verse that begins with the words "See that house up on that hill/That's where me and my boyfriend live". 

All of these recreational rhymes that are listed above are of African American origin and were/are mostly performed by African American girls around 6 through 13 years of age.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/01/examples-of-see-that-house-up-on-that.html  "See That House Up On That Hill" Verse In Various Children's Playground Rhymes
for a small number of examples of recreational rhymes that include the words "I Met My Boyfriend At The Candy Store" with the verse that begins with "See that house up on that hill".
Here's a long version of this rhyme that I collected in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2000:[no title collected]
Zing, Zing, Zing,
and ah 1-2-3.
I like coffee, I like tea.
I like a black boy and he likes me.
So step back, white boy, you don't shine.
I'll get the black boy to 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.
Mama, mama, I feel sick
Call the doctor, quick, quick, quick
Doctor, doctor, will I die?
Close your eyes and count to five
1-2-3-4-5
I'm Alive!
See that house up on the hill.
That's where me and my baby live.
Eat a piece of meat
Eat a piece of bread.
Come on baby. let's go to bed"
-Kayla, (African American girl, age 5; recited for Alafia Children's Ensemble, Fort Pitt Elementary School chapter, (Garfield neighborhood, Pittsburgh, PA), 2000; collected by Azizi Powell, 2000
****As documented in my 2014 pancocojams post on this rhyme (whose link is given above) versions of this rhyme have been taught to children in Liberia, West Africa and in an Asian nation by Americans missionaries and other Americans working those nations.**** Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome.