Was The Ghanaian Children's Play Song "Maame hyε gyaadze (“Mummy in the kitchen”) Inspired By A Widely Found Verse In The African American Originated Hand Clap Rhyme "Rockin Robin" ("Twee-Lee-Lee")?

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents an excerpt of a 2022 University of South African thesis by Ghanaian student Ernest Nkrumah Addo. The title of the thesis is "Piimpinaa: An Analysis Of Ghanaian Children's Play -Songs As A Genre of African Oral Literature"*. The portion of the thesis that is quoted in this pancocojams post showcases the play song "Maame hyε gyaadze" (“Mummy in the kitchen”).   

This pancocojams post also presents an example of the early 1970s African American originated hand-clap rhyme "Rockin Robin" (also known as "Twee Lee Lee"). That example includes a "Mother in the kitchen" verse that is found in a number of versions of The "Rockin Robin" ("Twee Lee Lee") hand clap rhyme. 

"Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") has its source in R&B singer Michael Jackson's 1972 record "Rockin Robin". This hand clap rhyme was once widely known among African American children and is also found among some Caribbean children. Multiple video and/or text (word only) examples of that hand clap rhyme are found online. 

My position is that the "Mother in the kitchen" verse of that "Rockin Robin" ("Twee Lee Lee") hand clap rhyme was probably the source for the Ghanaian children's play song "Maame hyε gyaadze" (“Mummy in the kitchen”) as a result of Ghanaians watching YouTube videos of that rhyme and/or reading online versions of that rhyme and/or Ghanaians hearing a person from the United States or some other country (such as a country in the Caribbean) chanting that rhyme while they were in Ghana and/or while they were in the United States or some other country. The rhyme that they heard, or read, or saw performed resulted in the "Mummy in the kitchen" play song as a result of folk processing (such as accidental word changes because of misremembering or mishearing or purposeful word changes to better conform with their cultural norms and values and/or for other reasons).     

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Ernest Nkrumah Addo for his research (including play song collection), and his writing. Thanks to all those Ghanaian children who shared these play songs with that collector. Thanks also to Naijah S, who shared an example of "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") with me which is included in this post. 
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*Ernest Nkrumah Addo explained in his thesis that Piimpinaa is a nonsense children's rhyme and "Semantically, the term ‘Piimpinaa” does not have an actual linguistic denotation other than appearing to be a childlike corruption of the word Minanaa which means grandchildren). [page 82]

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/04/four-contemporary-ghanaian-childrens.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Four Contemporary Ghanaian Children's Play Songs From Ernest Nkrumah Addo's University Of South Africa's 2022 Thesis". Piimpinaa is one of the showcased play songs in that post.  

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AN EXCERPT Of ERNEST NKRUMAH ADDO'S FEBRUARY 2022 THESIS: 'MUMMY IN THE KITCHEN" PLAY SONG 

https://uir.unisa.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/beb0516d-fcfd-4422-b888-1f767ef8a9d3/content

"Thesis submitted for the Degree of Philosophy in the subject of Languages, Linguistics And Literature (English) at the University of South Africa,  February 2022 by Ernest Nkrumah Addo 

Piimpinaa:An Analysis Of Ghanaian Children's Play -Songs As A Genre of African Oral Literature 

[...]

CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

[...]

In line with the purpose of the current research, the primary data constitutes live video-recorded performances of children’s play-songs in their school setting. Collected in direct contact with the children, these songs, have been analysed for their thematic and stylistic contents. Other data sources comprise references to play-songs in books, theses, newspapers, the internet, archived audio and video clips of children’s play-songs, which have provided contextual background for the historical evolution of Ghanaian children’s play-songs.

[...]

page 27

Given Ghana’s official primary school going age of six years, the participants under study, as earlier indicated, fall between the ages of six and twelve years (covering a period within which pupils complete the 6-year primary school cycle).

[…]

page 29

Seeking to analyse African knowledge in a text, parts of which are cast in English, may cause a sense of wonder and doubt in some critics, as to the authenticity of the said African lore  embodied in a non-African language. However, as much as the vehicle of the communication may be English, the content of the play-song is Ghanaian. It was therefore this crafted play-songs content that the research focused on.

Since children played on their own, and in some cases as a group, the project considered for analysis the number of “play situations” that involved children’s singing in the field. The research was therefore not concerned about the actual number of children at play, even though the number of children involved in each play situation that the children were commissioned to enact was noted, in each play situation between five (5) and twenty (20) eager participants.

According to the children, they composed some of the songs, and also learnt some from the older children at home and in school, confirming the role of oral tradition in passing the oral songs down from one generation to another (Ntšihlele, 2003). It was noticed that as the performance took place some of the children quickly overcame their initial shyness and participated freely despite the gaze of the researcher’s camera. Presenting myself as a learner, the children were happy, upon asking, to enunciate words that initially appeared to be unintelligible and explain dramatic situations. Agreeing with Nketia (1974) who affirms the view that the children as creators of “song texts” internalise the values of the culture in which they live and reproduce them in their songs, the research unearthed a number of themes that reflected the worldview of the society.

The oral performances and recordings lasted between one hour, thirty minutes and two hours each session. This took place once in September, twice in October and once in November of

page 30

2019. The four (4) play situations or ‘meetings’, two for each school, provided fifty-nine (59) songs which constituted the data for the study. There was however no opportunity for follow-up personal meetings with the participants due to the closure5 of schools in March 2020, a situation occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. Telephone conversations with the teachers who also lived in the communities as the children, and contacted the participants when required, provided useful explanations to questions arising from the data.

[...]

page 113

4.3.8 Family and Ascribed Roles

As has already been alluded to, family is an important factor that form part of the indigenous knowledge systems of Africa. Subsequently, a mirror reflecting the society, some of the songs serve as a commentary on family and socially ascribed roles. One of such songs is Maame hyε gyaadze (“Mummy in the kitchen.”)

Interestingly, while following the theme of family, a new phenomenon of the domestication of a foreign language in orature emerged in the course of this research. During the children’s oral performance, it was discovered that the song appeared twice in the children’s repertoire, sung in both the Akan language and in English. Indeed, there were a few of such songs in which this phenomenon occurred, where the children performed different language versions of the same song.

By deliberately alternating the language in which the song was sung, the children demonstrated not only their facility with both English and Akan languages but also showed that it is possible to use a foreign language to express quintessential African thoughts and knowledge without sacrificing meaning.  For the purpose of the analysis they have been combined below:

Maame wɔ gyaadze, orenua omu-nsu

[Mummy in the kitchen, cooking rice-water] 

Paapa wɔ asado, orehwε tibi

[Father in the living room, watching TV]

Mmofra no wɔ paado, worebɔ ampe

[The children are outside, playing ampe]

Amina wo ture nu mu, ɔrewhε ntoso

[Amina in the garden, planting tomatoes.]

(Author Unknown; collected and transcribed by Addo: 15-10-2020)

It can be inferred from the song that it is a weekend morning given that the entire family, including the children who ordinarily should be at school, are all at home. As it pertains in traditional African societies, the mother provides food – rice-water 28, as we are told in the song.

The father however is in the hall watching television, while the children are outside playing a game of Ampe 29. We note, though, that there is an activity in the garden involving ‘Amina’.

The name Amina is normally used by Muslims who usually come from the northern part of Ghana. They often come to the south of Ghana, especially the capital Accra, in search of work because the north of Ghana is generally not as developed as the south, which is more developed and has a lot more employment opportunities.

In many Akan societies, however, most of these job seekers from the north end up being integrated into various Akan families and serve not only as lived-in servants but also act as older siblings to the younger children in the homes.

[…]

note 28  Rice-water is a kind of porridge made of rice. It is eaten warm or hot with sugar and milk added.

note 29  Ampe is a kind of game which involves two players at a time. The players jump and shoot their legs with a handclap serving as a timing. One of the players wins a point if the same foot is shot, while the other player wins a point if the other foot is shot."

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A  VERSION OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ORIGINATED CHILDREN'S HAND CLAP RHYME "ROCKIN ROBIN" ("TWEE-LEE-LEE") THAT INCLUDES A VERSE WHICH IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE GHANAIAN CHILDREN'S PLAY SONG "MAAME HYE GYAADZE (MUMMY IN THE KITCHEN)

(I've written the verse in italics that I believe is similar to the Ghanaian children's play song).

 TWEE LEE LEE

Twee lee lee
Tree top
Twee lee lee
My bra

Popsicle popsicle
Your breath stinks.

He rocks in the treetop all day long
huffin' and a puffin' and singin' that song.
All the little birdies on jay bird street
love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet.

Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' rice.
Daddy's outside shootin' dice
Brother's in jail ringin that bell.
Sister's outside playing fruit cock tail.

I went to the store to get a stick of butter
I saw Chris Brown singing in the gutter
He had a piece of glass stuck up his sssh
I never knew a Black man run so fast.
-Naijah S. (African American girl, age 9, Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), collected by Azizi Powell, January 14, 2011
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When I asked Naijah what "sssh" meant, she said it was a bad word and instead of the word, kids said "sssh". 

Chris Brown is a popular African American male R&B singer, songwriter, and dancer.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/04/rockin-robin-tweeleelee-analysis.html for a 2012 pancocojams post entitled "Rockin Robin (Tweeleelee) - Analysis, Performance Activity, & Text Examples". [This post includes more notes about my collection of the version of "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") that I collected in 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from Naijah S..

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/07/some-rockin-robin-twee-lee-lee-rhymes_21.html "Some "Rockin Robin" ("Twee Lee Lee") Hand Clap Rhymes With Geographic Locations (Part II: K - Z)" for information about and text (word only) examples of "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee").

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/04/three-videos-of-hand-game-twee-lee-lee.html for the pancocojams post "Four Videos Of The Hand Game "Twee Lee Lee" ("Rockin Robin") Performed By Four People Or Performed By Two People" for another pancocojams post about this hand clap game.

Additional pancocojams posts about the "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") hand clap rhyme can be found by clicking that tag at the bottom of this post. 
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I'm offering this theory that the Ghanaian play song was inspired by a verse that is commonly found in a number of versions of the African American originated hand clap rhyme "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") because 
1. that verse and that Ghanaian play song have similar words, particularly the mother in the kitchen cooking rice.

2. In addition to the portion of the thesis that is quoted above, Ernest Nkrumah Addo, the collector of the "Mummy in the kitchen" play song and the other Ghanaian play songs showcased in his university thesis wrote: "Interestingly, while following the theme of family, a new phenomenon of the domestication of a foreign language in orature emerged in the course of this research. During the children’s oral performance, it was discovered that the song appeared twice in the children’s repertoire, sung in both the Akan language and in English. Indeed, there were a few of such songs in which this phenomenon occurred, where the children performed different language versions of the same song." 
https://uir.unisa.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/beb0516d-fcfd-4422-b888-1f767ef8a9d3/content
-end of quote-
By presenting this theory that the inspiration for this Ghanaian play song came from a verse that appears in some versions of the African American hand clap rhyme "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") isn't meant to minimize or discount the creativity of Ghanaian children. Instead, it is might to suggest that this may be one more example of how children's rhymes are shared and are often changed throughout the world.

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REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION AND EXAMPLES OF THIS PLAY SONG AND THIS HAND CLAP RHYME 
For the cultural record, please share any information that you know about this Ghanaian play song.
Is this a clip of a longer play song?  What accompanying movements do children do while singing or chanting this play song? Is there a standard tune for this Ghanaian play song?  When and where was this Ghanaian play song first collected and are there more than one version of this play song in Ghana, West Africa? 

Also, what versions of this "Rockin Robin" ("Twee lee lee") do you know from outside of the United States and from the United States? (Please remember to include demographic information: who (including age, race/ethnicity), where (geographic location such as city, state, and country), and when (year or decade you first learned or heard this rhyme). Thanks in advance!

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