Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part Ii of a three part pancocojams series about the toxicity of the messages that certain English language jump rope and/or hand clap rhymes (also known as "skipping songs" and "hand games") convey about romantic relationships.
This post presents examples of children's hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic messages because they include references to paying for sex or because they include references to rape.
Warning- These examples contain some sexually explicit language. However, these rhymes are only mildly explicit compared to some really dirty children's recreational rhymes that aren't featured on this pancocojams blog.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-certain-jump-rope-or.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents statements about the toxicity of certain recreational rhymes about romantic relationships. This post also presents a few examples of jump rope or hand clap rhymes that I believe include toxic references.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-toxicity-of-some-childrens.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents two quotes from the 2003 book "Values in Sex Education: From Principles to Practice" by J. Mark Halstead and Michael J. Reissand. This post also presents my comments about the negative messages that are conveyed by the "dirty" examples of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" and, by extension, other "dirty" recreational children's rhymes that are featured in this pancocojams series.
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The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who contributed examples of these hand clap rhymes that are included in this post.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE FORMAT FOR THIS SERIES
In this series I list a statement that I believe reflects toxicity in these rhymes. I then usually present one example of a complete jump rope or hand clap rhyme and/or lines from one or two jump rope or hand clap rhyme/s to demonstrate what I mean by my contention that that example reflects what I consider is toxic.
There are probably other toxic messages that are found in jump rope and/or hand clap rhymes. Also, there are certainly other rhymes that I could have given to serve as examples of these . These are just the ones that I thought of at this point in time.
Please share additional examples of these types of rhymes in the discussion thread for this post along with the toxic message you think they reflect
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SOME EXAMPLES OF TOXIC MESSAGES IN JUMP ROPE OR HAND CLAP RHYMES
These messages are given in no particular order with citations for the online source.
Numbers are given for referencing purposes only.
1. These rhymes may minimize the experiences and consequences of voluntary pre-marital sex (without an exchange of money)
Examples:
a) "Jack and Jill went up the hill
to have a little fun,
Stupid Jill forgot the pill,
and now they have a son.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water
Jack got horny, Jill got corny
and now they have a daughter.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to smoke some marijuana
Jack got high, unzipped his fly
and Jill said "Ooh, I wanna."
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml
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b) "James Brown glad to meetchea drop your draws and follow meshea in the
bushes we may goshea lay down and be assochea won't your daddy
be surprised to see your belly rise won't yo momma be disgusted
to see your belly busted 2,4,6,8,10 ............"
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml
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c) "Jack
and Jill went up a hill.Jack got horny and Jill got corny and now they have a
son. Jake and Jill went up a hill.Jack got corny and Jill got horny and now
they have a daughter"
-https://inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml
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2. These rhymes minimize the wrongful actions and consequences of prostitution.
a) "Momma's in the kitchen, cookin' rice
Daddy's on the corner, shootin' dice
Brother's in jail, raisin' hell
Sister's on the corner selling fruit cock tail"
-numerous sources including GUEST, Spain, 5/30/2006, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350&messages=221 ,I'm Rubber. You're Glue: Children's Rhymes
-snip-
This is a portion of the hand clap rhyme "Rockin Robin" (also known as "Twee Lee Lee".
GUEST,Spain prefaced her memory of this hand clap rhyme by writing "There was also the street Rockin Robin that I heard/played in the same [Boston summer] camps."..
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b "In Virginia Beach in 1991 we used to sing:
"Swing swing swing on a summery day
Hey! hey!
Rockin in the tree top all day long
Huffin and a puffin and a singing my song
All the little birdies on jaybird street
Like to hear the Robin go
Tweet tweet tweet!
Rocking Robin
tweet tweet a leet
Rocking Robin
tweet tweet a leet
Mama's in the kitchen cooking fried chicken
Daddy's in bed, half way dead
Brothers in school acting a fool
Sisters down the street singing
Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do"
We also sang the last line as "selling fruit cocktail" but we were all aware of what it meant and did the hand motions, and if our moms heard us we couldn't sing it that way any more!"
-.Anonymous, July 21, 2022 http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/documenting-some-examples-of-verse-from.html "The Origin & Examples Of Rockin Robin/ Tweeleelee" Hand Clap Rhyme's "Mama In The Kitchen" Verse [discussion thread comment]
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c. "I'm from Wichita, KS and we had the SAME ones - only we would say sister on the corner saying p**sy for sale - or Ima get my n**ga to kick your behind- my cousins would come down from Colorado for summers and teach us new ones. Looking back yes they were CLEARLY inappropriate but in the back of my mind I knew it was part of our culture that we didn't have to share with white people and I was proud of the fact that the white girls at my school couldn't do it. It was like our own thing. And with all the cultural misappropriation now days, I'm glad we call have that commonality as black girls growing up. I'm actually getting my degree in child development and was searching for reminders here on youtube for the hand eye coordination aspect of the rhymes and hand movements. We'll just have to use REVISED versions of them. LOL! Thanks for sharing your story."
-Rebecca Martin, 2018 [comment], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfzHL_1PdbY "Let's Discuss: Black Girl Childhood Hand Games and Sing Songs", published by EbonyJanice Peace, Aug 4, 2014
-snip-
*These examples are from the widely known four person hand clap rhyme entitled "Rockin Robin". In African American communities these rhymes appear to usually be called "Twee Lee Lee" or similar titles.
The reference to the words "Ima get my n**ga to kick your behind" is probably from racialized versions of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" hand clap rhymes. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html for some examples of those rhymes. Note: I'm also concerned about the societal messages that those racialized rhymes convey, but that is off topic for this particular pancocojams series.
I consider many versions of "Twee Lee Lee" rhymes to also be problematic because they include toxic violent references to James Brown or another Black man having glass shoved up his butt.
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3. These rhymes minimize the wrongful actions and consequences of being raped.
Examples
a. Tah rah rah bom di ay
I can't come out today
It happened yesterday
The boy across the way
He paid me fifty cents
To go behind the fence
He said it wouldn't hurt
And pushed it up my skirt
My mommy was surprised
To see my belly rise
And hear the baby cry
Tah rah rah bom di ay
-@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5648 [This version of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" rhymes is from Mudcat folk music forum's" DT" (Digital Tradition), a compilation of
folk song lyrics.]
b.
Ta ra ra boom de ay
How did she get that way?
It was the boy next door,
He laid her on the floor.
Her mommy was surprised
To see her tummy rise
And hear her baby's cries forevermore."
-Staxman, December 31, 2023, https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html
c.
I mightve forgotten parts of it, but that's basically what I can remember! Wow, it's really crazy but so cool that this rhyme is familiar with people all over the world it seems! So interesting seeing all the variations!
-
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html
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d. "We are the Beaver Girls,
We wear our hair in curls,
We have our dungarees down to our sexy knees.
You know the boy next door?
He pushed me on the floor,
We did it once or twice,
It wasn't very nice
La la la bum shaka
La la la bum shaka
La la la bum skaka
My mother was surprised
To see my belly rise
My father jumped for joy
It was a baby boy.
I cant believe we were singing this in primary school! I
doubt we knew what it meant!"
-j9127, 2008,
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=680317 Playground games/rhymes [United Kingdom]
e. T
-collected by Joe Bethancourt
Tune: "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay"
"Ta ra ra boom de ay, have you had yours today?
I had mine yesterday, a girl across the way!
I laid her on the couch, and all she said was "Ouch!"
Her mother was surprised to see her belly rise!"
-From Brent B., http://www.kayshapero.net/child3.htm, "Children's Songs,Part Three" [no date given or publishing date for that online page]
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/09/recreation-rhymes-as-part-of-girls.html for the pancocojams post "Risque Recreational Rhymes That Are Part Of Some Girls' Sexual Education: More Examples Of Sexualized ("Dirty") Versions Of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" ("We Are The ___ Girls")". That post includes information about the history of the "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye song as well as what is believed to be the earliest lyrics for that American vaudeville song. (For the historical record, it should be noted that "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" was originally sung by an African American woman Mama Lou in a St. Louis, Missouri night club )
In addition to its sexual references, many examples of these hand clap rhymes that have their source in the 19th century "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" song also are toxic because they reflect society's preference for males (in the verse "My father jumped for joy/it was a baby boy")
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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.
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