Why Most Online Versions Of "Going To Kentucky" Songs & Singing Games Include The Line "Shake It Like A Milkshake"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series of the children's song and singing game "Going To Kentucky".

This post focuses on the line "shake it like a milkshake" in most online versions of "Going To Kentucky" songs and singing games.

This post presents my belief that the reason the "shake it like a milkshake" line is so widely featured in online examples of "Going To Kentucky" is because that is the line that is featured in the example of "Going To Kentucky" that Iona and Peter Opies included in their highly regarded 1985 collection of British children's recreational play entitled The Singing Game.

Information about the Opies is included in this post along with the lyrics to the example of "Going To Kentucky" that they featured in their 1985 book.

This post also features a few online examples of "Going To Kentucky" that include the line "shake it like a milkshake". In addition, this post includes my memories of the version of "Going To Kentucky" that I played in the mid 1950s in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/going-to-kentucky-example-of-childrens.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post showcases two YouTube examples of the children's singing game "Going To Kentucky." That post also provides a description of the strategy in which a person standing in the middle of a circle chooses the next middle person by pointing at someone forming the circle.

Addendum #1 to this post presents information about state fairs in the United States.
 
Addendum #2 to this post presents information about the event called "the Kentucky state fair" that inspired the singing game "We're Going To Kentucky".

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the contributors and collectors of the song "Going To Kentucky".

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WHY I THINK THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE ONLINE EXAMPLES OF THE SONG AND THE SINGING GAME "GOING TO KENTUCKY" INCLUDE THE LINE "SHAKE IT LIKE A MILKSHAKE"
The internet contains a lot of versions of the singing game "Going To Kentucky". My guess is that most of those online versions of "Going To Kentucky" were composed after 1985. And almost all of the versions of the song that is used in the "Going To Kentucky" singing game that I've found online include the lyrics "Shake it like a milkshake".

I believe that the main reason why the "shake it like a milkshake" line is so common online is that it was used in the version of that song that is featured in Iona and Peter Opie's book of children's recreational rhymes and singing games entitled  The Singing Game (Oxford University Press, 1985). The Opies were and still are very highly regarded among folklorists, sociologists, and other people interested in the study of children's play. Therefore, their choice of that version of that line in the "Going To Kentucky" song and singing game did (and still does) hold considerable weight.  That said, the use of that line has become a standard "traditional" version of that song whose words reinforce the "shake it" words and actions of the singing game (even though milkshakes aren't actually known to be shaken. 

The Opies' inclusion of  the "shake it like a milkshake" line in the example of "Going To Kentucky" that is featured in their 1985 book doesn't necessarily mean that that line was the only line or the most often used line in British versions (or any other versions) of "Going To Kentucky". However, it would be quite difficult to find out how common the "shake it like a milkshake" line was in the United Kingdom before the Opies published The Singing Game. Also, it would be quite difficult to find out if the "shake it like a milkshake" line was known or was common in the United States before 1985 when the Opies published their collection of children's rhymes and singing games from the United Kingdom.

I believe that many online sources for children's recreational rhymes and songs feature that "shake it like a milkshake" line as a standard "traditional" lyric for "Going To Kentucky" without thinking about any alternative lyric that might be used instead of that line.  

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SOME INFORMATION ABOUT IONA AND PETE OPIE
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_and_Peter_Opie
"Iona Margaret Balfour Opie, CBE, FBA (13 October 1923 – 23 October 2017)[1] and Peter Mason Opie (25 November 1918 – 5 February 1982) were an English married team of folklorists who applied modern techniques to understanding children's literature and play, in studies such as The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951) and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1959). They were also noted anthologists, assembled large collections of children's literature, toys, and games and were regarded as world-famous authorities on children's lore and customs.[2]

Their research had a considerable impact on a number of research fields, including folklore and childhood studies, and altered perceptions of children's street culture and notions of play by emphasising the agency of children.[3]

Working outside of academia, the couple worked together closely, from their home (firstly near Farnham, Surrey, later in Alton, Hampshire) conducting primary fieldwork, library research, and interviews with thousands of children. In pursuing the folklore of contemporary childhood they directly recorded rhymes and games in real time as they were being sung, chanted, or played. They collaborated on several celebrated books and produced over 30 works."...

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MY MEMORIES OF THE "GOING TO KENTUCKY" SINGING GAME IN THE MID 1950s
I haven't found any official documentation of when the song "We're Going To Kentucky" was first sung or when the "We're Going To Kentucky" singing game was first played.

I remember playing that circle game in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1950s (Black girls, probably ages 6-12 years) . We played that game in a large circle with one person in the middle. In these two YouTube videos the children marched counterclockwise around the circle until they sung the "Shake it" words. In contrast, I remember that we held hands with the person on either side of us and walked counterclockwise around the circle until the words "Shake it". (I don't remember the person in the middle singing or doing any motions for that part of the song.).

When we played this singing game the children forming the circle stopped moving around the circle at the words "Shake it". The middle person still didn't sing but would start doing some exaggerated shaking motions and the people forming the circle would also do some exaggerated shaking motions.  When the people forming the circle sang the lyrics "Turn around"*, the middle person would  close her eyes and covered them with one hand while spinning around while extending her arm and pointing to the people forming the circle. The person who was pointed to at the end of that song was the next middle person and the singing game would immediately begin all over again.

*Here are the words that I remember for the "Going To Kentucky" singing game:

Going to Kentucky
Going to the fair
To see a senorita
With flowers in her hair
Oh, shake it, senorita
Shake it all you can
All the boys are watching you
So do the best you can.
Rumble to the bottom [Do a hip shaking dance toward the ground]
Rumble to the top [Do the same hip shaking dance until you are again standing erect]
Turn around and touch the ground [Do these actions]
Until you holler S. T.O. P.
Speeells STOP.
-African American girls in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the mid 1950s

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ADDITIONAL ONLINE EXAMPLES OF "GOING TO KENTUCKY" THAT INCLUDE THE LINE "SHAKE IT LIKE A MILKSHAKE" 
 
These examples are presented in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only. 

The "shake it like a milkshake" line and its subsequent line are given in italics for highlighting purposes only. 

1. https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2019/08/going-to-kentucky.html 
"Going to Kentucky

folk song / traditional

Lyrics

(Folk song)

We’re going to Kentucky, we’re going to the fair

To see the señorita with flowers in her hair.

So shake it, shake it, shake it,

Shake it if you dare!

Shake it like a milkshake, and shake it here to there!

Roll it to the bottom and roll it to the top,

And turn around and turn around and turn around and stop!

Dance

Formation: Students standing in a circle around one student.

Measures 1-8 = Students in the circle join hands and walk around the circle. Student in the middle can dance.

Measures 9-16 = Students stand in place and do a shaking dance.

Measures 17-18 = Roll arms and bend down

Measures 19-20 = Roll arms and stretch up

Measures 21-24 = “Turn around…” = Student in the middle covers eyes with one hand, puts out the other arm with finger pointing, and turns around in place until the word “stop!” The person who is being pointed to is the next “It” and goes to the middle of the circle, while the former “It” takes their place in the circle."

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2. https://sites.google.com/site/girlscoutssongs/active-songs/going-to-kentucky "Girl Scouts Active Songs

Post date: Oct 17, 2015

"(Girls hold hands in a circle with one girl in the middle. The middle person “shakes it” when the words are sung and also “rumbles” to the bottom and top. During the last part for the “turn around” she closes her eyes and spins around until they say STOP! At that point the circle stops moving and the girl who is being pointed at goes to the middle of the circle.)

Lyrics:

We’re going to Kentucky
Going to the fair
to see the senoritas
with flowers in their hair.
Oh shake it senorita,
Shake it all you can
Shake it like a milkshake
and do the best you can
Oh! Rumble to the bottom, rumble to the top, turn around and turn around until we holler stop,
S-T-O-P Stop!"

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3. https://misslucy.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/i-met-a-senorita-with-flowers-in-her-hair/ Senorita With a Flower in Her Hair, Published on August 6, 2008

"The idea for the Miss Lucy’s Playground Songs blog came to me when I had the senorita song in my head one morning – probably 25 years after I had last sung it. I had completely forgotten about this song! Then in my head …

The song that I remember – the one that started it all – goes like this:

One day when I was walking,

walking to the fair,

I met a senorita,

with a flower in her hair.

 

Oh shake it senorita,

shake it all you can,

shake it like a milkshake,

and do the best you can.

 

Oh she wobbled to the bottom.

Oh she wobbled to the top.

 

She turned around and turn around

until she made an S-T-O-P stop!"

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4.  https://misslucy.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/i-met-a-senorita-with-flowers-in-her-hair/ Senorita With a Flower in Her Hair, Published on August 6, 2008

"But in looking around online, I found a few different versions:

Source: Mothering

i was going to Kentucky

i was going to the fair

i met a senorita, with flowers in her hair.

shake it senorita

shake it all you can

shake it like a milkshake

and shake it once again

waddle to the bottom

waddle to the top

turn around and turn around

until you make an S-T-O-P stop!"

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5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPGdUUjxa0M

The Kiboomers - Kids Music Channel, Mar 7, 2019

"Sing along & learn with The Kiboomers Preschool Songs & Nursery Rhymes! We're Going to Kentucky is a super fun circle time song to dance to with your class. Enjoy!"

"We're going to Kentucky,

We're going to the fair

To see a senorita,

With roses in her hair, OH

Shake it baby, shake it!

Shake it if you dare!

Shake it like a milkshake,

Oh shake it here to there!

SOOO,

Rumble to the bottom,

Rumble to the top

Then turn around and turn around

 

Until it's time to STOP!"

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If you remember "Going To Kentucky" song and singing games BEFORE 1985, please share the lyrics to your version of that song in this pancocojams discussion thread.  Remember to include when (year or decade) and where (city/state if in the USA or city/nation outside of the USA) you learned that song. Thanks!  

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This includes Part II of this pancocojams series.

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