pancocojams: African American children's rhymes and cheers

Showing posts with label African American children's rhymes and cheers. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Trump's Remarks About Black Rapper Nicki Minaj's "Beautiful Ass" & Revisiting My Post About The Words "African Booty" In Children's Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information and comments about the term "African booty". This post also presents information about and reactions to President Donald Trump's remarks at a 2026 midterm political rally that rapper Nicki Minaj has a "beautiful ass."

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

All copyrights remains with their owners.

Thanks to some of those who are quoted in this post.

****
Part I: My pancocojams posts about African American children's rhymes that include the words "African booty"
On September 29, 2026 I reprinted a 2011 pancocojams post about African American children's recreational rhymes that include the words "African booty". Here's the link for that 2026 post: https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-yerm-african-booty-in-childrens.html "The Term "African Booty" In The Children's Recreational Rhymes "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty" & "Policeman Policeman Do Your Duty".

That post about those children's rhymes was prompted by my interest in documenting YouTube videos of the "Booty call" soul line dances. Here's a link to Part I of a two part pancocojams series about those line dances that were performed to Blackstreet's 1994 record "Booti Call [Remix]". The title of that record is also given as "Booty Call [Remix]'. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/09/some-examples-of-booti-call-booty-call.html for the pancocojsms post entitl4d "Six YouTube Examples Of "Booti Call", "Booty Call" Line Dances (2007-2025)." The link to Part II of that pancocojams series is given in that post.

Here's a portion of that 2011 (and 2026) pancocojams post about the words "African booty" in children's rhymes:

"The term "African booty"
In African American Vernacular English term "African booty" means "a really big butt". While males can be said to have an "African booty", that term is usually reserved as a descriptor for teenage girls and women.

The term "African booty" isn't a commonly used African American Vernacular English term. Those words are only found in these children's rhymes as a replacement for the words "American beauty" or in the highly negative term "African booty scratcher". ("African booty scratcher" was used in the mid to late 20th century much more than it is currently used by some African Americans who were directly insulting emigrants from continental Africa.)

The origin of that African American Vernacular English term came from the seemingly widely held belief in the United States (and elsewhere?) that all or most Black women from the continent of Africa and their descendants (such as Black American women) have large butts.

The reason that many Americans (and probably many people in some other nations outside of Africa) have been informally socialized to believe that all African women naturally have big butts is because of White racism. The story of Sarah Baartman is one example of the consequences of that racism. Sarah Baartman c. 1789 – 29 December 1815), was a South African woman who had a big, protruding butt. She was taken from her country and exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus, a name that was later attributed to at least one other Black woman who was similarly exhibited. [re-worded from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Baartman."

[The references to Sarah Baartman were added on October 27, 2026 to those pancocojams posts about children rhymes that include the words "African booty" rhymes. I also added the link to this "Revisitng my post about the words "African Booty"... publication.

****
In the context of children's recreational rhymes, people (usually girls ages 6-12 years) who are chanting "Policeman Policeman Do Your Duty" and similar rhymes while playing long jump rope are complimenting the person who is jumping in the middle of the rope. I don't believe that African Americans have ever given any negative connotations to the term "African booty" in these children's rhymes or elsewhere.

That said, I believe that most children who say the words "African booty" as part of the rhyme that they are chanting do so from rote memory i.e. they don't give any thought to the meaning of the words that they are chanting. However, children who know the African American Vernacular English meaning of the words "African booty" would consider that descriptor to be a compliment because in the United States and in other Western nations it's considered preferable for a teenage girl or a woman to have a big butt rather than a small butt or a flat butt.

To emphasize this point, the term "African booty" doesn't appear to be commonly used in American English. It's much more likely for contemporary African Americans (and other Americans regardless of their race/ethnicity) to say that someone (particularly a woman) has "a big butt" or "a big booty" (with the word "butt" used more often than the word "booty")."
-end of that portion of that 2026 "African booty" pancocojams post [revised from the 2011 pancocojams post.]

****
Part II- Trump's Remarks About Nicki Minaj's "Beautiful Ass" And Some Reactions To Those Remarks
Little did I know on September 29, 2026 when I published that post on the words "African booty" in African American children's rhymes less than a month later United States President Donald Trump would devote a portion of his speech at a political rally to declare that Nicki Minaj has a "beautiful ass" that "is hard to miss". (Prior to this "shout out", Nicki Minaj was featured on that rally's stage leading the attendees in the chant "AWe love Trump". That rapper-who is from Trinidad and can't vote in any United States elections because she entered this country illegally- led the rally attendees in the chant "We love Trump". After Nicki Minaj returned to her seat off stage in the front row, Trump returned to his lately frequently mentioned riff about how he likes looking at some men's asses. Trump then introduces a new element to those comments by saying he likes looking at women's asses and shares that Nicki Minaj has a "beautiful ass" that "is hard to miss." Trump then said "Stand up!" to Nicki Minaj presumably so that the other people at that rally could see her "beautiful ass".

The words "beautiful ass" are very close in meaning to the words "African booty". However, who vocalizes those words and the context for that vocalization are quite different.

Here are three online examples of reactions to Trump's "beautiful ass" remark:
These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

SOURCE #1
From https://ew.com/donald-trump-praises-nicki-minaj-beautiful-ass-during-rally-speech-12193459 "Donald Trump praises Nicki Minaj’s ‘beautiful ass’ during rally speech: ‘It’s hard to miss’"

Minaj has publicly supported Trump since 2025, but spoke positively about the businessman turned reality star turned politician as far back as 2010.

By Ryan Coleman October 25, 2026 7:01 p.m. ET

Photo caption:

"Donald Trump and Nicki Minaj at a rally in Port Huron, Mich. on Oct. 25.[2026]

KEY POINTS

President Donald Trump made a lewd comment about Nicki Minaj’s anatomy during a Michigan rally appearance.

“By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before — Nicki Minaj,” Trump said behind the lectern at Port Huron’s McMorran Place Arena. “That’s hard to miss.”

Trump was referencing another derriere-related compliment he gave to Jon Husted, a Republican Senator from Ohio, which recently went viral.

[…]

[text] "Headquarters

@HQNewsNow

Trump: I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before, Nicki Minaj. That's hard to miss. Stand up."
-end of text-

The comment appeared to come from nowhere, but was likely a reference to another derriere-related compliment Trump recently rained on one of his political allies.

“I looked at his ass. I’ve never done that with a man before. Off the record — women, yes. Men, no,” Trump said on Tuesday at a rally in Greenville, N.C. He was speaking about Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was elected in 2025 to the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance and is currently up for re-election. “I’m studying his body. I’ve never studied the body of a man before. It’s not my thing. Nothing wrong with it, of course.”…

****
SOURCE #2
From AI Overview
"President Donald Trump's public remark about rapper Nicki Minaj’s body during an October 25, 2026, rally in Port Huron, Michigan, drew comparisons on social media and from cultural commentators to the historical exploitation of South African Sarah Baartman.

The Event and the Comment

• The Rally: While speaking at McMorran Place Arena, Trump remarked, “By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before — Nicki Minaj. That's hard to miss,” and asked her to stand up for the crowd.

• The Reaction: Minaj appeared unbothered, joined him on stage, and expressed continued support.

The Comparison to Sarah Baartman

• The Historical Parallel: Critics and commentators—such as writer Charles M. Blow—drew a line to Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from South Africa who was taken to Europe in 1810 and exhibited as a public spectacle because of her physical features.

• The Arguments Made:

• Critics argue that a powerful figure publicly singling out and inviting an audience to ogle a Black woman's body echoes a centuries-long history of objectifying and hypersexualizing Black women's bodies for predominantly white audiences, drawing comparisons to historical freak shows and slave inspections. Some also expressed discomfort that Minaj willingly participated in the moment on stage.

• Defenders and other observers note the vast difference in context: Baartman was a victim of severe, forced human exploitation and colonial abuse in the 19th century, whereas Minaj is a consenting, highly successful independent celebrity and willing political surrogate with a long-standing public persona.”

****
SOURCE #3
From https://www.facebook.com/CharlesMBlow/videos/the-degradation-and-perversion-of-a-sitting-president-or-any-person-inviting-an-/1348387953911556/

Charles M. Blow, October 26, 2026

“The degradation and perversion of a sitting President — or any person — inviting an arena of people to publicly ogle a Black woman’s body has too many echos to slave inspections and #sarahbaartman to ignore. And, #NickiMinaj obliging her own objectification adds stinging insult to horrific injury. #ThereIsNoBottom"
-snip-
This facebook comment is one of the sources for the AI Overview results given for the AI Overview results quoted as Source #2

The tag " in African American reporter Charles M. Blow's text refers to Sarah Baartman. Here's an excerpt from a Wikipedia page about that South African woman:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Baartman
"Sarah Baartman c. 1789 – 29 December 1815) ... was a Khoekhoe woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus, a name that was later attributed to at least one other woman similarly exhibited.

[...]

"Venus" is sometimes used to designate representations of the female body in arts and cultural anthropology, referring to the Roman goddess of love and fertility. "Hottentot" was a Dutch-colonial era term for the indigenous Khoikhoi people of southwestern Africa, which then became commonly used in English, and was shortened to "hotnot" as an offensive term; the term "Hottentot" refers to the tribe, like the Zulu or Xhosa. The Sarah Baartman story has been called the epitome of racist colonial exploitation, and of the commodification and dehumanization of Southern African people.[3]"...
-snip-
A number of African Americans have compared Trump's objectifying Nicki Minaj to what happened to Sarah Baartman. For example, in an October 26, 2026 YouTube video entitled "Please Stop With This Nonsense | Nicki Minaj Is NOT The Modern Day Sara Baartman!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grrIuVXMBRc TabithaSpeaksPolitics strongly criticizes this comparison in large part because Sarah Baartman was a victim and Nicki Minaj is a willing participant.

With regard to my 2011/2026 post about the words "African booty" in children's rhymes, I regret that I didn't note that the reason that many Americans (and probably many people in some other nations outside of Africa) have been informally socialized to believe that all African women naturally have big butts is because of White racism. Examples of that racism was the horrendous treatment of South African Sarah Baartman and other women who had big, protruding butts and were objectified because of that in "freak shows" in England and elsewhere.

I believe that few Americans (especially American children) know the name "Sarah Baartman" and don't know the negative connotations that her body was/is associated with. I recognize that the children who are chanting recreational rhymes that include the words "African booty" are doing so as part of their fun, leisure activities. Nevertheless, because I believe that it's important for me to do so, I've added a reference to Sarah Baartman in those 2011 and 2026 posts along with the link to this post.

Rest in Peace and Power Sarah Baartman.

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Examples Of The African American Children's Recreation Rhyme "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children's Too / This Brown Girl is Gonna Boogie For You"

Uploaded by SafariCreations on May 22, 2009
-snip-
The Pointer Sister's performance of "Wang Dang Doodle" * is prefaced by their rendition of the African American children's rhyme "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Too". That rhyme includes the "Never went to college" verse that is also sometimes given as "Never went to 'Frisco (i.e. San Francisco, California.)

My transcription for the "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Too" rhyme is given as Example #1 below. The "Wang Dang Doodle" song begins at 1:32.

From http://ThePointers.DazMan.com
"Willie Dixon's Blues stomper "Wang Dang Doodle" became the second hit for the Pointers Sister in 1974. On the original 1973 recording they are backed by the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils."

****

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - June 16, 2026

This pancocojams post presents examples of the African American recreational rhyme "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Too (second line: "This brown girl gonna boogie for you").-

My speculation about sources for the "Never went to college" lines in these rhymes are also included in this post.

This post is largely a reprint of a 2012 pancocojams post with a very similar title. The only comment to that post-as of November 26, 2025 (besides my 'thank you' reply) is given as an Addendum to this 2025 post.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to The Pointer Sisters who are featured in this embedded video, and thanks to the publisher of that video on YouTube.

****
FEATURED EXAMPLES OF "LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN TOO"
[Presented in relative chronological order, except for Example #1]

Example #1 [sung as intro to the song “Wang Dang Doodle” performed by the Pointer Sisters without any backup instrumental music, and accompanied by the audience handclapping]

Thank you!
Here we go:

Walkin down the alley, alley, alley
Shakin your jally, jally, jally.
Swingin your partner, partner, partner.
LADIES, and gentlemen, children too
These brown babies gonna boogie for YOU.

[Do motions as indicated; For “boogie” & “cha cha cha”, wiggle your hips from side to side]

They gonna turn around,
And touch the ground
They gonna step back, and step back
And boogie on down.
Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Ah Cha cha cha cha.
To the front, to the back, to the side by side
To the front, to the back, to the side by side
To the front, to the back, to the side by side
I never went to college,
I never went to school
But when I came back
I was an educated fool.
HANDS UP!

[One of the performer's say "Come on! Join in. Ya’ll love it!"; Drum beat begins]

Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Ah Cha cha cha cha.

[increase tempo]

Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Ah Cha cha cha cha.

[tempo remains the same]

Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Cha cha cha cha.
Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Cha cha cha cha.

Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Cha cha cha cha.
[music begins for the song “Wang Dang Doodle]
Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Cha cha cha cha.

Hands up! Ah Cha cha Cha cha
Sam BOOM!
Cha cha cha cha.
-The Pointer Sisters: Wang Dang Doodle [1974

****
Example #2 (movement rhyme)

Ladies and gentlemen, children too
This brown girl
She gonna boogie for you
She gonna turn all around
She gonna wear her dresses up above her knees
She gonna shake her fanny just as much as she please.
I never went to college.
I never went to school.
But when it comes to boogie,
I can boogie like a fool.
You go in out, side to side.
You go in out, side to side.
-Barbara Ray (African American female), memory of childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s; collected in November 1996 & in August 2009 (second interview) by Azizi Powell

****
Example #3 (dramatized skit)

Fast forward to current time. The guys(yes boys) at campfires and Diocese-wide events here in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark (NJ) do a dance off to the following with one guy sitting down after each sing through. I'll check around, but I know it goes back to the mid 1990's

Seven little sisters
Like to boogie down
Like to turn around
Like to touch the ground
Like to wear their skirts above their knees
Now they've never been to college
And they've never been to school
But when it comes to dancin'
They can boogie like a fool.

Hands up, shake-shake, shake, shake
Hands down, shake-shake, shake, shake
To the front, to the back to the side, side, side
to the front, to the back, to the side, side, side

Six little sisters.....
-Tinker,
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101 "We Wear Our Hair In Curls" , August 23, 2009

-snip-
[continue counting down "five little sisters", "four little sisters" etc]

In another comment on that discussion thread, Tinker wrote that this camp (called "The Eagles Nest") in the Newark, New Jersey area was a racially/ethnically integrated summer experience for high academic achieving girls and boys. It appears to have been part of the camp's tradition that only the boys performed "Seven Little Sisters" for fun as part as a performance for the entire camp.

Tinker posted a query about this song on that camp's alumni page. Other posters remembered this song, and one remembered it having been sung by boys "in the 1960s". But neither Tinker nor anyone else knew where it came from.

My sense is that the title and lyrics "Seven Little Sisters" has nothing at all to do with the term "Seven Sisters" as used for either the astronomical constellation, the Greek mythology, the Hoodoo referent or any other referent. Instead, it seems to me that in that children's rhyme "seven little sisters" is just a way of counting down the number of "girls" who are performing that rhyme.

****
Example #4 (jump rope rhyme)

Ladies and gentlemen
Children too,
This young lady's
Going to boogie for you.

She's going to turn around. (Jumper turn around)
She's going to touch the ground. (Jumper touch ground)
She's going to shimmy, shimmy, shimmy (Jumper wiggles hips)
Till her drawers fall down.

She never went to college.
She never went to school.
But when she came back,
She was a nasty fool.
-Source: Knapp (1976), posted on http://www.mudcat.org/jumprope/jumprope_display_all.cfm

****
Example #5 (performance activity not given)

down down baby down by the rollercoaster
sweet sweet baby, I'll never let you go
shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rah!
shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rah!
I like candy, I like tea, I like a little boy
and he likes me.
so step off jack, your hands are black
your looking like a monkey on a rail road track
To the front to the back to the side by side
To the front to the back to the side by side,
Ladies and gentlemen children too
this old lady's gonna boogie for you
she's gonna turn around
touch the ground
boogie boogie boogie till her pants fall down!!!

this version i remember from when i was little..i loved it!!
-GUEST,guest..jenna; October 1, 2010 http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101 "We Wear Our Hair In Curls".

****
Example #6:
BOOGIE CHANT AND DANCE
Any number can be substituted for "three". Dancers do the actions suggested in the chant. They boogie* or clap on the "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha".

Ladies and gentlemen and children, too,
Here are three girls gonna boogie for you,
They're gonna turn all around,
They're gonna touch thee ground,
They're gonna shake their shoulders,
Till the sun goes down.
Hands up! Ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha.
Hands down! Ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha.
Got a penny, call Jack Benny. Ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha.
Got a nickel, buy a pickle. Ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha.
Got a dime, ain't it fine. Ha-ha, Ha-ha-ha.
-Margaret Taylor Burroughs, Did You Feed My Cow: Street Games, Chants, and Rhymes (Chicago, Follet Publishing Co., 1969, previously published in 1956; p. 67 [African American children, Chicago, Illinois]

****
Example #7 (chanted while playing jump rope)

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Children, too.
There’s a little white girl
Going looking for you.
Hands up, torch-a-torch.
Two years old, going on three.
Wear my dresses upon my knee.
Sister has a boyfriend,
Comes every night,
-Walks in the parlor
And turns out the lights.
Peep through the keyhole,
What did I see?
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny,
Put your arms around me.
Girls, girls, ready for a fight.
Here comes the girl with the skirt all tight.
She can wiggle, she can friggle,
She can do that stuff.
But I bet she can’t do this.

(Jumping while the rope is turned faster.)
- https://blog.phillyhistory.org/index.php/2017/08/some-jump-rope-songs-from-camingerly-ca-1959/ Some Jump Rope Songs from Camingerly, ca. 1959 By Ken Finkel, August 22, 2017

Ken Finkel shared several rhymes and cited these sources for those rhyme: [Sources: Roger D. Abrahams, “Some Jump-Rope Rimes from South Philadelphia,” Keystone Folklore Quarterly, Spring, 1963 and Roger D. Abrahams, Deep Down in the Jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1970,) 2nd edition.]

****
Example #8 (chanted while jumping rope)

Ladies and gentlemen
Children too
There’s a little white girl
Going looking for you
Hands up torch-a torch
Two years old going on three
Wears my dresses upon my knee
Sister had a boyfriend,
Comes in every night
__Walks to the parlor
And turns on the lights.
Peeps through the keyhole,
What do you see?
Johnny, Johnny,
Put your arms around me.

See also “My sister’s got a boyfriend” for this ending
- Source: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jump_rope_Rhymes/ [This link is no longer active on November 26, 2025].

Roger D Abrahams, KFQ, 8 (1963), 14-15, Pennsylvania (1959)
[ Roger D Abrahams (1969) Jump Rope Rhymes A Dictionary
University of Texas Press: Austin, TX.(1969), page,16-17

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITORIAL NOTES

I believe that the source for the lines:

"Never went to college
never went to school
but when it comes to boogie
I'm an educated fool"

[or similar lines] is this rhyme/song that is found in Dorothy Scarborough's On The Trail Of Negro Folk-Songs (Folklore Associates, Inc. edition, 1963, p. 71; originally published by Harvard University Press, 1925):

"Old Jesse was a gemman.
Among de olden times.

N****r never went to free school.
Nor any odder college,
An' all de white folks wonder whar
That n****r got his knowledge."...

-end of quote-
Editorial Notes:
This is not the same song as the African American secular slave song & old time banjo song [Here Comes]"Uncle Jesse".

In this post, the word "n****r" is the way I choose to write the pejorative referent for Black people which is now commonly known as "the n word".

"Gemman"="gentleman".

"Free schools" were the schools that were established for African Americans immediately after the end of the United States civil war. "Whar" ="Where".

"Boogie" = "dance".

There are many African American dance songs that include the word "boogie". Among those songs is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM3PuXDpKiA&feature=related "Boogie Chillun" by John Lee Hooker (1948).

****
ADDENDUM- COMMENT FROM A VISITOR TO THE 2012 PANCOCOJAMS POST ON THIS RHYME

AnonymousNovember 14, 2023 at 10:11 AM

"I grew up with: Ladies and gentlemen and children too, this little girl's gonna boogie for you. I'm gonna turn all around, I'm gonna touch the ground, I'm gonna back up and back up and boogie on down. I never went to college, I never went to school, but when it comes to boogie I'm an educated fool. Hands up, hands down. If you don't like my apple, don't shake my tree, if you don't like my man don't mess with me. Hey man, you can't talk, I can turn my back and do the camel walk. (moon walk here) Go to retouch to touch to touch to touch, go to retouch to touch to touch to touch."

****
Thank for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

Saturday, April 12, 2025

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.

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Examples Of "U-G-L-Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi)" Taunting Rhymes/Cheers Before 2000

Ebola Entertainment, July 27, 2009

The best Cheerleaders on earth are from the movie "Wildcats" starring Goldie Hawn. They are my heroes.

**** Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision- September 29, 2026 This pancocojams post documents some remembrances and examples of the children's taunting rhyme "U-G-L-Y (You ain't got no alibi)" before the year 2000.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to unknown composers of these cheers and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube and thanks to all those who are featured in that video.

**** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE "U-G-L-Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi)" is a children's taunting rhyme/cheer. This rhyme/cheer is probably of African American origin, based on its wording and its close similarity to other African American taunting customs such as "the dozens"/Yo Mama" taunts, including the children's rhyme "Yo Mamas Don't Wear No Drawers."

The earliest dates that I have come across for this rhyme/cheer are the 1970s". However, it's possible that "U-G-L-Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi)" is older than that.

Please add to the historical and folkloric records by sharing remembrances and examples of "U-G-L-Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi)" before the year 2000 in the comment section of this pancocojams post. Thanks!

**** SELECTED COMMENTS/EXAMPLES The sources for these comments and/or examples are numbered for referencing purposes only.

With the exception of the version of "U-G-L-Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi)" from the Wildcats movie, the comments/examples for this taunting rhyme/cheer that are cited in this pancocojams post are given in relative chronological order (with the earliest date remembrances/examples presented first).

The dates and the geographical location, if cited, are given in bold in that comment, or the date is written in bold in the entry for a YouTube video.

Note: These examples are usually known as "U-G-L-Y" and those letters are chanted in the beginning of this rhyme/cheer and in other iterations of that verse. Additional verses for this rhyme/cheer begin with spelled out words (such as "M-O-M-M-A" or "D-A-D-D-Y' which are also chanted.

SOURCE #1 Lyrics for the version of 'U.G.L.Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi) from Wildcat (1986 Movie)

[Video on the top of this pancocojams post.]

[Central High School Cheerleaders]

"U-G-L-Y No, you ain't got no alibi You ugly Hey, Hey You ugly.

M-A-M-A How you think you got that way Yo Momma Hey Hey Your momma [in another clip of the cheerleaders performing this cheer]

"You Oogly! Yo mama said you Oogly!" -snip- "Oogly" is a rarely used, made up form of the word "ugly". "Oogly" means 'very ugly".

**** SOURCE #2 From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350&messages=262&page=2

Subject: RE: I'm Rubber. You're Glue: Children's Rhymes From: GUEST, Spain Date: 30 May 06

"Teaching English is Spain and my students love these types of rhymes the best. Originally from Boston surprised not to see:

U - G - L - Y You ain't got no alibi you're ugly that's right you're ugly

There is a second phrase about "your momma", but I don't remember it."

-snip- Here's a second comment from Guest, Spain about this same rhyme/cheer.

from https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=81350&messages=262&page=3

Subject: RE: I'm Rubber. You're Glue: Children's Rhymes From: GUEST, Spain Date: 30 May 06

"I heard the "ugly" chant in Boston in various summer camps in the late 70s. I've always assumed its even older than that. There was also the street Rockin Robin that I heard/played in the same

camps."... -snip- Guest Spain wrote this in response to my question asking for demographic information. That comment continued with the words to an example of children's rhyme "Rockin Robin", also known as "Tweeleelee" or similar titles.

**** SOURCE #3 From https://www.reddit.com/r/answers/comments/3scway/ugly_you_aint_got_no_alibi_what_is_the_origin_of/ "U.G.L.Y. You Ain't Got No Alibi!!! What is the Origin of this Phrase!?"

[Pancocojams Editor: Alphabetical numbers preface these comments for referencing purposes only, and the source for the comment with the earliest date for this taunting rhyme/cheer is given first.]

a) Moldycoolwhip, 2021 "I know this is an old thread but when the movie Bring It on came out and my mom heard them using this chant she was shocked. According to her, she and her cheering squad came up with it in middle school (1979 ish). She sang the chant and several other verses with it that I had never heard. So if she is correct it originated in Indianapolis, IN in the late 70’s." -snip- A very brief instrumental version of "U-G-L-Y "You ain't got no alibi)" is heard as background to two cheerleading teams doing their routines in the 2000 movie Bring It On.

** b) LatteLocoMafia, 2021 “This was being used at high school football amd basketball games in Connecticut back in the early 80’s. At least 5 or 6 years prior to the movie." -snip- "The movie" refers to the 1986 Wildcat movie.

** c) Eringosomewhere, 2016 "M-A-M-A I know how you got that way yo mama, yeah yeah yo mama. This was our answer to that cheer when I cheered in the mid 80's early 90's" **** SOURCE #4

From https://littlehead-dh3.angelfire.com/hymnal/words/yougly.htm Created: 2004 October 16 Modified: 2004 October 26; 2005 October 2; November 11, 24; 2006 January 28; 2009, October 14: 2010 February 24 Author: Jeff "Little Head" Hutchinson

"Yo' Momma Says Yo' Ugly!

Tune: None

Feet down! Ass up! That's the way we like to ___* Yo' mama, yo' mama. Yo' mama says you ugly.

U-G-L-Y You ain't got no alibi Yo' ugly, yo' ugly. Yo' mama says you ugly.

1-2-3-4 I can't look at you no more Yo' ugly, yo' ugly. Yo' mama says you ugly.

5-6-7-8 I can't even concentrate

Yo' ugly, yo' ugly. Yo' mama says you ugly.

D-A-DD-Y You don't even know that guy. Yo' ugly, yo' ugly. Yo' daddy says you ugly

U-N-CL-E He is really your daddy

Yo' uncle, yo' uncle,

Yo' uncle is yo' daddy

CO-U-SI-N

That's who you'll be marryin'

Yo' cousin, yo' cousin,

Yo' cousin says you ugly

IN-B-RE-D That's what your kids'll be

Yo'r inbred, yo'r inbred,

Yo'r kids all say you ugly

Drink it down, down, down, down

I learned this cheer at the 2004 Colorado InviHASHional atWinter Pork. Several people have told me that this cheer (or some reasonable facsimile) was in the movies Wildcats (1986) and Bring It On (2000). However, it's not original in either. Magically Delicious tells me that she heard this from her high school's cheerleaders in Alabama in the late ‘70's.

Poopa Trooper taught me the sixth verse in September 2005.

And Just Mars taught us the third and fourth verses at a Hash in January 2006. I put them in this particular order. -snip- *The curse word f--k was fully spelled out in that example.

**** SOURCE #5 From https://genius.com/Fishbone-ugly-lyrics

Also, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcjV8UzSoY for a sound file of this 1985 Ska/Rock record.

[...]

"[Chorus]

U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ugly Cross my heart, hope to die Stick a needle in my eye, you're just ugly U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ugly U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ug-ugly, ugly! U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ugly

U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ugly U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ugly U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you're just ug-ugly ugly!"

-snip- The mostly African American Ska, Rock, R&B musical group Fishbone released the earliest recording of "U-G-L-Y You ain't got no alibi" in 1985. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishbone for information about Fishbone.

**** SOURCE #6 From - Janell H (African American woman), from her memories of high school cheerleader cheers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid to late 1980s; collected by Azizi Powell in 2003

"U-G-L-Y You ain’t got no alibi You're ugly What? What? You’re ugly.

M-O-M-M-A That is how you got that way Your Momma Yeah yeah Your Momma"

**** Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Saturday, June 3, 2023

The "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" Rhyme WASN'T Originally A Children's Chant During United States Slavery That Had The Words "I Don't Want To Go To Master's Door"

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision July 13, 2025

This pancocojams post debunks the idea that the children's rhyme "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" was originally a "corn ditty" that began with the words "I don't want to go to master's door".

The Black women who are sharing those statements also indicate that that particular children's rhyme and its accompanying movements was/is a protective spell against sexual assault.

My position is that all of this is fakelore, meaning none of it is true.

This pancocojams post repeats information that I published in a 2017 pancocojams post entitled "The REAL Origin Of "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" Rhymes (also known as "Shame" & "Shame Shame Shame") " https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-real-origin-of-i-dont-to-go-to.html

This post also includes selected comments from two Tik Tok posts and from one lipstickalley.com discussion thread about this form of the children's rhyme that is most widely known as "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico".

****

The content of the this post is presented for folkloric, and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

****
THE REAL ORIGIN OF THE CHILDREN'S RHYME " I DON'T WANT TO GO TO MEXICO"
From http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/nyregion/fyi-323470.html?mcubz=0 "F.Y.I" by DANIEL B. SCHNEIDER, MARCH 11, 2001
..." Q. Children in New York used to chant a clapping song, almost like a nursery rhyme, about not wanting to go to Macy's. How did it go?

A. Like this:

Oh, I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more
There's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door
He'll pull you by the collar
And make you pay a dollar
Oh, I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more.

The authorship is obscure, but the rhyme was popular by the turn of the 20th century, and might have been associated with an incident that occurred when the modern department store was still in its infancy.

On Dec. 24, 1870, Elizabeth B. Phelps, a suffragist and woman of no small renown, was accused of petty thievery while shopping at Macy's, then at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. At issue was a box of bonbons that Mrs. Phelps dropped on the floor that day. Margaret Grotty, a salesgirl, asserted that Mrs. Phelps was trying to steal it, while she insisted that it had fallen as she was trying to extract payment from her coin purse while juggling her packages. The store detective was summoned.

Mrs. Phelps's arrest was exhaustively covered by the popular press, and it turned out that several other well-to-do women had been detained at Macy's the same day, for other and seemingly innocent lapses in protocol. A judge threw Mrs. Phelps's case out of court, and Macy's was left to struggle with the perception that, whether due to class animosity or confusion over department store etiquette, innocent shoppers were routinely harassed. Though picket lines and boycotts were planned, they never materialized. The rhyme, whatever its origins, survived well into the 1950's."
-snip-
This article indicates that the "I Won't Go To Macy's" rhyme was popular by the turn of the 20th century. However, the first published example of this rhyme wasn't until 1938. Here's one citation for that information:
From http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/i_wont_go_to_macys_any_more_more_more_jump_rope_jingle_1938 “I Won’t Go To Macy’s Any More, More More” (Jump-rope jingle, 1938) by Barry Popik, from January 27, 2005
"This New York "jump rope jingle" involves Macy's. It's also in the book Rimbles: A book of children's classic games, rhymes, songs, and sayings (1955, 1956, 1960, 1961) by Patricia Evans, pg. 30.

10 May 1938, New Masses, section two, pg. 109:
I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more!
I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more!
There's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door!
He will squeeze me like a lemon.
A chalachke zol em nehmen.*
I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more!"
-snip-
* I don't know what those non-English words mean.
-snip-
“Macy’s” is the name of a chain of department stores. The most famous Macy's store is located in New York City.

My theory is that these children substituted "Mexico" for "Macys" since they weren't familiar with the "Macy's" store or the word “Macy’s”. This is an example of “folk etymology” (folk processing). "Folk etymology" occurs when people change foreign words or unfamiliar words into familiar words or sounds that are similar to the word they don’t know.

I'm not sure whether "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" originated with African Americans. (The earliest published examples in the 2017 REAL Origins Of "I Don't Want To Got To Mexico" pancocojams post, including the 1938 example with its non-English [Yiddish?] words aren't from African Americans). However, examples of "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" rhyme appear to have been widely known among African American girls since at least the 1990s by the title "Shame Shame Shame".That title comes from the introductory words "Shame Shame Shame" that are said before the rhyme's hand clapping pattern and the words for that rhyme actually began. The word "Shame!" is also usually said at the end of many examples of "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico". In the context of these rhymes, "Shame" means "Aren't you ashamed?" or "You should be ashamed".

Unlike some other recreational rhymes, there are LOTS of different versions of "Shame Shame Shame"/""I Don't Want To Go To Mexico". Some of those versions are known by the titles "I Don't Want To Go To College" and "I Don't Want To Go To Hollywood". Those rhymes may also begin with the "Shame Shame Shame" introductory words (and may also end with the word "Shame!". Some examples of this large family of rhymes substitute the reference to "policeman". Instead of "a big fat policeman at the door", some rhymes refer to "a big fat Michal Jackson at the door" and instead of the policeman standing by the door, he pees on the floor.

It's not surprising that a new theory about this rhyme has occurred given that few people are unfamiliar with the earliest examples of this rhyme that include the word "Macy's", given the problematic nature of the word "Mexico" in this rhyme, and given the extensive folk processing in this rhyme since its beginning.

However, I believe that this new interpretation of this children's rhyme is concerning because of that interpretation's historical and present day racial implications.

Read the sections below to learn more about this recently promulgated, sometimes convoluted statements about the "I Don't Want To Go To Master's Door" form of what is most widely known as "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico" rhymes.

****
"i DON'T WANT TO GO TO MASTER'S DOOR" RHYME THEORY - EXCERPT #1
From https://www.tiktok.com/@13versionsof1me2.0/video/7221143818098298158?_r=1&_t=8bYgeb9CKkd [This Tik Tok channel showcases a young Black woman chanting "I Don't Want To Go To Master's Door" with same tune, the same tempo, and most of the same words as "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico".]

[These comments were posted April 2023]

Transcript:

ReneeonTikTok