What "Ball The Jack" And Other Vernacular Sayings Mean In The Song "Sometimes" That Moby Sampled For His Tune "Honey"

Bessie Jones - Topic, Nov 7, 2014

Provided to YouTube by Rhino Atlantic

Sometimes · Bessie Jones

Sounds Of The South [album]

The Alan Lomax collection album Sounds of the South was first released on vinyl in 1960 by Atlantic Records (catalog number 1346).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Y-6kmFtsg

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Edited by Azizi Powell

[This is a complete reprint of an updated version of a pancocojams post that was originally published in 2025. 

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/06/bessie-jones-group-way-down-yonder.html

That post is still found in this pancocojams blog with one comment from me in which I share that the ring game "Sometimes" as described by Bessie Jones reminds me a of the contemporary circle game "Little Sally Walker, Walking Down The Street".]

This pancocojams post is divided into two parts.

Part I presents the lyrics and movements for the song "Sometimes" as it is presented as a children's game song in the book Step It Down by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes.

Part II also presents explanations for some of the lyrics in that song.

Part II presents information/examples  about call & response songs/rhymes with one of three types of responses: fixed responses, echo responses, or changing responses. The song "Sometimes" is an example of a composition with a fixed response.  

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

Thanks to the unknown composer of this song and thanks to Bessie Jones and the other singers in this recording for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.

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PART I

LYRICS - "SOMETIMES"
(as sung by Bessie Jones)

Online source- https://genius.com/Bessie-jones-sometimes-lyrics 

Way down yonder, 

Sometimes
Below the log, 

Sometimes
Bullfrog marry, 

Sometimes
His mother-in-law, 

Sometimes
Now let’s get on the board, 

Sometimes
I’m going to ball that Jack, 

Sometimes
Until my honey comes home, 

Sometimes
I want to rear back jack,

Sometimes
And get a hump in my back, 

Sometimes
I’m going over here, 

Sometimes
Going get my pal, 

Sometimes

X2

-snip-
(About this song from that same genius.com page)

"This song is by Bessie Jones & Group and is sung acapella. It appears on the compilation Southern Folk Heritage Series Recorded in the Field by Alan Lomax (1960.) On an expedition to record and preserve folk songs and musical traditions in various areas, Lomax recorded Jones’s song in Georgia. When the boxset of Lomax’s recordings was reissued in 2003, this was called “a game song for children in the Georgia Sea Islands” about “an account of the doings of magical animals and the courtship feats of human beings is continually punctuated by the chorus’s sardonic refrain ‘Sometimes.’ The tune, when sung and clapped with strong rhythm, will give you an idea of how interesting only four notes can be.”

The song was prominently sampled in “Honey” by Moby, the lead single from his 1999 album Play.

Moby’s “Honey” was also featured in the 2003 American film Holes soundtrack."

-snip-
The song "Sometimes" is presented as a children's ring play (a singing game) in the 1972 book of African American (Gullah) children's songs and ring plays entitled Step It Down. 

Page 101 of that book includes a musical score and this statement:
"New words and new music adaptation by Bessie Jones, collected and edited with additional new material by Alan Lomax TRO @copyright 1972 Ludlow Music Inc, New York, N. Y used with permission."

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LYRICS AND PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES FOR THE SONG "SOMETIMES"
from the book Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs & Stories from the Afro-American Heritage, edited by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes (published 1972, page 100-101)*

"In this ring play, an account of the doings of magical animals and the courtship feats of human beings is continually punctured by the performers' sardonic remark "Sometimes". The tune, when sung and slapped with strong rhythm, will give you an idea of how interesting only four notes can be.

FORM: Ring [circle] of players, not holding hands, one center player.

Lead Voice                           Chorus Voice      Action 

Way down yonder                Sometimes          Center player walks (struts) around the ring

Below the log                       Sometimes                      

Wild geese are holl'ring.      Sometimes 

Ganders trot,                       Sometimes

Bullfrog marry,                     Sometimes

His mother-in-law,               Sometimes.

Now let's get on board,       Sometimes             Center player stands in front of a chosen                                                                                     partner      

I'm going to ball that jack,   Sometimes             Center player balls the jack **

Until my honey comes back, Sometimes           

I want to rear back, Jack,     Sometimes           Center player (and partner) lean back

And get a hump in my back, Sometimes          Center player (and partner) hunch shoulders 

I'm going over here,              Sometimes          Center player takes partner's hand and turns                                                                                her into center of the circle, 

Goin' to get my pal.               Sometimes          taking her place in the ring. Play continues
                                                                          with the new center person"                                         

Source: 
*Page 101 of the 1972 book "Step It Down" by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes.

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EXPLANATIONS FOR SOME OF THESE LYRICS

"Way down yonder" = This is a (Southern) African American originated Vernacular English phrase that means something like "a place that is far away from here". 

**
Below the log = in the farmyard [below (or beyond) the house or the house's porch]  [?]

**
Ganders trot = male goose walking around

**
"Bullfrog marrying his mother-in-law" is a reference to the 16th century English folk song "Frog Went A Courting". 

**
"Now let's get on board" -These words indicates a new phase of this ring (circle) game in which the center person stands in front of a person who she or he dances in front of (and that person also performs the same dances.) That person eventually becomes the new center person

**
"ball the jack" is the name of an African American social dance that was first popularized in 1912 or 1913. Here's information about the term "balling the jack" from https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2012/08/the-language-blues-balling-the-jack/  "The Language of the Blues: Balling The Jack" by Debra DeviAugust 17, 2012

"Back when steam-driven locomotives criss-crossed the land, when a conductor got a train cranked up to top speed, he was said to be balling the jack. As in “they were balling the jack at the time of the wreck.”

The train was the jack–short for “the jackass carrying the load.” To “ball” meant to go flat out, and came from the railman’s balled-up fist – his signal to the crew to pour on the coal and speed up.

By the 1920s, the expression “balling the jack” had leapt from the rail yards into the popular lexicon as an expression for any wild, all-out effort–from dancing to sex to, for gamblers, risking everything on a single toss of the dice. Shortened to “balling,” it came to mean having a wild time in and out of bed.

The phrase was given a push by the Balling the Jack fad, which reportedly began as a sexy juke joint dance involving plenty of bumping and grinding. It evolved into a group dance “involving vigorous hand clapping and chanting or singing,” according to From Juba to Jive, by Clarence Major.

A variation was performed in 1913 at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem in a play called “The Darktown Follies”. Theatrical producer Florence Ziegfeld caught the play and liked the dance so much that he bought the rights to it for his Follies of 1913. Chris Smith (music) and James Henry Burris (lyrics) wrote “Balling the Jack” for the Follies based on the African American ragtime tune.

The Balling the Jack craze swept white America, eventually getting mixed in with the Lindy Hop to become a popular swing step. Judy Garland and Gene Kelly performed the Smith/Burris version of “Balling the Jack” in the 1942 film, Me and My Gal."...

**
Here's a description of "Ball the Jack" (from Step It Down, pages 44-45)
[The dancer] "Hold[s] the legs together from foot to hip, rotate the knees in a circle, this obviously rotates the hips also; Mrs. Jones seemed to feel this was mildly improper for small children-the  sort of thing that you should tell them not to do, but you know they are going to do it anyway."
-snip-
end of quotes

[return to explanation of lyrics]

Rear back, Jack" - refers to how the person dances: to suddenly lean back;  [In the context of those lyrics, the name "Jack"  is used as a general referent for a male or a female.]

"Get a hump in my back' - refers to how the person dances: dancer bends his or her back which means their butt protrudes [This was/is considered "dancing nasty" and is the same as or very similar to the dance move that is now called "twerking".]  

**
The rest of these lyrics are explained in the directions quote from that Step it Down book.

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PART II. 

WHAT DOES "CALL & RESPONSE" MEAN IN SONGS & CHANTS?
From https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/call-and-response-music "What Is Call & Response Music?"
"In music, a call and response is a series of two parts usually played or sung by different musicians. The second part is heard as a comment about or an answer to what the first has sung."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THREE TYPES OF CALL & RESPONSE SONGS & CHANTS 
Here's information about three types of call & response patterns based on the nature of the responses:

1. "Echo" responses (usually referred to as "Echo songs")  
In echo songs, the leader (caller) sings or says a passage (a word, phrase, or a short line and the group responds by exactly repeating (echoing) what the leader sang or said (with the same tune , tempo, and inflections i.e. They sing or say the same way the leader sang or said it.)

A familiar example of an echo children's song is "Row Row Row Your Boat".

An example of a R&B song that includes an echo portion is is James Brown's R&B hit song "Say It Loud-I'm Black And I'm Proud". In some portions of that song James Brown (the lead/the caller) commands the group to "Say It Loud" and the group always sings (responds with) the words "I'm Black And I'm Proud". 

**
2. Fixed (unchanged) responses
In fixed (unchanged) responses, the leader (call) changes, but the group (response) remains the same throughout the entire song or throughout a portion of the song (In another portion of the song, the group (response) may sing or chant another passage (word or phrase) that then remains fixed (unchanged) for a time or for the rest of the song.

The song "Sometimes". is an example of a song in which the leader changes what she or he sings or says, but the group's response remains fixed (unchanged). 

**
3. Changed responses
In some songs and chants that include call & response or entirely consist of call & response, the  responses change and the call may also change.

Here's an example of an American military cadence in which the calls change and their responses change : 
from https://www.bbcmaestro.com/blog/what-is-call-and-response-in-music
" The traditional army chant “My Granny” uses a call-and-response structure:

Call: “When my granny was 91”
Response: “She did PT just for fun.”

Call: “When my granny was 92”
Response: “She did PT better than you.”

Call: “When my granny was 93”
Response: “She did PT better than me"

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Ella Jenkins - Children's Songs "Who Fed The Chickens" And "Did You Feed My Cow?"

Smithsonian Folkways, Dec 5, 2012

Watch Ella Jenkins' performance of "Who Fed the Chickens?" from the Ella Jenkins Live at the Smithsonian DVD. Recorded with children from the Smithsonian Institution Early Enrichment Center, Ella made this video so kids at home could also participate. This song is included on her Smithsonian Folkways album 'Get Moving with Ella Jenkins.'...

All songs written or arranged by Ella Jenkins/Ell-Bern Publishing Co., ASCAP
-snip-
-snip-
This isn't the first release date for this record.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of  Ella Jenkins teaching the song "Who Fed The Chickens?" to a group of young children. This post also showcases a sound file of adults singing the song "Did You Feed My Cow?", a traditional African American song that  was arranged and popularized by Ella Jenkins.

In addition, this pancocojams post includes information about Ella Jenkins from her Wikipedia page and from an online tribute article about remarkable accomplishments to children's music.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.  

Thanks to Ella Jenkins for her music and thanks to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/jambo-ella-jenkins-lyric-sound-file.html for a 2012 pancocojams post entitled "Jambo" - Ella Jenkins (Lyrics, Sound File, & Video).
-snip-
This post on Ella Jenkins is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that showcases African American performing artists whose last names are included on the United States Census (2010) list of  most common Black American surnames.

For the purpose of this series, I'm usually limiting these posts to African American performing artists with a last name that is listed as one of the top 100 most common Black surnames in the United States.

For example, the United States Census (2010) documents that "Jenkins" is the #44th most common surname (last name) among Black people in the United States. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-fifty-most-common-black-last-names.html for the pancocojams post entitled "The Fifty Most Common Black Last Names In The United States And The List Of Fifty Most Common White Last Names In The United States (US Census 2010)".

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SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLE #2

Ella Jenkins - Topic, May 21, 2015

Provided to YouTube by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Did You Feed My Cow? · Ella Jenkins

African-American Folk Rhythms

℗ 1998 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Released on: 1998-10-20
-snip-
This isn't the first release date for this record.

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INFORMATION ABOUT ELLA JENKINS
Excerpt #1
From  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Jenkins
"Ella Jenkins (born August 6, 1924) is an American singer-songwriter. Called "The First Lady of the Children's Folk Song", she has been a leading performer of folk and children's music.[1][2] Her album,

Multicultural Children's Songs (1995), has long been the most popular Smithsonian Folkways release. She has appeared on numerous children's television programs and in 2004, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[3][4] According to culture writer Mark Guarino, "across her 67-year career, Jenkins firmly established the genre of children’s music as a serious endeavor — not just for artists to pursue but also for the recording industry to embrace and promote."[5]

Family and personal life

Jenkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in predominantly lower-middle-class neighborhoods in the south side of Chicago. Although she received no formal musical training, she benefited from her rich musical surroundings. Her uncle Floyd Johnson introduced her to the harmonica and the blues of such renowned musicians as T-Bone Walker, Memphis Slim and Big Bill Broonzy. Her family frequently moved around the south side and, as she moved to different neighborhoods, she learned new children's rhythms, rhymes and games.[6] Gospel music became a part of her soundscape as neighborhood churches broadcast their services onto the street.[1] She also enjoyed tap dancing lessons at the local theater and was able to go to the Regal Theater to see such performers as Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Peg Leg Bates. Cab Calloway is the person who she credits with getting her interested in call and response singing.[7] While attending Woodrow Wilson Junior College, she became interested in the music of other cultures through her Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican friends.[6] In 1951, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with minors in Child Psychology and Recreation from San Francisco State University.[1] Here, she picked up songs of the Jewish culture from her roommates. Upon graduating, she returned to Chicago where she began her career."...

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-center-folklife-cultural-heritage/2024/08/06/a-century-of-ella-jenkins-tributes-to-the-first-lady-of-childrens-music/ "A Century of Ella Jenkins: Tributes to the First Lady of Children’s Music"

Over her decades-long career as a beloved musical educator, Ella Jenkins has encouraged children to use participation and individual creativity to sing and learn together. Across forty albums, the “First Lady of Children’s Music” introduced the African American call-and-response form to an enormous audience of eager listeners and taught kids to sing, dance, count, share cultures and traditions, and play musical instruments of all kinds.

A GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award winner, she brought her music to the international stage, from our own Smithsonian Folklife Festival to Sesame Street, Barney and Friends, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Each of Ella’s albums is a monument to her legacy of fostering compassion and mutual understanding through music.
[...]

A Foundation of Folkways

The day Ella Jenkins brought a demo of herself singing a children’s song to Moses Asch in 1956 was important for her future and for Folkways Records. The label had always had children’s music as a major part of its catalog, but she became one of their bestselling artist for decades to come.  Ella’s sales made it possible for Asch to create a wide-ranging catalog of albums including tribal music and science sounds, which otherwise would not have supported themselves.

[...]

She went to San Francisco State University and studied sociology, child psychology, and recreation. She got a job at the YMCA in the 1950s singing with teens and creating programs that incorporated world music. She has always been good at getting children to sing along—frequently to call-and-response songs. These talents led her to host the Chicago public television show This Is Rhythm. The theme of rhythm was central to her programs and later work. By the time she went to see Asch at Folkways, she had decided to devote her life to music.

[...]

The first thing the Smithsonian did after acquiring Folkways in 1987 was make sure all of Ella’s records were in print. As soon as the compact disc appeared, Smithsonian Folkways created about forty titles in the format; roughly half were Ella’s."...
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The Easter Rock Tradition (a very old Louisiana Black American religious ritual) videos & information

National Endowment for the Arts, Nov 18, 2021

This tribute to Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble was released in November 2021 as part of “The Culture of America: A Cross-Country Visit with the 2021 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows.
-snip-
Here are two comments from this video's discussion thread:
1. @KyndraJoi, 2022
"This is very similar to the ring shout of us, the Gullah Geechee from the Carolina's.  This is just a reminder that we are one."

**
2. @susankenny8209, 2022
"Wow! What a blessing. I’m from south Louisiana and never knew about this tradition.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases two videos of the Winnsboro (Louisiana) Easter Rock Ensemble and presents information about that very old Black American tradition.

This post also includes brief information about the Jamaican revivalist tradition of "thanksgiving tables" that reminded me of the Winnsboro Easter Rock tradition.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, religious, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble for continuing this tradition and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the producers and publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/folkloric-article-excerpt-about-easter.html for Part I of a two part 2019 pancocojams series on the Winnsboro Easter Rock tradition. That post is entitled "Folkloric Article Excerpt About Easter Rock Ceremonies, A Little Known & Seldom Performed African American Religious Tradition In Louisiana (USA)".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/video-examples-of-winnsboro-easter-rock.html for Part II of that 2019 pancocojams series for a post entitled "Four Video Examples Of Winnsboro Easter Rock ceremonies (A little known African American religious tradition)."

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT JAMAICA REVIVALISM'S THANKSGIVING TABLES
I happened upon some videos of Easter Rock while "surfing YouTube" for African American Easter celebrations and I realized that they reminded me of YouTube videos I had watched about Jamaican Revivalism "thanksgiving tables"*. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/general-information-about-jamaicas.html for a pancocojams post about Jamaican Revivalism "thanksgiving tables". 

*Jamaican Revivalism's "thanksgiving tables" aren't associated in any way to the annual Thanksgiving holiday that is celebrated in the United States and elsewhere.

Here's a short video of singing and moving around a Jamaican Revivalism Thanksgiving Table:

Babsy Grange at #Revival Table in Tawes Pen

Andre Grange, Feb 21, 2013

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DISCLAIMER
I don't know if there is any connection between Winnsboro Easter Rock ceremonies and Jamaican Revivalism's thanksgiving tables or any other aspect of Jamaican Revivalism. If any folklorists have considered this possibility, I'd love to know about their research.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE EASTER ROCK TRADITION
Online excerpt #1
From https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/winnsboro-easter-rock-ensemble
" Bio

The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble, under the direction of Hattie Addison Burkhalter, maintains a rare women-led African American traditional spiritual ritual, rooted in both Christian worship and West African ring shout tradition. Documented only in the Northeast Louisiana Delta region and first practiced by enslaved Africans during the antebellum period, Easter Rock was held from Lake Providence to Ferriday, Louisiana, typically in the Baptist church. Today, this Franklin Parish group appears to be the last practitioners of this once thriving tradition.

Easter Rock, held on Easter Eve to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, offers a visual, musical, culinary, and spiritual feast, filled with Christian and West African symbolism. The lighted lamps in the darkened sanctuary create an otherworldly, hypnotic atmosphere as the streamers of the banner representing Christ’s cross sweep back and forth around the white table representing Christ’s sepulcher. Moving counter-clockwise around the table, the Easter Rockers sing spirituals accompanied by the syncopated beat of their feet hitting the wooden floor of the Delta plantation church, echoing their ancestral drums and call-and-response improvisational singing."...

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Online Excerpt #2
From http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/easterrock.html " "Everyone Rockin' Together: Continuity and Creativity In The Louisiana Delta Easter Rock" by Susan Roach (no publishing date cited, the latest year mentioned is 2013)

In Memory of Ellen Addison

"One of the most spectacular folk traditions documented for the Delta Folklife Project, Easter Rock, an Easter eve vigil ceremony, commemorates the death and resurrection of Christ.2 Easter Rock belongs to the category of traditional events called "rocks" associated with the old plantation churches (usually Baptist) in the Mississippi Delta floodplain of north Louisiana and has much in common with other African American religious ring shout traditions, according to Janet Sturman (1993: 24) and Joyce Jackson (2006).3 While the tradition is said to reach back to the antebellum period in Louisiana, today only one group appears to be continuing this Louisiana Delta tradition: the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble, as the group named itself for performances of the tradition in state and national folklife festivals. Various factors including modernity, losses of group members and performance venues, and the effects of public presentation have threatened the continuity of the Winnsboro Easter Rock's performance of the tradition, but the group's creative responses have maintained the tradition and heightened its visibility in the Winnsboro community and beyond. A look at the Winnsboro Easter Rock service and public performances, including the context, the participants, and the sequence of acts and how these have developed over the past eighteen years, will shed light on the continuity and creativity in the tradition.

Easter Rock History and Scholarly Documentation
The contemporary Winnsboro Easter Rock is surprisingly similar to the early rocks described by scholars. Easter Rock's origins are not clear, and scholarship is scanty, with only three major scholarly articles devoted to the subject and one more article including it among several other Africanisms. The first scholarly publication by Mariana and Lea Seale in the Journal of American Folklore (1942) notes that participants remember the tradition as pre-dating the Civil War; therefore, the ritual probably has its origins in the customs of enslaved Africans.4 The Seales' observed three Easter Rock services: two at St. John the Baptist Church, at Dunbarton Plantation, near Clayton in Concordia Parish and another at the Baptist Church on Lemarque Plantation, next to Dunbarton. In the 1942 description, the rocks began with brief testimonial service (called a "cul'n" for covenant), which could be similar to the contemporary service's "devotional," followed by musical performances and an offering (Seale and Seale 1942: 212). Then the pews were turned to face the middle aisle, and a table with a white cloth was placed in the aisle. Interestingly, the Seales' description of the opening of the rock itself prefigures the Winnsboro rock held in the 21st century:

Precisely, at midnight by the deacon's watch, the deacon orders the congregation to "come quiet." Shortly thereafter, the voices of many women and a single man rise in the song, "When the Sancts [sic] Go Marchin' In," and a procession moves into the church through a door at the rear.

At the head of the procession is a Negro man carrying what is called "the banner." The banner is a barrel hoop attached to one end of a six-foot stick. The hoop has, stretched across its area in drumhead fashion, a covering of white crepe paper, and to its circumference is attached tasseled crepe of various bright colors. (1942: 213)

In many ways, the event as described by the Seales is similar to the Easter Rocks documented by subsequent scholars. In 1956, folklorist/musicologist Harry Oster recorded Easter Rock at one of the same churches. Evidently, Easter Rock occurred as far north as Lake Providence and south as Ferriday, according to anthropologist H .F. Gregory, who in 1962 recounted the typical rocks he witnessed growing up in Ferriday. He writes that the basic form of the rock was "exactly the same," from the "Primitive African Baptist Church near Waterproof . . . to the Pittsfield Plantation Church near Ferriday" (1962:18). However, instead of the 12 women bearing 12 lamps and 12 cakes noted by the Seales, these rocks featured 7 women carrying 7 lamps, and 7 cakes. While the Seales had found elders who recalled the symbolism of the objects, Gregory did not find explanations of the symbols (1962:18). From the 1960s until the 1990s, no documentation appears to have been done; however, at Gregory's suggestion, ethnomusicologist Janet Sturman located and documented the ceremony at the Springfield Baptist Church, also in Clayton in 1991.

According to organizer Martha Daniels' presentation for that 1991 Easter Rock, church records at the Springfield Baptist Church in Clayton, show that the church mothers of the St. Paul Baptist Church in Wisner held Easter Rock in 1930, when one of the Springfield Baptist Church deacons saw the ritual and decided to bring it to the Clayton church in 1932 (Sturman 1993: 26-27). Martha Daniels relates that Easter Rock was held sporadically there until the 1990s when the wood structure church was replaced with a brick one.

[...]

Before Lionel Wilson moved to Georgia, he often served as the spokesperson on narrative stages. His presentations sometimes included information that was undoubtedly learned from the presenters. For example, in 2003 Wilson uses the scholarly term "Call and Response" (a term I had used initially) to describe the performance of the "Oh, David" spiritual and to explain the symbolism of ritual and its circular banner:

The Easter Rock is a call and response. You have a caller who will call out to the crowd and to the other rockers and they will respond. In the rock today you will notice that there will be a song that will be sang and it is a call and response. It is a song of David who was the victor over the giant Goliath and so therefore since David was a victor we sang a song of victory because Jesus Christ had victory over the grave on the third day morning and that's why we rock to a risen savior. You will notice that as we come around to the table you will see different items being placed on the table. One of them will be cakes, there will be 12 cakes placed on the table which represents the 12 disciples. You will have 12 lanterns on the table which represents the 12 tribes of Israel. You will also notice that there will be some red punch on the table, it used to be red wine but now we serve red punch instead of wine, and that represents the blood of Jesus Christ. The white that we see here symbolized purity, the eggs on the table behind me represent the grave and the breaking of the grave when Jesus rose from the grave with all power in his hand. You will notice that there will be a person in the front carrying a banner, the banner represents the cross. The banner will not be a cross, but it will be a circle, which represents the continuation of life. The circle is covered with different colors to add just a little symbolism to Easter and during the time of Easter. (2003) ⁶

His discussion of the origin and meaning of the circle and the banner echoes Joyce Jackson's 1997 narrative stage introduction:

A circular ritual in the church, . . . [Easter Rock] is a carry over from the African Diaspora, and you can see that they are using a round banner which symbolized a cross. Well, that is not so foreign either, although you don't see round crosses normally in Baptist Churches, but if you look at the literature and you look at traditional African religions and those in the Caribbean, you find that the circle is very important, not only in the way that they move around the church and around the table but also in the worship and in the life cycle. If you look at life, it's like a circle and this circle was very instrumental in the way that they worshipped and looked at life, or the worldview. When you are born it's like you are at the 12 o'clock position and as you go through life you move around that circle, or the circle of life. And so the circle is very important in African traditions and so again it's sort of a carry over in this rocking tradition.

Wilson's eloquent remarks in this 2003 presentation are similar to his earlier 2001 presentation (below) which also discusses the symbolism of the Rock; a comparison of these illustrates the formulaic nature of his presentations:

The Easter Rock is a tradition that we perform in Winnsboro, Louisiana at the original True Life Baptist Church located on Highway 4 in Winnsboro. It is done the Saturday before Easter. It is a circular dance that we do in the black church; it's a rhythmic rock from side-to-side as the caller is singing a song talking about "Oh David." The song "Oh David" is a victory song, it tells the story of David and Goliath, when David went out on the battle field and slew the mighty giant Goliath. He was victorious in that battle and that is why we use the song "Oh David" because Jesus we know he was victorious over the grave for he died and he rose again. Here this afternoon, well this evening, what you will see will be a table that is dressed in white and on the table you will notice that there will be 12 cakes placed on the table which represents the 12 disciples. And you will notice that there will be 12 lanterns which represent the 12 tribes of Israel, you will also notice that there will be some punch placed on the table, some red punch, which symbolized the blood of Jesus. Before the punch was introduced into the scene they had real wine that they would drink after the Easter Rock but now we use regular punch of the color red to symbolize the blood of Jesus. Also on the table you will see the basket which represents the grave, the eggs which represents the breaking of the grave when Jesus rose on the third day morning. You will also notice we are dressed in white which symbolizes purity. You will notice that there will be a banner carried by the first person that is leading the rock. That person is carrying the banner as Jesus carried the cross. The banner is in a circular diagonal form and the reason for is there is no ending to a circle and it represents Jesus' life because there is no ending to Jesus for we know that he lives now and forever more. (2001)"....

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Bishop Iona Locke - "Walk By Faith" (Gospel videos & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube videos of Bishop Iona Locke singing her originally composed Gospel song "Walk By Faith".

My transcription of one rendition of that song is included in this post. Additions and corrections are welcome.

The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Bishop Iona Locke for her religious and musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Video #1: Bishop Iona Locke singing WALK BY FAITH with Damien Sneed & Friends at Jazz at Lincoln Center



Damien Sneed, Jan 1, 2014

Bishop Iona Locke singing her original song, WALK BY FAITH at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Damien Sneed & Friends - Jazz for Young People
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center
New York City

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Damien Sneed, piano and lead vocals
Kenneth Whalum III, saxophone
Noah Garabedian, upright bass
Jammal Graham, Hammond B3 organ
John Matthew Clark, bass guitar
Quinn Brown, drums and lead vocals
Dr. Iona Locke, lead vocals
Tekesha Russell, lead vocals
Brianna Thomas, lead vocals
Chenee Campbell, Levites
Lynette Rhett McNeil, Levites
Djore Nance, Levites
Tiffany Stevenson, Levites
Matia Washington, Levites

[...]

-snip-
Click https://www.bishopionalocke.com/for information about Bishop Iona Locke.

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Video #2: Call and Response in Gospel Music



Jazz at Lincoln Center's JAZZ ACADEMY, May 3, 2016

Pianist Damien Sneed talks with Dr. Iona Locke about call and response in Gospel music!

Learn more at the Jazz Academy by visiting http://academy.jazz.org

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LYRICS- WALK BY FAITH
(Bishop Iona Locke)

Lead singer- You need to walk by faith.
Group responds “walk by faith” after every line by the lead singer until otherwise indicated
Come on and walk by faith, children.
You need to walk by faith.
Come on and walk by faith.

The book of Hebrews says
Israel walked by faith
And when they came to the Red Sea
Moses led them through the Red Sea
Ow! Oh, Oh, Oh, Oooh!
You gotta walk by faith

And then there was Abraham
He had to walk by faith
And, at the age of 100,
He and Sarah had a baby boy.
Annnnd, I know children
You gotta walk by faith

And then there was Samson
He had to walk by faith
He stepped out of the way
And they shaved off his hair
Samson went to God and said
If my life over, weell
But his hair began to grow
And he did more at the end of his life
Then he did in the beginning.

You need to walk by faith
Heey! You need to walk by faith
Step out and walk
And walk

Group sings “Keep walkin, walk by faith” after every line
And walk
Every day,
Keep trusting
Keep on believing
Keep on trusting
Trusting
Believing
Just keep on believing
Keep on stepping, stepping
You can make it
Yu can make it
Keep on trusting in Him
Trust in the Lord
Oh, aah aah ahh ah
Oh, aah aah ahh ah
Trust Him with all your might
Aahh aah ahh, Trust Him
Trust Him with all your faith
Yeeeaeh a a a, trust Him
Ahhh, trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Trust Him
Ahhh, walk by faith
Walk by faith
Oh, walk
Walking
Oh, walk
Walk
Walk
Walk
Walk
Ahhhhhh!

Lead singer stops singing while the Group repeatedly sings
Keep walking, walk by faith
-snip-
This transcription is from .56 in of Video #1
Additions and corrections are welcome.

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Call And Response In African American Communication (with particular focus on African American preachers whooping)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about call and response in African American communication with particular focus on African American preachers whooping. 

The content of this post is presented for cultural and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Most of this pancocojams post was originally published on this blog on October 11, 2011 with the title "Verbal Engagement During Black Communication". Another portion of this post was published on this blog in this April 2016 post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/black-preaching-art-of-whooping-in.html Black Preaching - The Art Of "Whooping" In Sermon Closings.

Also click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/black-preachers-oratorical-style-wilson.html for the closer related pancocojams post entitled "Black Preacher's Oratorical Style & Wilson Pickett's 1971 Soul To Soul Concert Introduction to "Land Of A Thousand Dances"

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VERBAL ENGAGEMENT
Call & response patterns not only shape and influence African American music. They also shape African American communication. "Verbal engagement" is my term for a call & response pattern of communication that influences African American communication expectations and permeates that communication. "Verbal engagement" is indicated by the words and sounds that a listerner intersperses during a conversation. Those words & sounds confirm that he or she is listening and involved in that conversation. Examples of verbal engagement are words or sentences such as "Yeah", "Yeah?" ,"You got that right", "I know what you mean", and "Get out of here!" "Verbal engagement" is also expressed by tonal sounds such as "Un hun" and "Hun?", Un un-n". If a listerner fails to engage during an African American conversation, if he or she remains silent too often or too long and doesn't add verbal engagement terms to that conversation, it's probable that that person speaking will consider that listerner to be rude or to have disengaged from the conversation.

I believe that these African American rules of verbal engagement are also found throughout African & other African Diaspora cultures. However, it's my sense that those White American and White European cultures may not have the same call & response verbal engagement rules. Instead of interspersing conversations with words, sentences, or tonal language, I gather that White people "wait their turn", waiting to speak after the other person has finished speaking. Also, it seems to me (admittedly from the outside looking in), that White people see no social imperative to signal that they have heard a conversation that they may or may not agree with. Perhaps they might be silent because they are thinking about what was said to determine if they agree or disagree with the whole or parts of that conversation. No rudeness, disinterest, or disengagement might have been intended, but given the different ways that Black people have been socialized to view communication, we may indeed misinterpret that silence as rudeness, disinterest, or disengagement.

The possibility for misinterpretation may also occur during written communication between Black people and non-Black people in online social networks such as Facebook. Discussion threads about racism or cultural diversity in which the Black person is "the only one" (meaning the only Black person) or one of few Black people participating in that discussion are particularly ripe for verbal engagement misinterpretations. When I willingly engage in such online discussions often as a result of being asked to do so), I have to remind myself that the lack of confirming, reinforcing, questioning, disputing, or just plain thanking responses doesn't necessarily mean that the White people reading my comment disagree with what I have said. I also have to remind myself not to interpret their lack of response as being rude, disinterested, or disengaged. Instead, I try to remember that they were socialized differently than me, and don't see the need to immediately respond to verbal or written communication if they don't feel that they have anything of value to add to the discussion.

Rules of communication are usually unwritten. People learn those rules as a result of interacting in that particular society. Problems occur when we are raised to believe that our way of communicating, responding during communication, and responding to communication are the only way, or are the only right way. One of the reasons why I've written this post is to help me remember this.

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CALL & RESPONSE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES: WHOOPING
This portion is an updated version of content that is included in this 2016 pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/black-preaching-art-of-whooping-in.html Black Preaching - The Art Of "Whooping" In Sermon Closings

"Whooping" (also given as "hooping") is a term for a Black (African American) oratorical and homiletic (sermon) style that some pastors use at the end of their sermons to heighten the spirit and emotions of their congregations. Whooping is described as pastors speaking in a call & response, sing/song cadence. Members of the congregation respond to the pastor's words ("call"), sometimes by repeating his or her words, and/or shouting "Amen!", "Preach!", "Yes, Lord" or other words and phrases. Responses also include riffs played by the pianist, organist, and snare drummer. In addition to preaching in that sing/song style, pastors who whoop toward the end of their sermons may also sing during that whoop.

"Whooping" is a way of preaching that is most often associated with African American pastors, particularly COGIC (Church Of God In Christ) pastors and some Baptist and Missionary Baptist pastors.

The art and study of whooping is [facetiously?] referred to "whoopology" and "hoopology". Preachers who "whoop" ("hoop") are called "whoopers" ("hoopers").

Whooping is negatively described as "screaming".

The word "whooping" ("hooping") may have come from the term "whooping and hollering".

Here are definitions for the word "whoop":
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whoop
Definition of whoop
"to shout loudly in an enthusiastic or excited way"

**
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hollering
"hollering
"verb (used without object)
1. to cry aloud; shout; yell"

From http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/20/whooping/ Black preachers who 'whoop' -- minstrels or ministers? By John Blake, CNN, October 20, 2010

[...]

Whooping pastors use chanting, melody and call-and-response preaching to reach parishioners in a place where abstract preaching cannot penetrate, scholars say.

Whooping preachers aim "to wreck" a congregation by making people feel the sermon, not just hear it, says the Rev. Henry Mitchell, a scholar who identified the link between whooping and African oral traditions.

"The old folks used to say, 'If you ain't felt nothing, you ain't got nothing,''' Mitchell says.

[...]

the Rev. Martha Simmons, a whooping preacher and scholar [says]. "It is a genuine art form."

Simmons says the best whoopers use their voices like instruments. They're following rules of rhythm, tone and melody. All good whoopers have some "music" in their throat, says Simmons, editor of "Preaching with Sacred Fire," an anthology of black sermons dating back to 1750.

[...]

Whooping isn't confined to vocal gymnastics. The greatest whoopers combined "learning and burning." They are theologically sound, well-read and excellent storytellers, scholars say.

[The Rev. E. Dewey Smith Jr], senior pastor of Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, says a good whooper has to preach a solid message before they whoop.

...Whoopers not only sound different; they preach different, says Mitchell, the preaching scholar and author of "Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art."

Most whoopers shun abstractions. They preach with stories, parables and metaphors -- like Jesus did"....
-snip-
Note the statement that pastors use "call" to evoke "responses" from their congregations.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
The following five videos are re-posted as examples of call & response communication styles in certain African American churches.

Selected comments from these videos' discussion thread are also included in this post. Some of these comments may not refer to African American verbal communication.

Note that the congregation of these churches are expected to respond during the sermon to the minister's words. Also note that standing up is one socially approved way of responding to what is being said or sung by the minister or what is being sung by the choir and/or the congregation.

These same affirming, engaging responses made by many African Americans during most non-religious concerts/performances, i.e. It's customary for many African Americans to stand up & move our body during non-religious performances.

Example #1: Sermons by Rev C L Franklin



Uploaded by Bohles128 on Apr 10, 2009
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._L._Franklin
"Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (often abbreviated to C. L. Franklin) (January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984), was an American Baptist minister, a civil rights activist, and father of the legendary soul and gospel singer Aretha Franklin."
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only). These comments may not refer to African American verbal communication:
1. Ziv Viz, 2012
"Now we see where Aretha got her voice. Whowww!"

**
2. Jock Ewing. 2015
"His voice encompasses so much power. Preachers will mimic Clarence until the end of time."

**
3. Garwin Wayne, 2018
"From 1:21 to 1:39 this is where James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, David Ruffin & Dennis Edwards of the Temptations, Bobby Bland & all them legendary, pioneer R&B singers got their influence from...the Gospel church..the Gospel preacher."

**
Example #2: Pastor Jerry D. Black Preaching 'Wolf Country' Mean Hearted People



Uploaded by BrothaRollins on Jan 20, 2007

Powerful sermon about living in the midst of wolves and mean people.

In his summary statement the uploader provided information about Pastor Jerry D. Black including the following:
"...at the age of 21, Reverend Black accepted his calling to preach the Gospel. He was called and served as pastor of the Greater Paradise Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. During his 15 years of service to Greater Paradise, the church membership grew from 17 members to over 3000. During that time, Pastor Black also had a very popular television and radio ministry in Little Rock..."
-snip-
According to a comment in that discussion thread, this video was recorded in 2005.

Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only).
1. Jimmie Staten, 2008
"Doc, he can Whoop!!!!!!!"

**
2. Frank Clardy, 2008
"more of pastor black has been posted. now you can hear him whoop."
-snip-
Read the section on whooping that is given above.

**
Example #3: Old Time Preaching, Shouting and Singing



Uploaded by RevSinkiller on Mar 6, 2010

Taken from the [1964] movie "Nothing But A Man." This is a beautiful snapshot of church back in the 1960's, the likes we don't hear as much these days.

Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only).
1. Thurman Edwards, 2011
"I Love it it ,i belong to the old Regular baptist and it just like we do shut, sing ,preach,and praying i love it and feel it thanks. Thurman Edwards"

**
2. Obadiah Buls, 2011
"This was church like what I grew up with, only a little toned down, because there would be brothas and sistas falling out everywhere and it wasn't always the same folk every Sunday. Even the nurses that would help folk would touch somebody that was already happy and catch the holy ghost themselves. "

**
3. Wyeth Duncan, 2011
"Wow, this reminds me of how the Baptist churches used to be when I was a little boy."

**
4. MimiDove9, 2011
"AMEN!!!!"

**
5. Richard Moss,lll, 2012
"THEN TOOK ME IN!!!!!!! MY LORD LORD!!!"
-snip-
"Then" may be a typo for "That". In this context "took in" means to reach a state of spiritual ecstasy ("get happy", "shout", "went in") as a result of being touched by the Holy Spirit". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/09/what-took-me-to-church-sang-went-in-and_1.html for more comments about "went in" and more definitions from African American churches terms and phrases.

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Example #4: Pastor Timothy J. Woods, Sr. - Sermon Close.wmv



bigalte83, Published on Nov 18, 2008

Pastor Woods @ Antioch MBC - Beaumont, TX
www.hopewellnorth.org
-snip-
Read my transcription of this sermon in http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/black-preaching-art-of-whooping-in.html
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only).
[A few of these comments are written in response to comments criticizing this style of preaching]

1. passSAT16, 2011
"@CelestineBoi I completely agree with you sir. AS a preacher myself, I agree that whooping is enjoyable, but if there is no substance, how can the people eat. Lets stay focused on the word. The word in itself should be enough for us to shout, not the organ, not a whooping preacher. But because JESUS CHRIST LIVES HALLELUJAH!. praise God for this preacher and all of our clergy."

**
2. Tommy Barnes, 2009
"i live in b-ham and all i have to say is LAWD HAMERCY!"

**
3. William B. Wiggins, II, 2009
"It's a combination of the - "The Art of Preaching - Homiletics with a twist of Celebration" or in a more modern term "whoopology. After the preacher hs imparted the word into your life, he himself celebrates in his own way and his own style of closing the sermon on a "Spiritual Praise."."

**
4. Preacha Tim, 2009
"now that's how you close out!!!
preach man!!!"

**
5. mrdlfrancis, 2011
"Don't hold back! Preach Doctor Preach!!"

**
6. Jamarri Kelly, 2013
"this is classic baptist preaching idk what u talking bout"

**
7. Harvey Carroll, 2013
"This is the closing of a sermon not the sermon. If u do not like it don't watch and complain about there type of expression. Please understand that God gives gifts not man . If u want to contact the church and get the whole sermon"

**
8. Rita Dozier, 2014
"Preach amen"

**
9. Brodie Rice, 2017
"Get your whoop on"

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Example #5: Rev. Dr. Zal V. Walton "Whooping



First Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Published on Dec 7, 2017

Rev. Zal V. Walton, Pastor Greater Promise Baptist Church Linden, NJ At First Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church Newark, NJ
-snip-
This video has no comments in its discussion thread as of the date of this post's publication.

Notice how the drums and cymbals also respond to the preacher's "whoop".

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Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to these videos on YouTube.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome!

Examples Of The Military Cadence "Seen An Old Lady Walkin' Down The Street"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases various text (word only) examples and YouTube sound files of the United States military cadence "Seen An Old Lady Walkin Down The Street" (or similar titles).

The examples of this military cadence that I have found online are from the following United State military branches (given in alphabetical order) - the Air Force, the Army, and the Marines.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the original composer/s of this cadence and thanks to all those quoted in this post and all those who are featured in these sound files.

Thanks also to all those who have honorably served and who are honorably serving in the United States Marine Corps and in other branches of the United States military.

Please add to this collection by sharing the examples you know in the comment section. Remember, this is a family friendly cultural blog. Therefore, as per the policies of this blog, I don't accept comments/examples that include profanity fully spelled out or comments/examples that contain explicit sexual content.

Also, note that some military cadences include sexual references and curse words (profanity). As per the policy of this blog- I use amended spelling for curse words or indicated that "profanity is deleted".

Click the "military cadences" tag below for additional examples of United States military cadences.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENTS
The United States military cadences that I've read or heard via YouTube use an "echo" call & response pattern. This call & response pattern is often found in African and African Diaspora vocal music. By "echo" call & response, I mean that the group (responders) repeat every line that the leader (caller) sings in exactly the same way that he (or she) sings those lines.

Some call & response cadences are composed of changeable rhyming and near rhyming couplets (two line rhyming or near rhyming verses) and a relatively fixed refrain (such as "lo right layo" ("left right left). The refrain may be sung at the beginning of the cadence, (and/or) at the end of the cadence, (and/or) after each rhyming or near rhyming couplet, or after a certain number of rhyming/or near rhyming couplets. But some call & response cadences have no fixed refrain, and only consists of the group exactly repeating each line that caller (leader) sings.

The examples of the "Seen [or "Saw"} An Old Lady Walkin Down The Street" that I have read or heard on YouTube have a series of rhyming or near rhyming couplets that constitute "verses". But these examples don't have any responding refrain (such as "Lo right layo").

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TEXT (WORDS ONLY) EXAMPLES OF "SEEN AN OLD LADY WALKIN' DOWN THE STREET
These examples are given in no particular order. Numbers are assigned for referencing purposes only.

I reformatted the lyrics in each of these examples to add a space after each rhyming/near rhyming couplet so that they would be more clearly seen. This doesn't mean that there is any space between how these lines are sung/chanted.

Text Example #1:
From http://www.army-cadence.com/saw-an-old-lady/

Old Lady (Marine Running Cadence)

I saw an old lady walkin’ down the street.
She had a chute on her back, and jump boots on her feet.

I said, “Hey, Old Lady, where you goin’ to?”
She said, “I’m goin’ to the Army Airborne School.”

I said, “Hey, Old Lady, I think you’re too old;
You’d better leave that stuff to the brave and the bold.”

She said, “Listen, Sonny, I’m talking to you;
I’m an instructor at the Airborne School.”


I saw the same old lady walkin’ down the street.
She had a pack on her back, jungle boots on her feet.

I said, “Hey, Old Lady, where you goin’ to?”
She said, “I’m goin’ to Marine Corps Recon School.”

I said, “Hey, Old Lady, I think you’re too old;
You’d better leave that stuff to the brave and the bold.”

She said, “Listen, Sonny, I’m talking to you;
I’m an instructor at the Recon School.”


I saw the old lady walkin’ down the street.
She had a tank on her back, and fins on her feet.

I said, “Hey, Old Lady, where you goin’ to?”
She said, “I’m goin to the Navy Diving School.”

I said, “Hey, Old Lady, I think you’re too old;
You’d better leave that stuff to the brave and the bold.”

She said, “Listen, Sonny, I’m talking to you;
I’m an instructor at the Diving School.”

I turned to leave, and she spun me around;
She kicked me in the head, and threw me to the ground.

I looked up through my tears, and with a voice full of fear,
I begged, “Please, Old Lady, don’t kill me right here.”

She said, “Listen, Sonny, don’t you mess with me;
I’m Airborne, Recon, and UDT!”

****
Text Example #2: SAW AN OLD LADY [Army]
From http://www.radford.edu/content/chbs/home/rotc/cadets/creeds-cadences.html

Saw an old lady running down the street
Had a cute on her back, jump boots on her feet

Said, "Hey old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Army Airborne School"

"Whatcha gonno do when you get there?"
"Jump from a plane, float through the air"

I said "Hey old lady ain't you been told?
Airborne School's for the young and the bold"

She said "Hey young punk who you talkin' to?
I'm an instructor at the Airborne School"


Saw an old lady marching down the road
Had a knife in her hand and a 90lb load

Said, "Hey old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Army Ranger School"

"Whatcha gonna do when you get there?"
"Jump and swim and kill without care"

I said "Hey old lady ain't you been told?
Ranger School's for the young and the bold"

She said "Hey young punk who you talkin' to?
I'm an instructor at the Ranger School"

Saw on old lady running down the track
Had fins on her feet and a tank on her back

Said, "Hey old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Army scuba School"

"Whatcha gonno do when you get there?"
"Swim under water and never breathe air"

I said, "Hey old lady ain't you been told?
Scuba School's for the young and the bold"

She said "Hey young punk who you talkin' to?
I'm an instructor at the Scuba School"

****
Text Example #3: Seen An Old Lady
From http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/cadence/running_cadence/seen-an-old-lady.shtml
Army Study Guide
Created by: PFC Deason

I Seen an old lady walkin down the street
She had a ruck on her back, jump boots on her feet.

I said hey old lady where you goin to
She said US Army Airborne school

I said hey old lady dont you think you're too old
You better leave that jumpin to the young and the bold

She said hey young punk who you talkin to
I'm a Jumpmaster from Airborne school.


Then I seen an old lady walkin down the street
She had ropes in her hand, jump boots on her feet.

I said hey old lady where you goin to
She sais US Army Air Assault school

I said hey old lady dont you think you're too old
You better leave that slidin to the young and the bold

She said hey young punk who you talkin to
I'm an instructor from Air Assault school


Then I seen an old lady walkin down the street
She had a tank on her back, and fins on her feet

I said hey old lady where you goin to
She said US Army scuba school

I said hey old lady dont you think you're too old
You better leave that divin to the young and the bold

She said hey young punk who you talkin to
I'm an instructor from scuba school
-snip-
Several additional examples of this cadence are found below.

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SHOWCASE SOUND FILES (WITH TRANSCRIPTIONS & SELECTED COMMENTS)
Sound File Example #1: SEEN AN OLD LADY CADENCE [Army]

Seen An Old Lady Cadence (With Lyrics)



letseewhathappens101, Uploaded on Feb 13, 2010

I have gotten many requests from people to email them a cadence so I have added a download link enjoy and thanks for watching.

This is the transcription that is given in the summary. Repeat every line, except the words “I said” or “she said” words.

Seen an old lady running down the street da
Had a ruck on her back, jump boots on her feet
I said, "Old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Army Airborne School"

I said "Hey old lady ain't you been told?
Airborne School's for the young and the bold"
She said "Hey young punk who you talkin' to?
I'm an instructor at the Airborne School"
‘Cause I’m hard core
Lean and mean
Fit to fight
Rock
steady
Rollin
Ready
Seen an old lady walkin down the street da
She had a ruck on her back and jump boots on her feet.
I said, "Old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Army Ranger School."
I said “Hey old lady ain’t you been told?

The Ranger Schools for the young and the bold.”
She said "Hey young punk who you talkin' to?
I'm an instructor at the Ranger School"
‘Cause I’m hard core
Lean and mean
Fit to fight
Rock
steady
Rollin
Ready
Ready
Easy

Seen an old woman walkin down the street da
She had tanks on her back and fins on her feet
I said, "Old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Army Scuba School"
I said, "Hey old lady ain't you been told?
Scuba School's for the strong and the bold"
She said "Hey young punk who you talkin' to?
I'm an instructor at the Scuba School"
‘Cause I’m hard core
Lean and mean
Fit to fight
Rock
Steady
Rock
Steady
Rollin
Ready
‘Cause I’m hardcore
Lean and* mean
Fit to fight
Lookin good
Ought to be
Hollywood
- snip-
The phrase "rock steady" is also found in some versions of the military cadence “Mama Told Sally Not To Go Downtown” (and probably some other cadences). That phrase is probably lifted either from Aretha Franklin's 1972 R&B record with that title or The Whispers' 1987 R&B record with that title. I think it's unlikely that the phrase "rock steady" is from the Jamaican "Rock Steady" music genre. That music genre came around 1966 after Ska and and before Reggae.

-snip-
Here are selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread (Numbers assigned for referencing purposes only.)
1. love, 2011
"what cd is this from?"

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Reply
2. letseewhathappens101, 2011
"@WhitneyDoll25 Its off a cadence CD i got while at Fort Knox called Modern Military Cadence."

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3.ConnahWeeden, 2013
"Why do you sing as you run? Wouldn't that stuff up your rythm?"

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4. Brody Zimmerman, 2013
"It helps you stay motivated and "singing a cadence while running or marching helps soldiers keep their heads up, take deeper breathes and exhale more forcefully. This increases oxygen to the lungs and gives the body more energy."

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5. kiridoodle, 2016
"ConnahWeeden quite the contrary, running and singing helps keep a steady pace and helps us get farther in the run. For people who get too caught up and worry about the running part, cadence helps them take their minds off it and focus on something else. (I'm not in the Army but my JROTC Raider team sings cadence when we run)"

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6. Bob Sergeant, 2013
"The second stanza is often sung thus:

Saw an old lady marching down the road
Had a knife in her hand and a 90 lb. load
Said, "Hey old lady, where you goin' to?"
She said, "US Army Ranger School"
Whatcha gonna do when you get there?
Jump, swim, and kill without a care
I said, "Hey old lady, ain't you been told?
Ranger School's for the brave and the bold."
She said, "Hey, now soldier, don't be a fool,
I'm an instructor at Ranger School!"

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Sound File Example #2: Saw An Old Lady Walkin' Down the Street (Air Force)



Hard Corp Cadences Published on Aug 26, 2015
-snip-
Here is my transcription of this cadence (with the group repeating each line that is given below)

Saw an old woman walkin down the street
She had a pack on her back and boots on her feet
I said, "Old lady where you goin' to?"
She said "US Air Force to the rescue"
I said, "Ah ha”
“Ah ha”
Ah ha
Ah ha

I said “Hey old lady don’t you think you’re too old?”
You better leave that stuff to the young and the bold.”
She said Hey air man who you talkin to
She said I’m an instructor at per rescues
She said Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha

I saw an old man walkin down the street
He had tanks on his back and fins on his feet
I said “Hey old man where you going to
He said US Air Force scuba school
He said Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha

Hey old man don’t you think you’re too old
You better leave that stuff to the young and the bold.”
He said Hey air man who you talkin to
He said I’m an instructor at Scuba school
He said Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
Ah ha
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread (Numbers assigned for referencing purposes only.)
1. rtscaptain, 2013
This is a running cadence for those asking. Hence sung at a double time pace.

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2. Vincent Palacios, 2016
"Is this a running cadence or walking, im pretty sure its running but im not completely sure, also what about the drive on cadence"

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Reply
3. Isaac Mabry, 2016
"(Double time)Running cadence"

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Reply
4. Hunter Hediger, 2016
"can be both, speed up for running, slow for marching.
drive on is marching"

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5. Theseus9, 2017
"In the entire time of 3 years in the Marine Corps infantry (3rd Bn. 8th Mar) I never heard this one,....then I went to 3rd Recon, and we didn't do cadence...we just did ruck runs silent."

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6. Don, 2017
"So, would you say that in general, Recon depended less on motivational devices like cadence and depended more on sheer will and hard discipline? Please do elaborate, I'm curious as to what separates Recon from the rest, mentally."

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10. Theseus9, 2017
"+Don Well, I personally liked singing cadence when I was in the infantry, not necessarily did it motivate me, but it actually helps your breathing. Recon in a way is more individual, yes you have camaraderie and work in a team, but as for motivation it's a personal desire to be where you are and to get the mission done."

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11. Don, 2017
"+Theseus9 Interesting. Yes I've figured cadence could be useful for breathing and shouting while on the move in combat, that's why even as nonmilitary I sing them. They are pleasing as well. Thanks for the response, it is fascinating stuff. Seems almost as if Recon and other elite groups are so overpowered through sheer iron will that they need no outer motivation. Quite the role models you guys make."

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12. CyberManiac, 2017
"Did lyrics just like this, just added in CCT (Special Operations Training) and left it AHHA!"

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