Jeremiah Ledbetter, Nov 15, 2022
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YOUR LEFT [title] Your your left right left My back's aching My skirt too tight My hips swing like dynamite Your left right left right Say my back is aching My skirt too tight My hips swing Like dynamite Go go Go go go go With the mighty SkinsCALL: Barbara. Barbara is my name.
RESPONSE: Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (similarly)
Cheering is my game.
Freddy. Freddy was my man.
But Ken is my main man.
Dn Dn Dn Dn Dn (Twice)
CALL: Name is Nita.
RESPONSE: Hollywood now swingin'!
Similarly
I know how to swing.
Everytime I swing.
Stevie come around.
CALL: He popped me once!
He popped me twice!
All I felt was -dynomite!
RESPONSE: Dynomite, dynomite! (Twice)
Dynomite!
CALL: Here she is.
RESPONSE: Dynomite!
Similarly
Foxy Brown!
You mess with me,
I'll shoot you down!
Down, down,
To the ground,
Up, up,
CALL: Just out of luck!
RESPONSE: Dynomite, dynomite! (Twice)
I've placed the foot stomping cheers that I've come across into these five different sub-categories:
-Introduce Yourself (My name is __) cheers
-Dance style foot stomping cheers
-Bragging/confrontational cheers
--Romantic relationships cheers
-Sports, games, and miscellaneous cheers
Many foot stomping cheers are combinations of more than one of these sub-categories.
Based on their textual (word) structure and their performance and also based on the documentation of very similar examples throughout Black communities in the United States, I consider the following "Old Mother Hippletoe" cheers to be foot stomping cheers
-Your Left (most often known as "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" -misscellaneous sub-category)
*The performance activities that appear to be most often remembered for this example is as a partner hand clap rhyme)
-Cheering Is My Name" - "Introduce Yourself (My Name is __)" sub-category
"Dynamite" - "Bragging/confrontational" sub-category
**** MY EDITORIAL NOTES ABOUT THESE "OLD MOTHER HIPPLETOE" EXAMPLES (WITH A FEW SIMILAR EXAMPLES FROM OTHER SOURCES)
These notes use the name for these examples that was used in that record.
I. THINK
I categorize this composition as a cheer-and not as a foot stomping cheer since it doesn't have the distinctive group/consecutive soloist word structure of foot stomping cheers.
Unlike the other examples in that portion of the "Old Mother Hippletoe" record, I haven't found similar examples of this cheer off-line (in my direct collecting of rhymes and cheers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and some of its surrounding communities) or online.
My guess is that the title "Think" and its beginning lines had their source in Aretha Franklin's hit 1968 R&B record with that title.
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II. YOUR LEFT
"Your Left" undoubtedly got its title and its words (except the "Go Go you mighty Skins" ending) from a "My Back Is Aching" military cadence. That cadence is includes the "your left right" chant that is part of the Duckworth Chant.
The Mother Hippletoe Record's "You Left" cheer has been used as a foot stomping
cheer, but I've found that it appears to most
often chanted as the stand alone hand clap rhyme "Bang Bang Choo Choo
Train" or a verse in other hand clap rhymes such as "Brick Wall Water
Fall" (i.e. "My back is aching/my skirt's too tight/my hips are
shaking from the left to the right"...)
Here are two examples of cheers that include versions of that "bang bang choo choo train" verses
BANG BANG CHOO CHOO TRAIN (Version #1)
Group: Bang, Bang Choo Choo Train.
Watch Indonesia do her thang.
Soloist #1: I can’t.
Group: Why not?
Soloist #1: I can’t.
Group: Why not?
Soloist #1: Because my back is achin.
My bra’s too tight.
My hips keep movin’ from the left to the right.
Group: Her back is achin.
Her bra’s too tight.
Her hips keep movin from the left to the right.
(Repeat chant with the next soloist who gives her name or nickname. The cheer continues with this pattern until everyone has had one chance as soloist.)
-African American girls ages 7-12 years; (Alafia Children's Ensemble, Braddock, Pennsylvania), 10/1997; collected by Azizi Powell. 10/97; also collected by Azizi Powell from African American girls 7-12 years; Pittsburgh, PA (11/2001 & additional dates through 2005 as a hand clap rhyme)
-snip-
Note: "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" was often combined with the children's rhyme "Brick Wall Waterfall". These were by far the most popular recreational rhymes or cheers that were submitted to my cocojams.com website. That website was online from 2001 to Oct. 2014. A lot of children and preteens added examples of rhymes and cheers to that website by writing those examples on an easy to use page that didn't requite an email address. To protect underaged contributors, people who shared examples were asked to use either their first names only or their first name and the initial of their last name.
However, I've observed that "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" was (is?) usually performed since around 2005 as a hand clap rhyme and not as a foot stomping cheer. And, to my knowledge, "Brick Wall Waterfall" has never been performed as a foot stomping cheer.
**
PEANUT BUTTER REESE CUP
"This was a song that we did at camp a lot, and the first part was sang by everyone in the group but the counselor usually picked the first Person B. Then as the verses continued whoever was Person B last would yell the name of the new Person B.
Person A: Peanut butter Reese's cup sing a song to cheer you up
Bang bang choo-chop train come on (person B) do your thang!
Person B: I can't!
Person A: Why not?
Person B: I just can't!
Person A: Why not?
Person B: My back's aching, my belt's too tight, my booty shaking from the left to the right
Everyone: to the left! to the right! to the left to the right to the left to the right! to the sky, to the ground, my booty's shaking all around that's right we're tight so rick-tick-tick-tick! hold on wait a minute put a booty in it! Jump! Shake your booty! Jump jump! Shake your booty!
(Repeat the song)"
-Claire Jelagin, 2016; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55TnrD5re5g Do You Remember 90s Rhymes
-snip-
"Reeses Cup" is a brand name for a type of candy in the United States. "Peanut butter Reeses Cups" are one flavor of that candy.
This example is included in https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/05/bang-bang-choo-choo-train-documenting.html "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train" (Documenting Dates For Some Examples Of This Rhyme: from 2011 to 2023)
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III. CHEERING IS MY NAME
"Cheering Is My Name" is what I refer to as an "Introduce Yourself" ("My Name Is __") foot stomping cheer. "Introduce Yourself" cheers is the largest sub-category of foot stomping cheers. As such, tons of examples of those types of foot stomping cheers can be found online and modified examples of those cheers are still chanted today as children's "mainstream" cheerleading, as softball cheers, as camp songs etc.
Here are two examples of "Cheerleader/Introduce Yourself" cheers:
CHEERLEADER [title]
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Roll.
Call.
Are you ready?
Soloist #1: Shayla.
They call me Rosa.
Soloist #2: Shana.
They call me Poo.
Soloist #3: Shana.
They call me Shay.
Soloist #4: Jamie.
They call me Jay Jay.
Soloist #5: Jackie.
They call me HaJack (HighJack?).
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Zodiac signs.
Soloist #1: Aquarius.
That’s a dog.
Soloist #2: Cancer.
That’s a crab.
Soloist #3: Leo.
That’s a lion.
Soloist #4:Scorpio.
That’s a spider.
Soloist #5: Scorpio.
That’s a spider.
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Phone.
Numbers.
Are you ready?
Soloist #1: 348-5110.
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #2: 348-4554.
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #3: 348-3322
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #4: 348-5679
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #5: 348-4285
Group: Always busy.
-Shayla, Shana, Shana, Jamie, and Jackie (African American females about 10
years-12 years old, Talbot Towers Housing after-school program, Braddock, PA; 1985); collected by Azizi
Powell, 1985
-snip-
The phone numbers were changed to protect their girls' identity.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/06/some-examples-of-softball-chants-that.html "Some Examples Of Softball Chants That Have Their Source In "Introduce Yourself" ("My Name Is __") Foot Stomping Cheers" for examples of this sub-category of foot stomping cheers.
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CALL REPUTATION (title)
this is a saying call reputation
my name is yonnqa
i'm number one
my reputation has just begun
so if you see me step a side
cause i don't take no jive
oh think she cool
correction baby i no i'm cool
i no karate
i no kunfu
you miss with me
i co it on you
rasasol o dazzo o ox2
-yaya ; 2/23/2007 [cocojams.com]
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III. HOLLYWOOD SWINGIN'
"Hollywood Swingin" foot stomping cheers are examples of combinations of "Introduce yourself (My name is __)" and "Bragging, confrontational" foot stomping cheers.
"Hollywood Goes Swingin" cheers/rhymes were inspired by Kool & The Gang's 1973 hit R&B/funk hit record "Hollywood Swingin'. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Swinging for information about that record.
The examples of "Hollywood Swinging" cheers/rhymes that I have observed have the same tune as end of that hit R&B song when the Kool &The Gang music group sings "Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, now swinging".. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Iorb4pWu8 for a YouTube video of that song.
The notes for the vinyl record Old Mother Hippletoe: Rural and Urban Children’s Songs (New World NW 291) documents that within two or three years of the release of Kool & The Gang's "Hollywood Swinging" record, African American school girls in Washington, D.C." were performing a cheer entitled "Hollywood Now Swingin'".
Based on the number of examples of "Hollywood Swinging" cheers that I have come across off-line and online, those cheers probably represent the largest or one of the largest families of foot stomping cheers.
HOLLYWOOD SWINGIN (title) Example #1
All: Hollywood goes swingin
Hollywood goes ___swingin
Swingin for the good times
Swingin for the bad times
Soloist #1: My name is Zizi
I’m cool and the gang
Mess with me. I’ll do my thang
If you see me walkin down the street
You betta speak
Long time, no see
Sexy as I wanna be
Some hittin me high
Some hittin me low
Some hittin me on my-
Don’t ask what
Group: What?
Soloist #1: My b-u-tt butt
That's what.
- Tazi.M.Powell, (African American female, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1985-1986); also collected by Tazi Powell (from African American girls, Pittsburgh [Lillian Taylor Camp], 1989, 1990 [full disclosure- Tazi M. Powell is my (Azizi Powell) daughter.
-snip-
(Repeat from the beginning with the next soloist who says her name or nickname. Continue this pattern until every girl in the group has had one turn as the soloist)
* ___ pause for a beat
The group members decide the order of soloists by the fastest ones to shout out 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. They then form a line (or a half circle facing their usually imaginary audience) in that order. The girls begin stepping for a short while before they start saying the cheer. This is to make sure that everyone is "on beat". They keep doing the step routine when they begin chanting throughout the entire cheer. If someone "messes up the beat", the cheer must start all over again from the beginning using the same order of cheerleaders. At the end of the cheer, the entire cheer begins again with a new soloist. This pattern continues until everyone in the group has the same equal turn as the soloist.
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HOLLYWOOD GO SWINGIN' [title] Example #2
Oooooooh, those brought back so many memories, I think I've got one though...
Hollywood go swingin'
Hollywood go swing-in'
Hollywood go swingin'
Hollywood go swingin'
My name is (your name)
I'm cool in the gang
If you don't like it
I'll show you my thang
My sign is (your sign)
and that's alright cuz
all (your sign)
are DYNO-MITE!!
-DiVa X-ta-C, 8/4/2000; http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=5627&page=2 Remember When..
-snip-
This discussion thread consisted of young Black American women who are members of historically Black Greek letter sororities sharing examples of rhymes and cheers that they remembered chanting during their recreational play. Based on some comments that were made in that discussion thread, and based on a few of their screen names, my guess is that these women were remembering playing these rhymes and cheers in the 1980s.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/07/excerpts-of-two-pancocojams-posts-about.html for the pancocojams post "Examples Of "Hollywood Goes Swingin"- The Children's Foot Stomping Cheer That Became A Hand Clap Rhyme"
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IV. DYNOMITE
The cheer "Dynomite" in "Old Mother Hippletoe" the 1978 record is an example of a bragging/confrontational foot stomping cheer. There are countless numbers of children's mainstream cheerleader cheers that include the bragging words "Our team is Dynamite". The foot stomping cheer sub-section of cheerleader cheers emphasizes the confrontational words "mess with me and I'll mess you up" more than the bragging words-although the spirit of those words if not the words themselves are also found in those cheers.
Here's an example of a "Dynamite" mainstream cheer:
DYNAMITE (title)
Our team is WHAT? DYNAMITE!
Our team is WHAT? DYNAMITE!
Our team is -- Hold on. Wait a minute. Let us put some boom
in it!
Our team is WHAT? DYNAMITE!
Our team is WHAT? DYNAMITE!
Our team is tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
BOOM! DYNAMITE!
-https://nwakickball.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Cheer-Kamp-Cheer-Listing.pdf
-snip-
I don't know whether this "Dynamite" cheer preceded the "Dynomite" cheer that is found in the 1978 "Old Mother Hippletoe Record" or other cheers that included the word "Dynomite" (Notice the differences in how these two words are spelled.)
Here's some information about the saying "Dyn-O- Mite!" that was popularized by the television series Good Times that was particularly popular among African American viewers:
from AI review
"The famous "dynamite" saying,
"Dyn-O-Mite!", comes from the 1970s TV show Good Times, specifically
from the character J.J. Evans, played by Jimmie Walker. It became a popular
catchphrase during the show's run."...
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Times
"Good Times is an American television sitcom that aired for
six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric
Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was
television's first African-American two-parent family sitcom. It is a spin-off
of Maude, itself a spin-off of All in the Family.
[…]
Compared to many other popular sitcoms by Norman Lear, Good
Times also tackled some challenging and complex issues such as: gang warfare,
racism, widowhood, poverty, education, child abuse, unemployment, evictions,
financial struggles, bigamy, paraplegia, dating, stealing, suicide, mugging,
engagements, affairs and rent parties."...
-snip-
The "Old Mother Hippletoe" record was first released in 1978 which means that the Black schoolgirls who chanted the cheer "Dynomite" were probably quite familiar with that television series.
Notice that Example #2 in this post of "Hollywood Swingin'" ends with the word "Dynomite" (spelled with an "o" instead of the standard English language spelling with an "a".)
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BONUS- TWO ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF "INTRODUCE YOURSELF" (MY NAME IS __)" FOOT STOMPING CHEERS THAT
Cheers that are similar to "Cheering Is My Name".
Cheering is my name is an example of an "Introduce Yourself" (My name is __) foot stomping cheer,
Here are two examples of the "Introduce yourself (My name is __) sub-category combined with the "Bragging/confrontational" sub-category:
"Hey girl, hey you, introduce yourself. Introduce yourself."
Then each individual girl says a rhyme about themselves, like,
"My name is Joan (group says "check") I'm from AC ("check") I come to say ("check") Don't mess with me ("Check it out")
-Joan C. (White American female who wrote that this was chanted by Black, Latino, and White girls at the Catholic High School in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the late 1970s; from an electronic message to Azizi Powell; 2/11/2007
-snip-
This is one of the earliest foot stomping cheers that I've come across.
Joan C's recollection of this year from the "late 1970s" places it in a similar time frame as the Washington, D.C. cheers that were collected in 1976 by kate Rinzler and featured on the 1978 Mother Hippletoe vinyl record. This cheer is also in the same time frame as the "Humpty Dumpty" cheer from New Orleans, Louisiana that is included in the 2016 book Yo Mama Mary Mack and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux: Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play" by Jeanne Pitre Soileau.
Ironically, Joan C and I are both from Atlantic City, New Jersey and both blogged on Mudcat's online folk music discussion forum, but I didn't "know" her. I had shared some foot stomping examples on several Mudcat discussion threads, and Joan sent me this example. Prior to her sending me that example, I had no idea that she was from my hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Notice that this contributor is a White American woman. I believe that this example probably came from the Black students at that high school.
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CHECK ME OUT [title]
Check me out
check check me out
My name is Tamia
(Check)
And I'm a cheerleader
(check)
You mess with me (check)
I'll break you jaw
(check)
[Then they say]
Ol', she thinks she bad
[Then I say]
Honey, child I know I'm bad.
[They say]
Ol' she think she fine
[I say]
Fine, fine Blow your mind
Take your boyfriend any time
Bring him home. Bring him back
And make him have a heart attack.
-Tamia, 12 year old African American girl, Maryland Oct 29. 2005; collected by Marimba Johnson for Azizi Powell
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/mess-with-me-and-ill-mess-you-up-other.html for Part I of a two part series of "mess with me & I'll mess you up" cheers. That post also includes a section on "Definition and a Brief History Of Foot Stomping Cheers". The link to Part II is given in that post.
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