Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Update- September 30, 2025
This post also presents a few examples of dirty (sexualized) children' recreational rhymes which have their earliest source in that song.
WARNING: Parental advisory for young children because these examples include sexually explicit content.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay.html for Part I of a two part pancocojams series. Part I provides information about the song "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" . Part I also showcases some examples of "clean" (not sexualized) parodies of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" children's rhymes.
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html for Part II of a two part pancocojams series. Part I provides information about the song "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" . Part II also showcases some examples of "dirty" (not sexualized) parodies of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" children's rhymes.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "TA RA RA BOOM DE AY"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta-ra-ra_Boom-de-ay
" "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" is a vaudeville and music hall song first performed by the 1880s. It was included in Henry J. Sayers' 1891 revue Tuxedo in Boston, Massachusetts. The song became widely known in the 1892 version sung by Lottie Collins in London music halls, and also became popular in France.
The song was later recorded and broadcast, and its melody was used in various contexts, such as the theme song to the mid-20th century United States television show Howdy Doody.
Background
The song's authorship was disputed for some years.[1] It was
originally credited to Henry J. Sayers, the manager of Rich and Harris, a
producer of the George Thatcher Minstrels. Sayers used the song in the troupe's
1891 production Tuxedo, a minstrel farce variety show, in which "Ta-ra-ra
Boom-de-ay" was sung by Mamie Gilroy.[2][3] Sayers later said that he had
not written the song, but heard it performed in the 1880s by a black singer,
Mama Lou, in a well-known St. Louis nightclub run by "Babe"
Connors.[4] Another American singer, Flora Moore, said that she had sung the
song in the early 1880s.[3]
Performances and versions
Stephen Cooney, Lottie Collins' husband, heard the song in
Tuxedo and purchased rights from Sayers for Collins to perform the song in
England.[1] Collins created a dance routine around it. With new words by
Richard Morton and a new arrangement by Angelo A. Asher, she first sang it at
the Tivoli Music Hall on The Strand in London in December 1891 to an
enthusiastic reception. It became her signature tune.[5] Within weeks, she
included it in a pantomime production of Dick Whittington[3] and performed it to
great acclaim in the 1892 adaptation of Edmond Audran's opérette, Miss Helyett.
According to reviews at the time, Collins delivered the suggestive verses with
deceptive demureness, before launching into the lusty refrain and her
celebrated "kick dance", a kind of cancan. One reviewer noted that
"she turns, twists, contorts, revolutionizes, and disports her lithe and
muscular figure into a hundred different poses, all bizarre"....
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PARTIAL LYRICS FOR "TA RA RA BOOM DE AY"
1. A bright and stylish girl you see,
Belle of good society;
Not too strict, but rather free,
Yet as right as right can be!
Never forward, never bold,–
Not too shy, and not too cold,
But the very thing, I’m told,
That in your arms you’d like to fold!
[chorus] Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
2. I’m not extravagantly shy,
And when a nice young man is nigh,
For his heart I have a try–
And faint away with tearful cry!
When the good young man in haste,
Will support me round the waist;
I don’t come to, while thus a-miss,
Till from my lips he steals a kiss!–
3. I’m a timid flower of innocence–
Pa says that I have no sense,–
I’m one eternal big expense;
But men say I’m just immense!
Ere my verses I conclude,
I’d like it known and understood,
Though free as air, I’m never rude,–
I’m not too bad, and not too good!"...
-http://www.pioneergirl.com/blog/archives/4796
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYMES THAT HAVE THEIR EARIEST SOURCE IN THE VAUDEVILLE/MUSIC HALL SONG
In the 1950s and the 1960s in the United States, two different types of girls recreational rhymes emerged that were inspired by the 1891 American vaudeville and music hall song "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay". I refer to these two types of rhymes as "clean" rhymes that have no sexual content and "dirty" rhymes that have sexual content.
Both of these types of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" children's recreational rhymes have the same tune as the "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" song and, like that late 19th century song, both of these sub-sets of girls' recreational rhyme focus on girls upending existing norms of proper behavior for females, only the dirty versions does so much more than the clean versions.
Also, like that vaudeville/music hall song, many of the examples of both of these types of girls recreational rhymes include the words "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" or similar words as their title and their refrain.
A number of "clean" or "dirty" versions of these recreational rhymes have the title "We Are The ___ Girls". The second line for the "We Are The ___ Girls" verse is usually "We Wear Our Hair In Curls".
SEXUALIZED ("DIRTY") VERSIONS OF "TA RA RA BOOM DE AY" ("WE ARE THE ___ GIRLS") CHILDREN'S RHYMES
DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be a comprehensive compilation of these rhymes.
Example #1
TAH RAH RAH BOOM DI AY
Tah rah rah bom di ay
I can't come out today
It happened yesterday
The boy across the way
He paid me fifty cents
To go behind the fence
He said it wouldn't hurt
And pushed it up my skirt
My mommy was surprised
To see my belly rise
And hear the baby cry
Tah rah rah bom di ay
-@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5648 [This is the version of this rhyme that is in Mudcat's DT "Digital Tradition", a compilation of folk song lyrics]
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Example #2
WE ARE THE BEAVER GIRLS
"We are the Beaver Girls,
We wear our hair in curls,
We have our dungarees down to our sexy knees.
You know the boy next door?
He pushed me on the floor,
We did it once or twice,
It wasn't very nice
La la la bum shaka
La la la bum shaka
La la la bum skaka
My mother was surprised
To see my belly rise
My father jumped for joy
It was a baby boy.
I cant believe we were singing this in primary school! I
doubt we knew what it meant!"
-j9127, 2008, https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=680317
Example #3
"
we wear our hair in curls
we wear our dungarees
down to our sexy knees.
sha la la bum-shi-ka
you know the boy next door
he got me on the floor
he counted 1 2 3
and stuck it into me
sha la la bum-shi-ka
sha la la bum-shi-ka
then some other stuff about being pregnant and stuff...
i dunno...i forget. was an awesome song though.
sha la la bum-shi-ka
sha la la bum-shi-ka
okay, now i really can't remember any more...
*edit*
my daddy was suprised
to see my belly rise
my mummy jumped for joy, it was a baby boy
-Niamh; 18-03-2007,
Location: Near Liverpool
Age: 19
http://board.muse.mu/showthread.php?t=41853
Example #4
"oh man, for some reason this popped into my head today, I'm
so glad I found this! at my school in Texas we sang it:
tra la la boom de ay
I met a boy today
He paid me 50 cents
to go behind the fence
my mommy was surprised
to see my tummy rise
my daddy jumped for joy
'my god, it's a baby boy!'
I never understood why dad would be so excited lol"
-
Example #5
"
I mightve forgotten parts of it, but that's basically what I
can remember! Wow, it's really crazy but so cool that this rhyme is familiar
with people all over the world it seems! So interesting seeing all the
variations!
-
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html
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Example #6
"This version from Pennsylvania in the mid-1960s:
Ta ra ra boom de ay
How did she get that way?
It was the boy next door,
He laid her on the floor.
Her mommy was surprised
To see her tummy rise
And hear her baby's cries forevermore."
-StaxmanDecember 31, 2023,
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay_25.html
Example #7
"This one is fairly localised to me, but it works for other
places.
We are Carmarthen girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear our dungarees
To show our sexy knees
Ta-ra-rah boom ti-ay
It was just yesterday
That the boy next door
He got me on the floor
My mother was surprised
To see my belly rise
My father jumped for joy
It was a baby boy!"
-Welshgirlie2, 2022, https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comments/11zt1bh/your_favourite_dirty_playground_rhymego_for_it/
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Example #8
Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay
-collected by Joe Bethancourt
Tune: "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay"
"Ta ra ra boom de ay, have you had yours today?
I had mine yesterday, a girl across the way!
I laid her on the couch, and all she said was
"Ouch!"
Her mother was surprised to see her belly rise!"
-From Brent B., http://www.kayshapero.net/child3.htm, "Children's Songs,Part Three" [no date given or publishing date for that online page]
Example #9:
Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay
-collected by Joe Bethancourt
Tune: "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay"
"Ta rah rah boom de ay
I met a girl today
I paid her fifty cents
To go behind the fence
Her mother was surprised
To see her tummy rise
Her father jumped for joy
It was a baby boy"
-http://www.kayshapero.net/child3.htm, "Children's Songs,Part Three" [no date given or publishing date for that online page]
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Example #10
"When i was a kiddy there was this song we all used to sing.
Everyone from my area knows it. Im just wondering how far a field does it go?
It goes like this
We are the Sherburn girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear our dungarees
To show our sexy knees
This boy came up to me
He gave me 50p
He gave me 50p to go behind a tree
He got me on the ground
He pulled my knickers down
And after 1 2 3
He stuck it into me
My mother was suprised
To see my belly rise
My father jumped with joy
To hold my new baby boy.
There was also a dance we did to it Big Grin
-Sexy_Kelly, 5/18/09, https://www.gagajoyjoy.com/topic/anyone-remember-the-sherburn-girls-song "Anyone remember "We Are The Sherburn Girls"?
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A MUDCAT DISCUSSION THREAD I STARTED ABOUT THESE RHYMES
In 2009 I started a discussion thread on Mudcat's online folk music forum about clean or dirty "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" (We Are The ___ Girls") parody rhymes As of the date of this pancocojams post (September 21, 2025) that discussion thread is still open for comments.
Here's a portion of my first comment in that discussion thread
"We wear our hair in curls" is the second line of a rhyme or song that begins with the line "We are the _____ girls". The name of the city where the people singing the song live is usually inserted into the blank space of that first line. Instead of the city name, the name of the singer's school, camp, or another group that they belong to may be used. I chose the title "We wear our hair in curls" because in this forum the blank space in that first line might make that title confusing.
I believe that "We wear our hair in curls" originated as a children's playground rhyme or song. A version of this rhyme was popularized by drag queens who sung it during the 1969 Stonewall Riots (examples and more information about that significant event will be provided below)."...
NOTE: Some of the examples that will be posted to this thread are sexually explicit."...
-end of quote-
-Azizi, 23 August 09, Subject: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101
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RECREATIONAL RHYMES ARE PART OF THE WAY THAT GIRLS' SEXUAL EDUCATION
One of my comments in that discussion thread includes a link to the 2003 book "Values in Sex Education: From Principles to Practice" by J. Mark Halstead and Michael J. Reiss
Here's an excerpt from that book that I didn't include in that Mudcat discussion thread:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Values+in+Sex+Education%3A+From+Principles+to+Practice%22&oq=%22Values+in+Sex+Education%3A+From+Principles+to+Practice%22&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTE2NjZqMGoxNagCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
"Another example of the hidden curriculum is found in the playground where the children learn a world of rules and rituals that have little to do with adults. Skipping and clapping songs are a central part of this world and are passed from child to child, from group to group. These songs were studied as an extension to the research on children developing sexual values (Halstead 2000b), and it was found that many of the songs are charged with sexuality and sexual awareness. Indeed, adults can sometimes be shocked by their rude, violent, scurrilous and surprisingly worldly wise nature. They give expression to children's sometimes limited understanding of sexual matters, and make a significant contribution to children's informal sex education."...
-end of quote-
Here's another excerpt from that book about a girls' only discussion group that was part of the research that this book reported on:
"The girls in the sample are happy to talk about what they expect their sexual life to be like in the future. They seem very aware of the problems of early pregnancy which they are able to spell out quite clearly. Interestedly, falling in love is never mentioned by these girls as a prelude to sexual experience. However, there is a sense among some of the girls of not being fully in control of their lives, and they are aware of the possibility that their early sexual encounters might occur "accidentally", that is without full intention, as a result of drink or fear of being 'dumped' or rebellion against an over protective father or simply out of curiosity"...
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SOME OF MY REACTIONS TO THESE "DIRTY" VERSIONS OF "TA RA RA BOOM DE AY" ("WE ARE THE ___ GIRLS")
(Given in no particular order and numbered for referencing purposes only)
1.Some of these examples recount a girl's experience with getting pregnant as a result of rape, others make a point of saying that the girl received money to have sex. While girls should be cautioned about the dangers of rape, agreeing to have sex in return for money should clearly be something girls should know not to do.
2. As a grandmother of an almost 12 year old girl, I'm surprised that all of these examples include the lines about the girls' mother being surprised to see her daughter's belly rise. Why didn't any of these girls confide to their mother-if not their father or any other adult, after that rape experience, or after learning that they were pregnant?? What kind of relationship did these girls have with their parents and other significant adults in their lives?
3, The line about the father expressing joy because the baby was a boy bothers me since it reflects society's preference for males over females. If his daughter had a girl, how would the father feel and how would he treat his granddaughter?
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SHARE EXAMPLES OF THESE RHYMES THAT YOU KNOW
Are "clean" (non-sexualized) and/or "dirty" (sexualized) examples of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" ("We Are The ___ Girls") rhymes still being chanted?
Please share information and example of these rhymes in this post's discussion thread below with demographics (city, state, country, race/gender/ages, and year or decade). Thanks!
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