Racialized Examples Of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" Rhymes That Include The Words "I Like A Colored Boy And He Likes Me "

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - March 19, 2026

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series on examples of contemporary (1970s and later)  "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" children's recreational rhymes that include racial referents. These children's recreational rhymes are also known as "I Love Coffee I Love Teat" or "Down Down Baby".

Part I of this pancocojams series presents all of the examples of  "I Like Coffee, I Like Tea"  rhymes that I have come across that have contributor added demographic information (geographic location and year or decade first remembered) and that include the words "I like a Colored boy" (or "Color boy" and he likes me". 

The example given in the Addendum to this post contains no demographic information from the contributor besides her [?] screen name "GUEST, A 70's Child". 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/racialized-examples-of-i-like-coffee-i_19.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents a representative sample of the versions of  "I Like Coffee, I Like Tea" that I have come across mostly online which include the words "I like a Black boy and he likes me". One example of these rhymes is presented under the date that I directly collected it. The other examples are presented in chronological order based on their online publishing dates. My editorial notes and/or contributors are included with some of these examples.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/racialized-examples-of-i-like-coffee-i_49.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents some examples of "I Like Coffee, I Like Tea"  ("I Love Coffee I Love Tea") rhymes that I have come across with the racial referent "White" or other racial/ethnic referents besides "Black" or "Colored" ("Color"). These examples are presented in chronological order and are given with or without demographic information such as the contributor's geographic location and the year/decade the contributor's is first chanted or heard this rhyme. 

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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 contributed examples of rhymes to this compilation.

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DISCLAIMER
This compilation doesn’t mean to imply that these examples are the only versions of this rhyme that were known in those geographic locations during the dates that are given. Instead, these are the only examples of this particular sub-set of this rhyme that I’ve come across. Almost all of these examples are from online sources.

Please add to the folkloric record by sharing any examples in the discussion thread below of any confrontational racialized “I Like Coffee I Like Tea” rhymes that you know. Remember to include  demographic information (where- the city/state or country if outside of the United States where you lived when you first chanted or became aware of these rhymes), when (the year or decade when you first chanted or became aware of these rhymes) and who (your gender/race or ethnicity and/or the genders, race and/or ethnicity of those who chanted that example.

 I’m also interested in how those rhymes where performed (such as single jump rope, Double Dutch jump rope, partner hand clap rhymes etc.  Thanks in advance!  

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GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RACIALIZED EXAMPLES OF "I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA" RHYMES
"I Like Coffee I Like Tea" (also given as "I Love Coffee I Love Tea",  or "Down Down Baby") are  children's confrontational racialized recreational rhymes that have similar words that fit a standard structural pattern.  

"Racialized rhymes" is my term for rhymes that include one or more referents for race or ethnicity in contrast to most early examples of these rhymes that don't include any racial/ethnic referents.

Racial confrontation is a key feature of the late 20th century and 21st century) examples that are compiled in these pancocojams post includes a person of one race (or ethnicity/nationality) threatening to get a person of their race/ethnicity to fight (beat the butt of) a person of another race (or ethnicity/nationality).

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THE EARLIEST DATE THAT I HAVE FOUND FOR A CONFRONTATIONAL RACIALIZED EXAMPLE OF "I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA"
The earliest documented date for a confrontational racial example  of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" ("I Love Coffee I Love Tea"; "Down Down Baby" rhymes that I have come across are from the 1970s in the United States. As of March 2026 I haven't found any examples of these rhymes outside of the United States..

A commenter from Virginia wrote in 2010 on a Mudcat folk music discussion thread that [she?] remembers these confrontational racialized versions of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" rhymes from the early or mid 1970s and quotes my description of the standard pattern of these rhymes (I added italics to my description in that comment):

"Thank you so much for posting this!!! I went to an all black elementary school in Norfolk, VA in the early to mid 70's and we used the variation you described (shown below).

The confrontational action in these verses follows a consistent pattern. First, these rhymes are almost always given from a female perspective {which makes sense since the person or persons reciting these rhymes are usually girls}. Secondly, in the rhyme, a Black {or "Colored"} girl rejects the advances of a White boy. Thirdly, the girl tells the White boy that she "likes a Black boy and he likes me". And fourthly {if there is such a word}, the girl threatens to get a Black {or "Colored"} boy to "beat his {the White boy's} behind".

I have also found or received an example of this rhyme in which a {presumably} Black girl tells another girl "Step back white girl you don't shine/I'll get a black girl to beat your behind". However, I have never found or received any version of this rhyme in which a White girl or White boy initiate this confrontational encounter."
-GUEST, 09 Oct 10, Down Down Baby-Race in Children's Rhymes https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=100653
-snip-
I started that discussion thread in April 2007. That discussion thread is still open for comments as of the date of this 2026 pancocojams post. 

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WHAT THE RACIAL REFERENT "COLORED" MEANT IN THE UNITED STATES
"Colored" was a racial referent in the United States that was used until around 1960s for the population that is now (in the 2020s) referred to as "Black", "Black American"  or "African American"* .In the United States the racial referent "Colored" was often colloquially given as "Colored people".

* "African American" is a subset (a smaller population) of "Black American" as some Black people in the United States have other lineages than African Americans.  

"Colored people" didn't/doesn't have the same meaning as "people of Color". Since at least the late 20th century in the United States "People of Color" is an umbrella term that replaces the terms non-White or "minorities" and means "all races and ethnicities who aren't White."    

Some examples of the "I Like Coffee I Like tea" use the word "color" instead "colored" i.e. "I like a color boy and he likes me". 
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-history-and-uses-of-referent.html for information about "The History And Uses Of The Referent "Colored" In The United States In The 19th Century - 21th Century)"

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LIST OF CONFRONTATIONAL RACIALIZED EXAMPLES OF "I LIKE COFFEE I LIKE TEA" THAT INCLUDE THE WORDS "I LIKE  A COLORED BOY" (or "COLOR BOY"   
(with demographic information and some contributor's notes and/or some Pancocojams Editor's notes)

These examples are presented under the first letter of the state where the contributor lived when they first chanted or heard this rhyme.

These examples don't represent all of the versions of this rhyme that I've come across that include the racial referent "colored" (or the mistaken-folk processed- term "color" as I've come across other examples of these confrontational racialized rhymes (mostly online) that don't include any demographic information. 

A. B.

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C. D.

California

"I was born in the very early 80's in the San Gabriel Valley and yes a lot of Black people lived there when I was growing up. From me reading the examples I always thoughts theses were separate rhymes because for each section different movements were made.

For me the "I like coffee, I like tee" went like this

I like coffee, I like tea.
I like a Colored boy and he likes me.
So white, white boy, you don't shine.
Turn around the corner and I’ll beat your behind.

 

Then after that rhyme we did maybe this

I’m cool, I’m cool all day from number 9
Give it to me another time.
Mhmm oh/or all my babby.
Mhmm oh/or all my babby.
Mhmm Mhmm Mhmm.

 

Also, Mama mama, let's get the rhythm, down down baby were all separate and we did separate movements. I just wanted to add my version of I like coffee and I'm cool(i can't find a reference for that).

Down, down baby down down the roller coaster
sweet sweet baby I’ll never let u go
shimmy shimmy cocoa puff
shimmy shimmy pow
shimmy shimmy cocoa puff
shimmy shimmy wow"
-Anonymous, October 25, 2018 at 6:49 PM, https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html

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E. F.

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G. H.

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I. J.

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K. L

Louisiana

"I'm young but in New Orleans 1990s-2000s I always heard:

Oh gosh he's crazy, oh gosh he's crazy
Take a piece take a plum take a piece of bubblegum
No piece no plum, no piece of bubblegum
I like coffee, I like tea
I like the colored and he likes me.
So smack that white boy, he don't shine.

(it could be step back white boy, I think I heard both)

I'll throw him round the corner and i'll beat his behind
Last night and the night before.
I met my boyfriend at the candy store.
He bought me ice cream he bought me cake.
He brought me home with a stomach ache.
I said Mama, mama, I feel sick
Call the doctor, quick, quick, quick
Doctor, doctor, if I die
I'll close my eyes and count to five
I said 1-2-3-4-5
I'm Alive!
See that house on top of that hill
That's where me and my boyfriend live.
Cook that chicken
Burn that rice
Come on baby let's shoot some DICE!
~T, August 25, 2013 at 2:46 PM https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html

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"I like coffee
I like tea
I like the colored boy
And he likes me.
So stop that white boy
Me don't shine
I'm going to give that boy
A kick in the behind.
Last night, the night before
I met my boyfriend at the candy store.
He brought me ice cream
He bought me tea
He brought me home [Hesitates, looks at me through lowered eyes.]
And he try my gate.
I said "Mama Mama I feel sick.
Call the doctor quick quick quick/
Doctor Doctor, will I die?
Close your eyes and count to five.
1-2-3-4-5.
See that house on top of the hill?

That's where me and my boyfriend live.

Cook that chicken. Eat that rice.

Come on baby, let's shoot some ...

Let's shoot...wait. Let's shoot some dice."
--fifth & six grade African American girls at John Dibert Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, collected by Jeanne Pitre Soileau & included in her book Yo' Mama, Mary Mack, and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux: Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play (October 2018)
-snip-
I believe that the words in brackets refers to the action of a girl or the girls who shared this version with the author. The girl/girls hesitated and lowered her/their head because this part of the rhyme was risque.
 
The author (who is White) wrote that her mother remembered chanting this much shorter version of that rhyme in the 1920s (New Orleans, Louisiana)

"I love coffee
I love tea.
I love the boys
And they love me."
-snip-
Soileau also wrote that in the early 1950s she and her White friends jumped rope and chanted that same version her mother chanted.

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M. N.

Michigan

"Hello! I was singing this song and I wanted to learn where exactly it came from and I didn't know that it had so much history! I grew up in Detroit and was born in the year 2000 and the version I grew up with seem to have some mixtures of the examples you provided. The version I grew up with:

I like coffee, I like tea
I like the colored boy and he likes me.
So step back white boy you don't shine,
Cause I'll get the colored boy to beat yo behind.
Last night, and the night before
I met my boyfriend at the candy store.
He bought me ice cream he bought me cake,
He brought me home with a belly-ache.
I said "Mama, Mama I feel sick
Call the doctor quick,quick,quick".
Doctor Doctor shall I die?
Just close your eyes and count to 5.
I said a 1-2-3-4-5, I'm alive.
See that house n top of that hill?
That's where me and my baby gonna live.
Scoop the ice cream cut the cake,
Come on baby let's celebrate!

And sometimes, there'll be a weird ending at the end (which to me doesn't seem to match the flow of the rhyme) that goes:

That's not all, that's not all
My baby drinking alcohol.

 

Overall, this was a very interesting post, got to learn something new today. :)
-Anonymous, January 26, 2019 at 5:36 PM ,https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/racialized-versions-of-i-like-coffee-i.html, 

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New York

"Down, down baby
Down, down the roller coaster
Sweet, sweet baby
I'll never let you go
Chimey chimey cocoa pop
Chimey, chimey pow
Chimey, chimey cocoa pop
Chimey, chimey pop
I like coffee, I like tea
I like a colored boy and he likes me
So lets here the rhythm of the hands, (clap, clap) 2x
Let hear the rhythm of the feet (stomp, stomp) 2x
Let's hear the rhythm of the head (ding dong) 2x
Let's hear the rhythm of the hot dog
Let's hear the rhythm of the hot dog
Put em all together and what do you get
(Clap clap, stomp stomp), ding dong, hot Dog!"
-Yasmin Hernadez; 2004; memories of New York City {Latino/ African American neighborhood in the 1980s; www.cocojams.com [This was the name of my multi-page cultural website that was online from 2001-2014.]

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O. P.

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Q. R.

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S. T

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U. V.

Virginia

"I learned Version of Down Down Baby in virginia in the 90's

Down down baby, down by the rollercoaster
Sweet sweet baby, mama never let you go
Shimmy shimmy coca pop, shimmy shimmy pow!

I like coffee, I like tea,
I like a color boy and he likes me
So step back white boy, you don't shine
I'll get the color boy to beat yo' behind

Let get the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap)
We've got the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap)
Let's get the rhythm of the feet (stomp,stomp)
We've got the rhythm of the feet (stomp, stomp

Lets get the rhythm of the head DING-DONG
(move head side to side)
We've got the rhythm of the head DING-DONG (move head side to side)

Let's get the rhythm of the HOT-DOG
(move body around)
We've got the of the HOT-DOG
(move body around)

Put all together and and what do you get....
clap, clap, stomp, stomp, ding-dong, hot-dog
Say them all backwards and what do you get....
hot-dog, ding-dong, stomp, stomp, clap, clap!"
-GUEST,Down Down baby, 30 May 07, Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097&threadid=63097

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W. X

Washington  (state)

"Down down baby / colored boy version was sang on the school yard at my elementary school in 1977 during double dutch at recess. I never understood the colored reference (iknew what it meant but not how it came to be, bc no one had ever used that term), I was only in 3rd grade, but it seems that it was taught to the younger generation. Oaklake elementary, Seattle"
-Anonymous, March 12, 2013 at 8:59 AM, pancocojams

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".I learned a version of Down down baby that went like this:

own down baby, down by the roller coasters
Sweet sweet baby, I'll never let you go
Shimmy shimmy coco pop
Shimmy shimmy rye
Shimmy shimmy coco pop
Don't make me cry
I like coffee, I like tea
I like the ??? boys, and they like me.

 

Now as I sang this to my daughter, I could not for the life of me remember what the adjective on "boys" was. Having read a bit about the rhyme on your site and on Mudcat, I am now pretty sure that the missing word was "colored". Now, I am white and the little girls who taught me the rhyme were mostly white, and this being the late 80s, in liberal Seattle, I don't think we had any idea what "colored" meant. My guess is that when I grew up and learned about the term and our country's history of racism, I mentally blocked out the "racist" term from my memory of the rhyme. Interesting.

-Emma M; (Greenlake Elementary School; Seattle Washington, late 1980s) ; May 10, 2010; Cocojams.com handclap rhymes[cocojams.com was the name of my multipage cultural website. That website was online from 2001-2014.]
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor Note:

I exchanged several emails with Emma M. She confirmed that the version of this rhyme she remembers stopped after the last line given above. As part of my response to Emma's email, I wrote that the referent "Colored boy" isn't inherently racist. I also wrote that since "Colored" hasn't been used since the 1960s as a referent for African Americans, if any young African American (or if anyone else) used that phrase now, it's very likely that they don't know what it means. That goes double for the phrase "I like a color boy". Children who chant those lines may have been doing so from rote memory, vocalizing the rhythmic utterances without thinking about what the words they are saying really mean.

Emma responded to that email by writing "I agree with you that the term "colored" isn't inherently racist, but as soon as I learned about it, I certainly I would have perceived its use in the modern era by a bunch of little white girls as, at the very least, very embarrassing, if not outright racist."
-snip-
Emma also shared with me that she had talked with another (White) female friend of hers who went to another Seattle school at the same time as she did, and who also remembered saying the line "I like a colored boy" with the "Down Down Baby" rhyme. Emma also wrote that "the 1980s there was bussing and [Seattle] schools were fairly well integrated."

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Y. Z

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ADDENDUM
"The version I grew up on was a little more sexual than violent....

I like coffee,
I like tea,
I like the colored boy and he likes me,
So step back white boy you don't shine,
I'll get the colored boy to beat yo behind,
Last night, the night before,
I met my boyfriend at the candy store,
He bought me ice cream, he bought me cake,
He brought me home with a stomach ache,
Mama, mama, I feel sick,
Call the dictor quiick, quick, quick!
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Close your eyes and count to five,
1,2,3,4,5
See that house on top of the hill,
That's where me and my boyfriend live,
Take some chicken, fry the bread,
Come on baby let's get in the bed,
Come on baby let's do it again ahhh.."
-GUEST, A 70's Child, 13 Oct 07, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4300 ,  Children's Street Songs

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This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

"Kings And Queens And Partners Too" & Other Old Examples Of Jump Rope Rhymes From An African American Woman's 2007 University Dissertation

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents some American English jump rope rhymes along with some folkloric and socio-cultural analysis of those rhymes from Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons' 2007 Georgia Southern University dissertation "Self, Other, and Jump Rope Community: The Triumphs of African American Women." 

The jump rope rhyme examples in this dissertation are from the memories of four African American women* of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1960s.

*The four African American women are the dissertation candidate Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons and three of her female school friends.

Part of this folkloric analysis is from the 1996 American book "The Jump Rope Book & the Jump Rope Paperback" by Elizabeth Loredo (Author), Martha Cooper (Photographer)

https://www.amazon.com/Jump-Rope-Book-Classic-Games/dp/0761104488

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons for her research and writing. Thanks to Elizabeth Loredo and Martha cooper for their book on children's recreational rhymes. Thanks to all those who were responsible for publishing this dissertation online and thanks to the composers of these featured rhymes.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/04/pancocojams-compilation-of-double-dutch.html for Part I of a pancocojams series on Double Dutch rhymes. The link for Part II of that series is given in that post.

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GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THIS 2007 DISSERTATION
"Self, Other, and Jump Rope Community: The Triumphs of African American Women" is a long 2007 dissertation (401 pages, including references) that was written by Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons, an African American woman. This dissertation partly fulfilled Scott-Simmons' requirements for a Doctorate in Education at Georgia Southern University in the United States.

This dissertation provides a scholarly review of the history of jump rope rhymes in general and Double Dutch jump rope rhymes in particular. This dissertation also provides Scott-Simmons' autobiographical remembrances and analysis of her experiences from folkloric perspectives and from her socio-cultural, and political perspectives. In addition, this dissertation includes some responses to interview questions that Scott-Simmons' asked three of her female childhood friends who jumped Double Dutch with her in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1960s.

The words of many of these jump rope rhymes and part of the analysis that is presented in this dissertation are quotes from Elizabeth Loredo's 1996 book " "The Jump Rope Book & the Jump Rope Paperback".

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EXCERPT FROM THIS 2007 DISSERTATION

[Pancocojams Editor's note: The page numbers in this dissertation are found at the bottom of each page and refer to the content that is given before that number.]

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1507&context=etd

"Electronic Theses and Dissertations Jack N. Averitt College of Graduate Studies

Fall 2007

Self, Other, and Jump Rope Community: The Triumphs of

African American Women

Wynnetta Ann Scott-Simmons

Georgia Southern University

[...]

© 2007

Wynnetta Scott-Simmons

All Rights Reserved

[…]

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION TO TRIUMPHANT POTENTIAL

“Hambone, Hambone where you been?

Round the world and back again!

Hambone, Hambone whereís your wife?

In the kitchen cooking rice.

Hambone, Hambone have you heard?

Papaís gonna buy me a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird donít sing,

Papaís gonna buy me a diamond ring.

If that diamond ring donít shine,

Papaís gonna buy me a fishing line.

Hambone, Hambone where you been?

Round the world and Iím goiní again”

[page] 11

[...]

The Hambone, Hambone jump rope rhyme is a story of possibility, of dreams, of hopes, of setting new goals, and of the potential borne of options. It is also a story of community, relation, and survival. The Hambone was passed and shared 'Round the world from pot to pot, neighbor to neighbor to flavor the soup. As it was passed it picked up new flavors and deposited remnants of previous meals. The hambone was passed

[page] 12

bringing fellowship, relation, and connection. To serve the needs of the community, to resist, and to provide sustenance for the struggle, it would keep goiní again.

My grandmother used to save not only the hambone and the pot liquor it seasoned when cooking the collards, but also the grease that remained in the cast iron skillet after frying chicken or bacon. Cooking among the African American community is a combined story of creativity, invention, and survival. It is a story that is passed ëround the world among the community. It is a story of hope and triumph over the daily struggle as a minority that comes to life in the jump rope rhyme - Hambone, Hambone where you been?

[…]

CHAPTER 1

LEARNING THE ROPES

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty,

Nobody leaves the rope empty.

If they do, they shall suffer,

Take an end and be a duffer.

[…]

Personal Jump Rope Game

Tap-whoosh-tap, tap-whoosh-tap, tap-whoosh-tap. The sound of a jump rope hitting the ground is distinctive. It is predominantly a girlís game and is deceptively powerful in is ability to create trans-generational connections with each turn of the rope.

Its power to awaken childhood memories of social connection through a cultural activity and experience only strengthens the sisterhood of expression and definition through movement and word. Learning the ropes requires a commitment of individual style, a desire to connect, and a willingness to let go of self for the greater good of the jump rope session. We each bring parts of ourselves with us to the jump rope session and leave the session transformed through connection. That connective transformation ensures that as the chant states - Nobody leaves the rope empty.

Estelle, Joanne, Theresa and I each jumped rope and sang jump rope rhymes with friends and neighbors in different geographic sections in and around Philadelphia during our childhoods in the 1960s.

[...]

[page] 21

Jump Rope Traditions and Connections

Kings and Queens and partners too,

Here are the things that you must do;

Stand at ease,

Bend your knees

Salute to the east,

Bow to the west,

Shake to the one,

That you like best.

[page] 33

[…]

Jumping rope and jump rope chants are a form of communication that seeks to continue the storytelling traditions of the griot and the djeli as they combine words and action to entertain and to teach. They will be used in this research project as the metaphorical representation of and links to historical resistance and triumph through the creative expression of self and community. Jump rope chants and jump rope communities are generational links of capability, possibility and hope in the chain that seeks to end the discourse of failure and ineptitude that has been applied to the descendants of African royalty.

Each rhyme is a story, an answer to and a connection with questions borne of need, hope, desire, wonder, and social justice promises yet fulfilled. The words and beat of a jump rope chant combine to demand involvement, participation, and action. The call and response connection of the chant is rooted in the African spiritual, the play and work songs recited during slavery (Sale, 1992). The coordination of body and verse, and the challenge of verbal manipulation combine to create a form of connection,

[page] 35

metacommunication and expression...

[...] 

Jumpers, Skippers, and Enders: Autobiographical Roots

Fortune teller, fortune teller,

Please tell me

What do you think,

Iím going to be?

Butcher, baker, undertaker

Tightwad, tailor, bow-legged sailor,

Rock Star, painter, cowpoke, thief,

Doctor, lawyer, teacher, chief!

[page] 53

[…]

We learned lessons through the hidden curriculums of life (Grumet, 1988; Pinar, 2004; Purpel, 1999), outside of the ethnically divided schools and within the confines of our distinct, yet connected neighborhoods. Street games set the standards for competitive spirit, community pride and personal self esteem. Stick ball, basketball, jacks, and marbles all became yardsticks by which to measure and be measured. We were as good as we were and played to be recognized as such. Another activity, which served as a transcendental thread to race and culture, was the jump rope. 

[page] 78

We turned the readings into Hop Scotch chants and jump rope rhymes....I do not remember taking books home from school. I remember needing to share books with classmates. In addition to homework, I remember replaying the lessons learned in class in our games out on the playground during school recess and after school at home. History, Math, and Geography lessons became jump rope rhymes. Book facts, were played out and reinforced in the rhymes.

The verbal, repetitive practice of the jump rope rhymes also served to support our Reading and Language Arts development....

Our jump rope rhymes were filled with life lessons, history lessons, and math lessons. Surrounded by the beat and security of the ropes we learned what was expected of us; we learned what it would take to succeed; we learned the value of a good education; we learned what it felt like to be special and loved; we learned about trust, motivation, dedication and grit.

Banana, banana, banana split

What did you get in arithmetic?

Banana, banana, banana free

What did you get in geometry?

We succeeded in the lessons provided by our neighborhood teachers... We were determined to be the people that our teachers knew we could be.

[page] 79

[...]

We learned our lessons well and made promises to do our teachers proud.

Here comes teacher -

Better think quick!

Now itís time for arithmetic

1 and 1 are 2

2 and 2 are 4

3 and 3 are 6

4 and 4 are 8

[...]

[page] 80

[...].

Through the Tunnel Jumping: Rememory

Mother ran the butcher shop,

Father cut the meat.

I was just their little kid,

Running cross the street.

How many times do I cross?

[page] 90

One, two, three

[…]

Jump rope chants have the power to take us back, to awaken the memory and call us back not only in chronological time, but also in cultural time. Remembered Double Dutch sessions bring to mind other street games, memories of friends at the time, water ice, soft pretzels, stoop confinements due to some violation of a parental rule, plaits rather than braids, and feelings of safety. The rhymes, the repetitions, and the memories they stimulate, serve as a verbal link to a period in time when you were guided by generational expectations and shaped by the wants, wishes, and gonna beís shared with friends, family, and community members.

[…]

[page] 91

Baking Bread: Jump Rope Comm-Unity

All in together girls,

How is the weather girls?

Please jump in

All in together,

Very fine weather,

I see teacher

Looking out the wind-er

Ding dong, fire drill!

[page] 99

Ding dong, fire drill!

[…]

When jumpers play Baking Bread (Loredo, 1996) they bring a prop with them into the ropes. The prop is left between the ropes for the next jumper to retrieve, jump with and then leave as they exit the ropes to be replaced by the next jumper. The enders are expected to raise the ropes, if needed, to avoid punching down the prop and to allow time for each jumper to retrieve the prop. The motion and activity is meant to resemble the kneading of dough with several pairs of hands taking up the massaging in succession. 

The baking of bread is an appropriate m metaphor for this game and this activity of connection. Bread is a symbol of fellowship, community, and an opportunity for discussion. It is about sharing and breaking bread together, of dialogue as well as mercy of sharing fundamentally that which is most oneís own. Sharing the word and it has to do with a critical recovery and a critical revision of oneís past, of oneís traditions, of oneís history, of oneís heritage the breaking bread that could lead toward our critical understanding of the past and present and our transformation of the present into a better future (hooks, 1991, p. 2).

[…]

[page] 100

[…]

Alternate-Foot Jumping: Cultural Identity

In the dark, dark world,

There is a dark, dark country.

In the dark, dark country,

There is a dark, dark wood.

In the dark, dark wood

There is a dark, dark house.

In the dark, dark, house

There is a man trying to fix the fuse!

[page] 116

Alternate-foot jumping (Loredo, 1996) involves the raising and lowering of each foot as the rope passes beneath your feet. Balance is required. Awareness of self, awareness of ability, and awareness of positioning within the rope is also a must for success. The ability to hop on one foot while timing the replacement of the other foot at just the right moment requires concentration and responsiveness to the approaching rope.

It also requires an acknowledgement of the attempt at making peace with our personal complexities brought on by the many contradictions of alternate existences.

[…]

[page] 117

[…]

Jump-The-Shot: Resiliency

Angel,

Devil,

Angel,

Devil,

Angel

[…]

Jump-The-Shot (Loredo, 1996) is a version of the jump rope game that requires coping, an ability to beat the odds, and a quick recovery in order to face the next round of challenges. To play, an ender ties a sneaker to one end of the rope and then stands between two players or in the middle of a circle of players. The ender spins while holding the rope close to the ground. The players jump over the attached sneaker as it spins by while chanting, Angel, Devil, Angel. The game continues as the ender spins the rope faster and higher. As each player is ìdoomed to be whatever she misses on, (Loredo, 1996, p. 225) an angel or a devil. Each jumper must, function in the face of pressure not to be labeled a devil, adapt to the changing conditions of the game, and recover quickly in order to clear the approaching sneaker. Each jumper must display some level of resiliency in order to achieve and remain an active participant in the game. 

[…]

[page] 130

[…]

CHAPTER 3

LETíS GET JUMPINí: TOOLS OF THE GAME

Good Morning to you Joseph

Good Morning to you too.

What is your intention?

I want to be a doctor

You canít be a doctor.

I will be a doctor!

Well, Jump shamador my darling,

Jump shamador my dear.

When we played Double Dutch the best type of rope wasnít a rope at all; it was telephone wire. Friends and jumping companions who had relatives employed by the phone company held a slightly elevated status in the world of jump rope. They could more easily get their hands on a length of rope. The rest of us would watch and wait for the phone repairman to visit the neighborhood and the phone repairman to visit the neighborhood and put our begging skills to work.

The wire had enough weight to cut through the air and to hold the rhythm set by the enders. It could also cut legs and arms if you failed to move to the established beat or raise you feet high enough. The wire also came covered in a wide assortment of plastic coatings and graded weights. Most important of all ñ the telephone wire was the best at making the tap-whoosh-tap sound as it cut through the air and hit the pavement.

[page] 136

In addition to the wire rope, you needed a great pair of sneakers. Keds or Converse, especially Chuck Taylorís, were the popular choice during my childhood. One summer my mother failed to understand the associated status in jump rope footwear and
purchased a pair of sneakers affectionately called BoBoís. These were the discount version
of the real things.  My motherís frugality far outweighed my desire to follow the fashion trend. I was severely teased on the first day of their unveiling. Were it not for my jumping skills and my decorative creativity I might have spent the summer sitting on the curb in shame and exclusion. Rather than let my motherís budget sideline me, I combined my needlework skills with some glue and my motherís extra buttons and bobbles to create an original pair of jumping sneakers. While the trend did not catch on, the sneakers were so unusual and my defensive tongue so quick that they were never an issue after that first embarrassing day.

The final requirement for a jump rope session was an interruption-free location.The best locations for a long morning or afternoon of jump rope were paved areas away from foot or car traffic. My friends and I played Double Dutch and jumped rope in the small street, beside my grandmotherís row house in West Philadelphia. The street was too narrow for cars, so we were able to hone our skills for hours on end with few interruptions. We also played on the street in front of our family home close enough to the curb to allow cars to pass and far enough away to prevent the curb from interrupting the flow of the ropes. Style, skill, individuality, and a sisterly togetherness were the consistent tools of the jump rope game.

[page] 137

Mary Mack, All Dressed in Black: Critical Race Theory

[...]

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,

All dressed in black, black, black,

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,

All down her back, back, back.

She went upstairs to make her bed,

She made a mistake and bumped her head;

She went downstairs to wash the dishes,

She made a mistake and washed her wishes;

She went outside to hang her clothes,

She made a mistake and hung her nose 

Mary Mack's existence is one of confusion and incompetence. Try as she might to complete a task, she is faced with one mistake after another. If we were to create a persona of Mary as a Black female, her ineptness would be acknowledged and accepted due to the negative societal construction of race and racial characteristics. Mary, despite her best wishes, as an African American female would have her mistakes highlighted, rather than receive praise and validation based on her honest attempts.

[page] 138

[…]

Oliver Twist, He Canít Do This: Critical Literacy

Oliver Twist, he can't do this,

So whatís the use of trying?

Number One: Touch your tongue.

Number Two: Touch your shoe.

Number Three: Bend your knee.

Number Four: Touch the floor.

Number Five: Wave good-bye.

Number Six: Do the splits.

Good-bye, Oliver Twist.

Language is power. The power exists in the ability to manipulate language in order to communicate and direct. The directions which we receive and respond to, as well as, the directions that we in turn provide speaks to our development of self. Without the power to dissuade through the use of language, we become defined by and live at the mercy of those who do.

We are what we say and do. The ways we speak and are spoken to help shape us into the people we become. Through words and other actions, we build ourselves in a world that is building us. We can remake ourselves and society, if we choose, through alternative words and dissident projects... 

[page] 157

[…]

Tell Me, Tell Me, Tell Me True: Oral History

A my name is Alex,

My sister's name is Anna.

We grow lots of apples

In the state of Alabapple.

B my name is Bonnie,

My brother's name is Brendan.

We grow lots of Belly Beans

In the town of Buffaleen

[…]

[page] 174

This is an example of the type of jump rope rhyme that involves manipulation of the alphabet. While the rhyme requires the ability to think quickly on your feet as you jump, it is also used to tell a story as unique as the jumper. The rhyme also provides the jumper with the ability to self name, self create, and self define in an oral display of language manipulation. Each time the words are chosen and then uttered, they claim a place in the present and leave a marker for memories to return to in the future. If written, captured through interview and with the assistance of modern technology, we are able to preserve the created story of self for others to enjoy and gain examples of knowledge and experience. The oral history of a jumper in session is here for the there of the future through memory.

[…]

Page 175

[…]

Keep the Kettle Boiling: Educational Heritage

In (your town's name)

There is a school,

In that school

There is a class,

[page 183]

 

In that class,

There is a desk,

In that desk,

There is a book,

In that book,

There is a picture,

In that picture,

There is a ghost!

[…]

In the jump rope game called Keep the Kettle Boiling skippers run through turning ropes one after another as their names are called. The two enders set the pace of the game through the speed of the turning rope. They are also responsible for gauging the skill and ability levels of the skippers and matching the pace to suit their needs. The game involves concentration on the skippers who run through in front of you and a connection with the skipper yet to come through behind you. Expected performance is demonstrated and followed as each entering skipper models the behavior set by the preceding skipper who is in turn aware of the model they are establishing for those to follow.’…

[page] 184

Eggbeater: Divergent Literacies 

Aliah jumped in the fire

Fire so hot, jumped in a pot

Pot so little, jumped in a kettle

Kettle so black, jumped in a crack

Crack so high, jumped to the sky

Sky so blue, jumped in a canoe

Canoe so shallow, jumped in the tallow

Tallow so hard, jumped in the lard

Lard so soft, jumped in the loft

Loft so rotten, fell in the cotton

Cotton so white, she stayed all night.

[…]

Page 201

[…]

Eggbeater requires practice and coordination between two distinct and separate jumpers. As the rope of one jumper reaches its highest point, the rope of the other jumper should be passing under their feet. Initially, it is best to practice side-by-side until the timing is just right. Once the individual timing has been established and practiced the jumpers turn slightly toward each other and continue to jump with the ropes just missing each other. (Loredo, 1996). Each jumper is able to establish and perfect their own unique style and technique within the coordinated and choreographed rhythm of the jump rope session. That individual style may be maintained or conveyed through a picture in the mindís eye, an internal song, a personal dance, a beat, a chant, or an expressive fashion. It is through that individual, divergent style that a jumper comes to know and understand their place between the ropes. It is through personal expression between the ropes that each jumper comes to know themselves.

[…]

[page] 202

[…]

Rock the Baby: Segregation

I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more,

There's a great big policeman at the door, door, door.

He grabs you by the collar,

And makes you pay a dollar.

I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more.

[…]

Rock the Baby (Loredo, 1996) jumping rope begins with a solitary jumper and two enders. The enders swing the rope from side to side as the skipper clears the rope. 

There is no turning of the rope overhead, only the raising of the rope for each successive

[page 2017]

jumper. The enders continue to raise the ropes higher and higher until someone misses and is put out of the game.

[…]

[page] 218

[…]

Over the Rainbow: Civil Rights

I was standing on the corner,

Not doing any harm.

Along came the policeman

Who took me by the arm.

He took me round the corner,

And he rang a little bell.

page 232

Along came a police car

And took me to my cell

I woke up in the morning

And looked up at the wall

The cooties and the bedbugs

Were playing a game of ball

The score was six to nothing

The bedbugs were ahead

The cooties hit a homerun

And knocked me out of bed.

[…]

Over the Rainbow (Loredo, 1996) jumping requires the coordination of five jumpers and enders. There is a single jumper in the center who jumps with her own personal rope. On either side of this lone jumper are two enders turning a slightly longer rope over the center jumper. On either side of these two enders are two additional enders with an even longer rope that turns over the other two enders and the center jumper. The three ropes turning in unison creates an impressive vision of twirling ropes and jumpers.

It is a different jump rope vision, an attention grabbing jump rope vision that presents an alternative to the standard form of jumping. It is radical in its methodology yet well

[page] 233

within the bounds of jumping definition. At the center of the multiple ropes is the lone female jumper ñ the whip in the whirlwind (Collier-Thomas & Franklin, 2001, p. 1)

[…]

[page] 234

[…]

Chase the Fox: Desegregation and Integration

Teacher nearly had a fit

When I learned the alphabet.

Seems I wasnít very bright ñ

I could never get it right.

I always got stuck after

A, B, C, D…

[…]

[page] 246

Chase the Fox (Loredo, 1996) is a jump rope game similar to follow-the-leader. The leader, in this case, is the fox. The fox runs through the turning rope and is followed by all of the other players so as not to touch the rope. Once all of the players have run through the fox runs back through the rope in the other direction with all of the players following again. The third time through the fox jumps once and each of the players must also jump once. The fox jumps twice, then three times, and so on with the players repeating the foxís actions. Any player who misses is replaced by an ender and the game continues.

[…]

[page] 247

[…]

Double Dutch: Single Gender Education

All in together girls

its fine weather girls

when is your birthday

please jump in (now really fast)

January, February, March, April, May, June,

July, August, September, October, November, December

All out together girls

its fine weather girls

when is your birthday

please jump out

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc., etc., etc.

Double Dutch (Loredo, 1996) requires twice the work and practice, is twice the challenge, and creates twice the confusion of jump rope. It is also twice as much fun in its 

[page] 257

ability to create twice the excitement. Just as with jump rope, you need two enders, however, Double Dutch requires two ropes instead of one. This means twice the jumping on alternate feet and twice the level of concentration. The enders turn the ropes, which alternate in position with one missing the other much like the beaters on a mixer. The enders turn the ropes with one hand turning clockwise and the other hand turning the rope in a counterclockwise direction. A concerted series of moves, of ups, downs, twists, and turns combine to create a Double Dutch session. Practice and collaboration are required of every member of a Double Dutch session. It is an exercise in creative aesthetics. It is an exercise in perseverance. It is an exercise in the contradictions inherent in concentration.

[…]

[page] 258

[…]

CHAPTER 5

TRIUMPHANT CHANTERS

On a mountain stands a lady.

Who she is, I do not know.

All she wants is gold and silver.

All she wants is Big Fat Joe.

So jump in - - -

And jump out, - - -

On a mountain stands a lady

[…]

The triumphant nature, the triumphant chant of African American women stems from living and gaining knowledge from those experiences. Our unique subjectivity provides an equally unique perspective. It is a knowledge that emanates from living through a marginalized double consciousness as an inside out and an outside in minority female. Our double marginality places us in positions of opposition and stances that cause us to jump in and jump out of daily struggles. Our lived struggles and experiences, our daily quests start from various points of quiet determination and determined silence. Yet, even in our marginal states, just as a jumper between the ropes, we stand at the center of potential. We stand as the focus of refusal. We stand out as the lady who knows what she wants. We recognize that what we want, our silver and gold, rests in recognition and continuation.

[page] 270

African American females stand today upon a mountain of female shoulders built stronger over time through a sisterhood of connection. That connection is the result of struggle and sacrifice, as well as determination and directed movement. As a genderized and racialized group, we possess a connection to that heritage of struggle and resistance due to everyday experiences caused by exclusion, conflict, and denial in a White-male dominated society. As a group of women whose progress has at times been slowed due to oppression and erasure, these women have never lost sight of the need for strategies of resistance on behalf of the race. Anna Julia Cooper, Septima Clark, Maria Stewart, Harriet Jacobs, and Ida B. Wells have provided their shoulders as the foundation upon which we have built our current sisterhood. It is from there at the mountain-top of the present that we are able to view both the past and the future. It is from here that we recognize our claimed positions of privilege as the subject of marginalized states, as a site of radical possibility (hooks, 1990, p. 341) and are able to set the rhythm of the chant to match our personal chants of resistance and triumph.

In my sisters' voices the unique timbre of our particular chant takes shape. Just as the chapters of Iris Jacobís (2002) book, our chant is more than skin deep, is greater than our roots, is person to person, is ourselves inside and out, is a sharing of our sorrows.

Through my sisters' chants our jump rope journey was revealed. In my sisters' chants the pace, the beat, the rhythm, and the rhyme combined to create a unique chant, a unique
theory of struggle, survival, and triumph. In my sisters' chants the stories of our lives combined

[page] 271

our histories, memories, and communities. Our identities were framed by the pace, the beat, the rhythm, and the rhyme; by the question, the determination, the wonder, and the imagination of our unique jump rope chant and session.

[…]

[page] 272

[…]

Baking Bread: The Background of Our Comm-Unity

The jump rope session is set by the pace of the rope. Fast, slow, or something in between, the pace of the ropes determines the development of the session. If the enders turn the ropes with a slow pace the jumpers loose interest; too quickly and motivation is the casualty. The beat is added as a steadying backdrop. It is to the beat that each jumper 

[page] 275

and ender can come home to when the session gets confusing or foreign. The rhythm keeps the ropes moving with interest and personality. The rhyme is the reason for the entire exercise. It is the union of the voices in the chant that creates a collage of the stories that is both physical and artistic; it is the narrative story that unites the members of the session. The pace, beat, rhythm, and rhyme of our early lives was regulated by a circle of community enders; parents, teachers, friends, and classmates. It also set in progress, the movement, and the development of our later and current lives…..

[…]

[page] 276

[…]

Theresa

"Where do I start? Early childhood experiences, huh? I grew up in North Philly. I remember summers when from sun up until sun down all that we did was jump rope.

Thatís why I was so thin back then. Yeah, this title resonates with me. If you say plaits or Double Dutch you know itís an ole school sister talking. Today itís braids and do they even do Double Dutch anymore? We jumped until you couldnít even see the rope. You could hear it because it was that telephone wire. But, you couldnít see it. But, you definitely did not want that thing to hit you. We were in with all the girls on the block if you could jump rope. We jumped Double Dutch, drew the Hop Scotch on the street with chalk, and the boys played stick ball. I remember sitting on the steps and plaiting hair.”

[…]

[page] 287

[…]

Getting In and Out of the Ropes: Alternate Foot Jumping

Each jump rope session has a unique personality that is set by the beat. Whether up on the down, or down on the up, the beat of the ropes combines with the bodily beat of the jumpers and enders to provide the life of the session. The tap-whoosh-tap, the beat, provides the background for the jumps and the pulse of the chant. If the beat is too subtle, enders will fall off of the necessary pace to keep the ropes moving. If the beat is too strong or too overpowering the voices, the individual components, are no longer able to be heard…

[page] 300

[…]

CHAPTER 6

IMPROVISING COMMUNITY AMONG THE ROPES

Everybody, Everybody

Come on in.

The first one misses,

Must take my end.

[…]

Stars Overhead: Interpretation and Significance

The Stars Overhead jump rope game begins with the jumper in a crouched position. The enders begin turning the ropes above the jumperís head. Upon the enders signal the jumper stands up to jump while they simultaneously begin turning the ropes so that they pass below the jumperís feet. Timing, trust, and coordination are major considerations of Stars Overhead. The sense of community exists in the rotation of opportunities; if a jumper misses they take their turn as an ender. There is great significance in the ability of the enders and the jumpers to interpret each other's intent, movement, desire, and capability. Success of the session, much like the stars overhead, hangs on the ability of the team members to assess the environment and make a way through the turning ropes.

[…]

[page] 339

[…]

It is with sincere hope that in our collective and common jump rope session as a social structure that we will arrive at a point where as African Americans will see 

[page] 353

ourselves as kings and queens who are able to stand at ease in the creation of a social reality that includes justice and a story that we like the best.

Kings and Queens and partners two,

Here are the things that you must do:

Stand at ease.

Bend your knees.

Salute to the east.

Bow to the west.

Shake to the one,

That you like best.

[page] 354

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome. 

"Juice Juice, Let's Knock Some Boots" & Four Other Recreational Double Dutch Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update: August 7, 2025

This is Part III of a four part pancocojams series on recreational (street, old school) Double Dutch, with an emphasis on Double Dutch (jump rope) rhymes.

Part III showcases text (word only) examples of five recreational Double Dutch rhymes and provides comments about those examples, including suggesting probably Hip Hop sources for some of those rhymes.

The words to these rhymes are from Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling, by Anna R. Beresin (Univ. Press of Mississippi, May 27, 2011).

Comments about the source of certain of these jump rope rhymes and explanations about the meanings of some of the topical references in those rhymes are also included in this post.

**
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/speculation-about-when-why-recreational.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents my thoughts about the reasons for the demise of recreational Double Dutch with or without chanted rhymes. Part I also includes an excerpt from an online article that provides a general overview about recreational Double Dutch, with emphasis on the years that girls were involved in this activity.

In addition, Part I also showcases four YouTube videos of recreational or competitive sports Double Dutch. A video of Malcolm Mclaren's 1983 song "Double Dutch" is also featured in this post, particularly for its visual documentation of Double Dutch sports teams more than for its South African sourced music. Selected comments about Double Dutch from those videos' discussion threads are also included in this post.

**
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/excerpt-about-recreational-double-dutch.html for Part II of this series. Part II features an excerpt from the chapter "Double Dutch And Double Cameras: Studying The Transmission Of Culture In An Urban School" by Ann Richman Beresin. This chapter is part of the 1999 book Children's Folklore: A SourceBook edited by Brian Sutton-Smith, Jay Mechling, Thomas W. Johnson, and Felicia McMahon (Utah State University Press, originally published in 1995).

In addition, Part II showcases the 1985/1986 McDonald Double Dutch commercial (which is also featured in Part I) as well as two YouTube videos of "Big Mac" performed as a two person and as a four person hand clap game.

**
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/references-to-double-dutch-jump-rope-in.html for Part IV of this video. Part IV provides a partial time line of references to Double Dutch in American and British television shows, movies, commercials, and recorded songs.

This post also showcases one of this commercials: Coca Cola Double Dutch.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Anna R. Beresin for documenting and sharing these examples. Thanks to all those who contributed the Double Dutch rhymes and other examples of children's rhymes that are included in that book. Thanks also to all others who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Double Dutch (jump rope) and jump roping rope in general, particular as those activities relate to African American females.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/08/criminal-minded-double-dutch-jump-rope.html for the closely related pancocojams post "Criminal Minded" Double Dutch Jump Rope Rhymes (Information, Examples, Comments, & A Video)".
 
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE DOUBLE DUTCH RHYMES THAT ARE FEATURED IN THIS POST
The words to these rhymes are from Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling, by Anna R. Beresin (Univ. Press of Mississippi, May 27, 2011).

Here's an excerpt about this book from https://books.google.com/books?id=Wsm-IE3srh4C&dq=Boom+Boom+Tangle&source=gbs_navlinks_s
..."The author [Anna R. Beresin] videotaped and recorded children of the Mill School in Philadelphia from 1991 to 2004 and asked them to offer comments as they watched themselves at play. These sessions in Recess Battles raise questions about adult power and the changing frames of class, race, ethnicity, and gender. The grown-ups’ clear misunderstanding of the complexity of children’s play is contrasted with the richness of the children’s folk traditions."...
-snip-
Anne R. Beresin is also the author of the chapter on Double Dutch that is featured in Part II of this pancocojams series.

****
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF DOUBLE DUTCH RHYMES
The words to these examples are from https://books.google.com/books?id=Wsm-IE3srh4C&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=Boom+Boom+Tangle&source=bl&ots=mYDeDwycGK& "Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling"

These examples are given in alphabetical order and are given without the underlining that was given in the original text for words that are emphasized during the girls' jumping.

Comments about each rhyme are given under that rhyme.

I.
BIG MAC
Big Mac
Fillet Of Fish
Quarter Pounder
French fries
Ice* Coke
Sundae and apple pie
-snip-
*"Ice Coke" is often chanted as "Icy Coke" in hand clap rhymes.

As mentioned in Part II of this series, the rhyme "Big Mac" is very widely performed as a hand clap rhyme in the United States and my sense is that very few children know that it was ever a jump rope rhyme. Instead of the title "Big Mac", I believe that the title "Welcome To McDonalds" is the one that is most often used for this hand clap. That title comes from the introductory words for that hand clap rhyme: "Welcome to McDonalds/may I take your order".

One contributing factor to the popularity of the "Big Mac" jump rope rhyme was probably the fact that it was featured in a 1985 McDonald commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo5DbV0ZKAI.

For some reason, in the hand clap version the line "and the dish ran away with the spoon" is frequently added to the end of that rhyme.

****
II.
BOOM BOOM TANGLE
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Yo Kenya [jumper’s name] yo
Let me see you do the
MC Hammer she said
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang

Yo Kenya yo
Let me see you do the
Bobbie Brown she said
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang

Yo Kenya yo
Let me see you do the
Heavy D she said
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang

Yo Kenya yo
Let me see you do the
Roger Rabbit she said
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang

Yo Kenya yo
Let me see you do the
The Butterfly she said
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang

Yo Kenya yo
Let me see you do the
The Honky Tonk she said
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang


(1992, 1999)
"When an artist’s name was sung -M.C. Hammer, Bobbie Brown, Heavy D-the girls imitated the artist’s style, moves, gestures. The artists are mixed in with a reference to a movie character, Roger Rabbit, and the butterfly, a creature famous for changing his body"

[page 91, 92 in "Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling"]
-snip-
Here are some friendly corrections to Anna R. Beresin's explanations for the let me see you do the" portion of this jump rope rhyme: 

"MC. Hammer" and "Heavy D" were rappers

"Bobby Brown" was an R&B singer

"Roger Rabbit" was an animated movie character but in African American girls' texts "Roger Rabbit" was the name of a Hip Hop/ R&B dance

"the Butterfly" was the name of a Reggae dance that was very popular with African Americans.
(There are lots of references to "doing the Butterfly" in contemporary (1990s) African American girls' recreational rhymes and cheers).

"the Honky Tonk" was probably the name of a R&B/Hip Hop dance that was popular at that time in the Philadelphia area (although I'm not familiar with that dance).

Also, I wonder if Ms. Beresin meant the following by her transcription:
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Yo Kenya [jumper’s name] yo
Let me see you do the
MC Hammer
she [meaning Kenya said]:
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang

Yo [another girl's name] yo
Let me see you do the
Bobbie Brown
she [meaning the girl who is named above] said:
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
Boom boom tangle
tang boom tang
-snip-
And so on, with each "Yo" ___ "yo" being the name or nickname of another girl in the group.

"Yo" here means "Hey".

It's possible that my interpretation of this rhyme is colored by my interest in foot stomping cheers. However, this rhyme meets the characteristics of those cheers, including the beginning lines "Boom boom tangle".

****
III.
D.I.S.H. CHOICE
D.I.S.H. choice, do your footsies
D.I.S.H. choice, up the ladder
D.I.S.H. choice do your hopsies
D.I.S.H. choice do your turnsies
1, 2, and 3, and a 1, 2, and 3
Hop, 1, 2, and 3
Jump, 1, 2, and 3

{At choice* the jumper can do "what she wants")

(1992, 1999)
-snip-

[page 94 in "Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling"]
-snip-
[Added August 7, 2017]

Here's some information about and another example of the rhyme "D.I.S.H. CHOICE":
"Some Jump Rope Rimes From South Philadelphia" by Roger D. Abrahams in Keystone Folklore Quarterly, Volume 8, Spring Issue 1963, edited by Simon Bronner

page 5
"In the game with two “enders”, there are three standard ways of turning the ropes, “single”, double Dutch”, “Irish or “double Irish” (the same as double-dutch only underhanded and much more difficult). The most common types are the counting games...

[...]


Page 8
D. I.S. H. Choice
This is a jump that allows you to pick which way you want the rope turned. “D” stand for “Double Dutch”, “I” for “Irish”, “S” for single turn, “H” for “hop”, and “choice” is for any of the previous four.
The one you miss on is the one you must do.

D.I. S. H choice
D.I. S. H choice
D.I. S. H choice
H O P, hop
1, 2, 3"

****
IV.
HEY DJ
Hey DJ let's sing that song
Keep a footin'
All night long
Hey DJ let's sing that song
Keep a hoppin'
All night long
Hey DJ let's sing that song
Keep a turnin'
All night long
Hey DJ let's sing that song
Keep a clappin'
All night long
(1992)

The body had to show "endurance" all night long and it had to show style and "get loose". Jumpers had to be disciplined "on time", and flexible ("Do it right").
-snip-
[page 94 in "Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling"]
-snip-
The Double Dutch rhyme "Hey DJ" undoubtedly has its source in the hit 1984 Hip Hop record with that same title.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_DJ
"Hey! DJ" is a song by The World's Famous Supreme Team. Writing is credited to Larry Price (Sedivine the Mastermind) & Ronald Larkins Jr. (Just Allah the Superstar) and it was produced by Stephen Hague. Released on 12" in 1984 on Island Records, there were three mixes included.[1] The song refers with small lyric parts to McLaren & Supreme Team's previous hit, "Buffalo Gals", which the group featured on. "Hey DJ" peaked at number fifteen on the US soul chart.[2]

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5D1bgGetRY for a video of that song which includes the words "Keep em dancing all night."

By the way, the word "a" in this example and in most African American vernacular examples is pronounced "ah".

****
V. BOOTS
Juice Juice, gotta get loose
We came here to knock some boots 
Foot oh yeah oh yeah
Hop oh yeah oh yeah
BOUNCE oh yeah oh yeah
(1992)
-snip-
Page 95, chapter: Lessons From Old School Rhymes in "Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling"

****
SOURCE FOR THE DOUBLE DUTCH RHYME "JUICE JUICE KNOCK SOME BOOTS"
The African American girls' Double Dutch rhyme "Juice Juice Knock Some Boots" has its source in a Hip Hop record which was popular during the late 1980s/early 1990s.

From https://raphiphop.tuneforums.com/thread_view.php?threadID=476
Posted: 07/06/06 02:29 PM
Author: nittigr
Location: USA-GA
Late 80's/poss Early 90's Hip-Hop/Rap Song....
"There was a song out that may have been called 'Knock some boots' or 'We came here to knock some boots'. Does anyone remember this song or know who sang it? Thanks!"

**
Posted: 12/12/06
Author: njoy2day
Location: Philadelphia

[Reply]
Late 80's/poss Early 90's Hip-Hop/Rap Song....
"The song you're looking for is entitled Knock Some Boots by Sam the Beast. "Feel that juice, time to get loose...we came here to knock some boots." He also made, Knock, Knock. "Knock, knock..who's there...knock,knock who's there...Sam I am." A guy named Scooter that works at a music store in Delaware can get it for you if you're interested. I was on the same quest myself!"

**
Posted: 04/02/08 08:28 PM
Author: nittigr
Location: USA-GA

[Reply]

Late 80's/poss Early 90's Hip-Hop/Rap Song....
"YES>>>YES>>> thats the song by Sam the Beast! I know this reply is late...but I just got another reply from this recently so I thought I'd better leave a response so everyone knows."

Thank you!
-snip-
Note there were other rap songs that were mentioned in that discussion that had the title “knocking boots” including Candyman ‘s "Knockin' Boots".
-snip-
"Knocking boots" is (was) an African American Vernacular English term that means/meant "having sex".

****
This concludes Part III of this four part pancocojams series on recreational Double Dutch.

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