The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101762 Message #2056342
Posted By: Azizi
19-May-07 - 08:38 AM
Thread Name: BS: Does Being Dark Matter?
Subject: RE: BS: Does Being Dark Matter?
Here's a Mudcat repost of a children's rhyme which mentions race
Subject: RE: I'm Rubber . You're Glue: Children's Rhymes From: GUEST,Pazzion - PM Date: 26 May 05 - 09:23 AM
I remember Down Down Baby Down Down the rollercoaster Sweet Sweet Baby I'll never let you go Shimmy shimmy cocoa puff shimmy shimmy I Shimmy shimmy cocoa puff shimmy shimmy I I like coffee I like tea I like a colored boy and he likes me so step back white boy you don't cause a cool colored boy gonna bet your behind He'll beat it once he'll beat it twice He'll beat it beat it beat it So let's get the rhythm of the head Ding dong Sho' got the rhythm of the head head Ding dong Let's get the rhythm of the hands (Clap,Clap) Sho' got the rhythm of the hands (Clap,Clap) Let's get the rhythm of the feet (Stomp, Stomp) Sho' got the rhythm of the feet (Stomp, Stomp) Let's get the rhythm of the Hot Dog (While doing the snake) Sho' got the rhythm of the Hot Dog Ding dong, clap,clap,stomp,stomp,Hot Dog
-snip-
It seems to me that the race of the person reciting this rhyme would be pertinent. That person doesn't have to be non-White, but lines that mention race certainly suggest to me that these additions to the standard lyrics for this rhyme came from someone who is non-White.
"Traditional" versions of "Down Down Baby" {also known as Shimmy Shimmy Coco Puff" or some such spelling} had no mention of race and weren't confrontational. Instead, these "traditional" vesions focused on being down by the rollercoaster doing some "shimmy shimmy let's get the rhythm" motions. At least that's the way I remember this rhyme from my childhood in New Jersey in the 1950s.
Here's the earliest example that I've collected of a confrontational version of "Down Down" Baby:
Down, down, baby down by the roller coaster Sweet, sweet baby I'll never let you go
Shemie, shemie coco butter, shemie shemie pop I like coffee, I like tea, I like a black boy and he likes me So step back white boy, you don't shine I'll get the black boy to beat your behind
Last night and the night before I met my boyfriend at the candy store He bought me ice cream he bought me cake He brought me home with a belly ache
Mama, mama, I feel sick Call the doctor, quick, quick, quick Doctor, doctor, will I die Close your eyes and count to five 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I'm Alive! -Tonya T. {African American female}, memories of her childhood in Crawfordville, Georgia {1979 -1987}
-snip-
A Latina woman in New York sent me a version of this rhyme from her childhood in the 1980s which include the "I like a colored boy and he likes me" line but doesn't include the "step back white boy etc/beat your behind" lines.