The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63097   Message #2370447
Posted By: Azizi
20-Jun-08 - 12:58 AM
Thread Name: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
Boo- south east england, thanks for sharing that rhyme. See this example called "Miss Sue From Alabama" that gives some beginning lines which are often used with the rhyme that you asked about on 06 Jun 08 st- 05:01 PM:

Miss Sue From Alabama {Version #7}
Hi there. I'm from Mississippi and was in elementary school in the late 80's through early 90's. the version of "Miss Sue" I remember was not listed here. I thought I'd help you out. Last time I heard it, I think it had varied ever so slightly from when I was in school, but this is how I remember it: Miss Sue (clap clap clap) Miss Sue (clap clap clap) Miss Sue from Alabama Sittin' in a rocker eatin' betty crocker watchin' that clock go tick-tock, tick-tock-banana-nana tick-tock, tick-tock banana-nana ABCDEFG-wash those stains right out'a my knees MUSHKA, MUSHKA, MUSHKA FREEZE (as fast as you can) 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10! I never got the last part...sometimes the rule was you had to stay still while you counted, and sometimes it was to count the fastest. The most distinct difference I remember is that there were always three claps after "Miss Sue." I hope that was helpful.
-Allison {Mississippi; late 1980s, early 1990s}; 2/28/2007; http://cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes.htm


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Click on that link for more examples of rhymes that begin with that "Miss Sue" line. Your example seems to be a combination of the Miss Sue rhyme and a rhyme that is usually called "All The Girls In France". You can also find examples of that rhyme on that Cocojams page.

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Thanks, Aryana, for sharing those examples here so other people throughout the world can read them. Thanks, also for including how you play them. That way, other people might play them too.