| “Mister Rabbit” Game Song
Call: “Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit, your ears are mighty long!”
Response: “Yes, my Lord, they put on wrong.”
Group: Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine!
Call: “Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit, you’re in my cabbage patch!
Response: “Yes, my Lord, I won’t come back”.
Group: Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine!
Call: “Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit, your tail’s mighty white.”
Response: “Yes, my Lord, I’m goin’ out of sight.”
Group: Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine!
Although “Mister Rabbit” is included in several older books on American folk songs, its African American origin is rarely noted. The song is also rarely written in a call & response style. Yet, I think that this style fits it best. This story song is about a rabbit who is caught by in a farmer’s vegetable garden. How does he explain what he is doing there? How quickly can he think up responses to the farmer’s comments? This song is one of several rabbit songs that used to be very well known among African American children. However, few African American children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (or I would imagine any other urban area) know this song now. Most urban children may have never seen a rabbit besides the Easter bunny or in the petting zoo. Few urban children know what a cabbage patch is. We might be more familiar with the term “small vegetable garden”, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve ever seen one. When a song’s references become outdated or foreign to a population, people are less likely to sing the song, and may eventually forget it all together.
But, on a deeper level, this song is still relevant. I believe that “Mister Rabbit” may have been more than entertainment. Or, to put it another way, the type of entertainment that enslaved Africans taught their children also helped them develop the survival skill of being mentally alert and knowing how to talk their way out of trouble. Given the oppressive nature of slavery and post slavery societies, being able to talk your way out of trouble was sometimes a matter of life and death. “Thinking fast on your feet” was certainly a survival skill that enslaved people needed and it is still needed today. |