Oh, so you want this to be a music thread?

Well, I gotta song for you-

BOB A-NEEDLE
{traditional African American children's game song}

Note: parenthesis represent lines sung by group

Bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Better run, bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Better hustle, bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

I want bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Want to find bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Going to catch bob-a-needl
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Turn around, bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

Oh bob, bob-a-needle
{Bob-a-needle is a running,}

from: Bessie Jones & Bess Lomax Hawes "Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs & Stories from the Afro-American Heritage" {University of Georgia Press, 1972, pps. 163-164}

Commentary from "Step It Down" :
"Bob-A-Needle" {bobbin needle?} is for purposes of this game, a pen, a jackknife, or a small stick of wood that can be passed rapidly from hand to hand. All the players but one stand in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder, holding their hands behind their backs. The extra player stands in the center of the ring [circle]; she closes her eyes and hold the bob-a-needle high over her head in one hand. One of the ring players silently creeps up and takes the bob-a-needle from her hand and puts it behind his own back. The center player then opens her eyes and begins to sing the lead line of the song; the players in the circle sing the refrain...

The lead singer's lines are extemporaneous and can be sung in any order...During the singing, the players in the ring [forming the circle] from hand to hand, trying to move as little as possible in order not to make its location obvious. Bob-a-needle may travel clockwise or counterclockwise, and the players may reverse directions at will. The center player meanwhile reaches around the waist and feels the hands of each ring player in turn; she too may go in either direction, but she may not skip players nor run back and forth across the ring. When the center player reverses the direction of her search, she must signal this with the lead line,
"Turn, bob-a-needle!"

This game does not end when someone is caught holding the elusive bob-a-needle. Like most of Mrs [Bessie] Jones' games [from the Georgia Sea Isle Gullah tradition]that involve 'losing', the person simply pays a forfeit and/or takes over the center role so that can begin again. When the players tire, the accumulated forfeits are redeemed by the owners in a new sequence of play."