Another very popular parody is Tweeleelee {Rockin Robin}. At least this rhyme appears to have been known to African American children in scattered United States cities since the mid 1970s. Bobby Day recorded "Rockin Robin" in the 1960s, and Michael Jackson recorded the song in the early to mid 1970s. I believe that Michael Jackson's version is the one which spawned the risque children's handclap rhyme. I have collected examples from the 1980s childhood memories of African American women. And Tweeleelee is extremely well known among the groups of African American children I've met with since 1996 to date.

Here's one version of that rhyme:

Tweedleelee
Treetop
Tweedleelee
My Prop
Tweedleelee
Popsicle, popsicle
Your butt stinks.

He rocks in the tree top
all day long
huffin and ah puffin
and ah singin his song.
All the little birds on Jay Bird street
Loves to hear the bird go
TWEET TWEET TWEET

Rockin Robin
Tweet Tweetdalee
Rockin Robin
Tweet Tweetdalee

Mama's in the kitchen
cookin rice.
Daddy's outside
shootin dice.
Brother's in jail
raisin bail.
Sister's on the corner
Sellin fruit cock tail.

I went downtown
to get ah stick of butter.
I saw James Brown
layin in the gutter.
I saw an piece of glass
Stickin in his butt
I never saw a Black man
run so fast.

Source: after-school program, elementary school aged girls and boys; Pittsburgh, PA 1999; collected by Azizi Powell

On the words "fruit cock tail" the girls do a hip switching motion while touching one hip after the other.

Note the similarity of the last two lines from the James Brown verse and the last two lines from the second example of the Barney parody that I quoted in my last post. I'd say that's a floating verse.

Btw, I've been told by some adults and a few children that "butt" is a substitute for the word "ass" in the lines "he had a piece of glass stuck up his butt". That makes sense since "ass" rhymes with "butt". And it shows how children may censor their "playground" rhymes around adults, including adult collectors of children's rhymes.

I assume that James Brown in this rhyme is the once highly popular R&B singer. This provides more documentation of the "old school" date of this rhyme, since not that many 8 & 9 year olds know who James Brown is nowadays. Yet, that name has not been updated.

As to what James Brown has to do with any of this, your guess is as good as mine.