from the Rounder Lomax Deep River of Song Series CD, Alabama: From Lullabies to Blues

20. HOPALI (HOP-A-LEE) (AFS 88-93)
Performed by eight unidentified girls (vocals).
Recorded by John A, Lomax and Ruby Terrill Lomax at the Kirby Industrial School in Atmore, Alabama, circa October 1934.

A clapping play song recorded in a schoolyard near Mobile features what is known in the vernacular as "stepping it down," which requires singers to place one foot down without shifting their weight while clapping repetitively. "Hopali" almost certainly comes from "hop light," as in a dance step. Considered to be more than games, songs such as these often contain subversive elements or expressions offering a social critique. Some play songs provided an outlet for resentment and statements of indignation. Performed by both adults and children, they also provided an ambit in which children could enact songs with precocious adult content under socially sanctioned conditions.

Oh, Miss Bell (hopali), (2x)
Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali!) (2x)

When I marry (hopali),
Gonna move upstairs. (Hopali!)
Gonna teach my children (hopali)
How to put on airs. (Hopali!)

Oh, Miss Bell (hopali), (2x)
Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali!) (2x)

Got a range in my kitchen (hopali),
They stay nice and brown (hopali).
Take a man I love (hopali)
To turn my damper down. (Hopali!)

Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali), (2x)
Oh, Miss Bell (hopali), (2x)
Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali!) (2x)

Take a rocking chair to rock me (hopali),
Take a rubber ball to roll me (hopali),
Take a man I love (hopali)
To soothe my mind. (Hopali!)

Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali), (2x)
Oh, Miss Bell (hopali), (2x)
Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali!) (2x)

Oh, Miss Bell (hopali),
Promised me (hopali),
Before she died (hopali)
She'd set me free. (Hopali!)

Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali), (2x)
Oh, Miss Bell (hopali), (2x)
Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali!) (2x)

When I marry (hopali),
Gonna move upstairs. (Hopali!)
Gonna teach my children (hopali)
How to put on airs. (Hopali!)


Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali), (2x)
Oh, Miss Bell (hopali), (2x)
Hopali, Miss Bell, (Hopali!) (2x)


...and the pronunciation is hoppa-LIE