The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #129978 Message #3179830
Posted By: GUEST
01-Jul-11 - 01:57 PM
Thread Name: Childrens singing games
Subject: RE: Childrens singing games
I was born in 1956 and my sister in 1960. We grew up in the urban northeastern USA. Singing was more of a girls' thing back then. One endlessly-repeating song my sister used to sing was
Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack All dressed in black black black With silver buttons buttons buttons All down her back back back She asked her mother mother mother For fifteen cents cents cents To see the elephants elephants elephants They jump so high high high They reach the sky sky sky And she never came back back back And that was the end end end Of Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack All dressed in black black black (etc.)
The music for every line of this song was the same: Tonic, second, third, fourth, fourth, fourth
She was also fond of singing a version of My Little Playmate:
My little playmate Come out and play with me Climb up my apple tree Hee hee hee hee hee hee Slide down my rainbow Into my cellar door And we'll be jolly friends Forevermore forevermore
One song I can remember us boys singing at around age 11 or 12 went to the tune of John Brown's Body:
She waded in the water and she got her ankles wet (repeat 3 times) But she didn't get her wet... yet
In each verse the water would rise another anatomical landmark up her leg until after she had gotten her thighs wet in the previous verse the concluding verse ran:
She waded in the water and she finally got it wet (repeat thrice) Yes she finally got her bathing suit wet!
Back in the 80's a friend's elementary school aged daughter used to chant this:
CIN der RELL ah DRESSED in YELL ah Went upstairs to kiss a fellah Made a mistake and kissed a snake How many stitches did it take?