Origins: Bob-a-needle

Subject: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 09:41 AM

I know it's a children's game where an object is passed. I know it's African-American in origin. Does anything know anything else about this? How old, etc?

Subject: LYR ADD: Bob-a-needle
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 09:42 AM

BOB-A-NEEDLE

Oh, bob-a-needle, bob-a-needle,
bob-a-needle;
Where you going bob-a-needle,
bob-a-needle, bob-a-needle
Can't hide, bob-a-needle,
bob-a-needle is a-running;
Better hurry bob-a-needle,
bob-a-needle is a-running;
Going to catch you bob-a-needle,
bob-a-needle is a-running.
Bob-a-needle, bob-a-needle is a-running
Bob-a-needle,
bob-a-needle's NOT a-running!

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 10:49 AM

Bessie Jones's version is on Bessie Jones - Put Your Hand On Your Hip, and Let Your Backbone Slip: Songs and Games from the Georgia Sea Islands [with sound clips].

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jan 04 - 02:30 AM

Here's the entry from Negro Folk Music U.S.A. (Harold Courlander, 1963):

One of the many hiding and finding ring games is "Bob-a Needle," which at least one informant believes was originally "Bobbin Needle." The children form a tight ring, their hands behind them, and rapidly pass an object around the circle. The person standing in the middle, who is "it," tries to locate the moving object. On the lines "Bob-a needle is a-running," the object is in motion. On the lines "Bob-a needle ain't a-running," whoever has possession of it must hold it, and the one who is "it" has a chance to guess its whereabouts. When he thinks he has located it, he calls "You got bob-a."

Well oh bob-a needle, bob-a needle,
And oh bob-a needle.
Bob-a needle is a-running,
Bob-a needle ain't a-running,
Bob-a needle is a-running,
Bob-a needle ain't a-running.

And oh bob-a needle, bob-a needle,
And oh bob-a needle, bob-a needle.
You got bob-a.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jan 04 - 02:40 AM

Here's the entry from Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage (Bessis Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes, 1972):

Bob-a-Needle
it's a game. Of course, it's a play, too, but it's a game, a house game. . . . Or either you can play it outdoors.
"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; she closes her eyes and holds 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 singing the lead line of the song; the players in the circle sing the refrain:

LEAD VOICE (AD LIB)
GROUP VOICE

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-needle,
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.

---

Click to play

---

The lead singer's lines are extemporaneous and can be sung in any order. Mrs. Jones often sang each one twice.
During the singing, the players in the ring pass the bob-a-needle 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 direction 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 around, bob-a-needle!"
This game does not end when someone is caught holding the elusive bob-a-needle. Like most of Mrs. Jones's games that involve "losing," the person caught simply pays a forfeit and/or takes over the center role so that the play can begin again. When the players tire, the accumulated forfeits are redeemed by their owners in a new sequence of play.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: Azizi
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 10:48 AM

Just "for the record", in 1964 Chubby Checker, who is best known for his Twist fame, recorded a R&B version of the African American children's game Bob-A-Needle.

See "Hey Bob-a- Needle": Chubby Checker

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: Mo the caller
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 05:44 PM

Haven't we talked about this before?
I remember a similar game played at children's parties (organised by adults) in London in the 40s.
Called 'Tippit' you stood in a circle holding a string loop with a ring on it. Everyone pretended to pass it on, the person in the middle had to guess where it was, when they found it the person holding it took their place.
No song or rhyme that I remember.
And the person in the middle could tap any hand they chose, and see if the ring was there.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: Azizi
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 05:49 PM

"Haven't we talked about this before?"

It depends on your definition of "we".

;o}

I don't remember talking about this before, and I suspect there are other folks here now who weren't part of a previous conversation.

I also suspect that "pass the object" games are traditional in most cultures around the world. But I'd love to know about other rhymes or chants that were sung with these games.

Subject: RE: Origins: Bob-a-needle
From: GUEST,MarkS
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 11:34 AM

Think the Kingston Trio did "Bob Needle" on one of their albums back in the 60s.