Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions

Subject: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 12 Aug 05 - 11:05 PM

I am trying to reconstruct a version og "Little Sally Walker" a friend in high school, (30+ yrs) used to sing. She probably learned it from some female folksinger's album. What I remember is somewhat different from all the versions in the DT, sources from googling some of the lyrics, or versions mentioned in several threads on related topics. I'm hoping some one (Azizi, maybe?) might be familiar with this version, know more verses, and know who may have performed it.

Here is what I have. It is a very simple, bluesy melody, with a simple, sultry guitar part.

Little Sally Walker, sittin' in a saucer
Tryin' to get the Old Man to come back home.

chorus (refrain?)

Gotta ride, Sally, ride with your head up high.
Put your hands on your hips. Let your backbone slip.
Shake it to the E-ast. Shake it to the W-est.
Shake it to the one that you love best.
I ain't never, no never been satisfied....satisfied.

Hey Mr. Rabbit, you got a mighty habit
Runnin down the path now where (while?)I can't see.

Gotta ride, Sally....

Thanks.

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST,kirsten anderberg
Date: 12 Aug 05 - 11:10 PM

I do not know this song you are referring to, but I recognize some of the lyrics from a song I saw a video of, from a live show with Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin at the Filmore in the 1960's, the tune was called Spirit in the Dark.

I actually perform that song, Spirit in the Dark...it is a sort of gospel song, but it has a part that says, "It's like sally walker, sittin in her saucer, that's how you do it, so get on up to it, ride, sally ride, put your hands on your hips and cover your eyes, and move, with spirit, come on and move with spirit, are you gettin the spirit, are you gettin it in the dark?"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 12 Aug 05 - 11:26 PM

Hi Kirsten,

    I have stumbled across a number of variants and derivativees (or derivativeers;^), but "Spirit in the Dark" has not been one of them. Interesting!

    I don't think anyone has a good grip on the origin of "Sally Walker" tunes and phrases. It appears that similar lines occur many songs of African-American origin, from children's street rhymes and circle games to field songs, but the version I gave above as sung by my friend is the only version I have ever heard. (And yes, I have tried to track down my old friend.)

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 02:15 AM

As folks used to say "I got a whole heap" of Sally songs. Yep.

First off, as to "Little Sally" 's roots-see this excerpt from Alan Lomax, J.G Elder, and Bess Lomax Hawes' "Brown Girl In The Ring, an Anthology of Song Games from the Eastern Caribbean" [Bew York, Pantheon Book, 1997, p. 140-141}:

"When the popular Trinidadian singer King Radio made a calypso hit of this song [Little Sally Waters] in the 1950s, he was using the most popular of all African American children's song games, playing all over the southern United States and the West Indies. The forces of variation at work in child lore have renamed her "Little Sally Walker" in the United Sttes and "Little Sandy Girl" in Trinidad. But this heroine of black girlhood in the new world has her roots in ancient British lore. Once it was the custom for British brides to step over a saucer of water on the way to their weddings; thus "Little Sally Water" may in its original form be a survival of early European beliefs about water and purification rituals..."

-snip-

I have other references to this early European ritual of stepping over water as a purification or fertility symbol and will look them and post them in this thread later..

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 03:08 AM

Will I ever use the preview feature??? I meant to write "I have other references to this early European ritual of stepping over water as a purification or fertility symbol and will look for them and post them in this thread later"

I would like to get down to business and comment on Janie's friend's version of this game song and also post some versions of "Little Sally Walker" that I have found. BTW, kirsten anderberg, I have a recording of Aretha singing "Spirit In the Dark' and love it!! Little Sally is also mentioned in other popular records..

But before "getting down to the real nitty gritty" I'd like to respectfully disagree with Alan Lomax et.al...Well, "disagree" is too strong a word. Let me put it this way-my sense [as an African American] is that if pre-1960s if there had been a contest between "Miss Mary Mack" and "Little Sally Walker" pre-190060as to who was the most popular [among Black girls], even if "Little Sally" brought in her twin "Little Sally Ann" {more about her later},
"Miss Mary Mack" would win "hands down".

But time marches on and, according to my 'field activities' collecting children's rhymes from African American children [mostly in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area from 1997 to date], I believe that the handclap rhyme "Miss Mary Mack' is far more widely known then "Little Sally Walker", or at least the old game song versions of that song*. This is partly because 'game songs' as recreational activities have long been relegated to pre-school age children [at least since the 1960s], and- among African American children I've worked with and otherwise observed- with few exceptions such as "Goin to Kentucky" and "Punchinella", game songs are usually adult led and adult initiated...

And furthermore, even though I believe that "Miss Mary Mack" is currently [and has been since at least the 1970s] much more widely known than "Little Sally Walker", I definitely wouldn't say that "Miss Mary Mack" is the most popular African American rhyme now...But that's a whole 'nuther subject, and Mary's got her own thread here on Mudcat so I'll not muddy these waters goin off on that tangent...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 03:19 AM

[This is a continuation from the last post]

* There is a contemporary version of "Little Sally Walker" that I've heard in Pittsburgh. Because not many girls seem to know it, I get the sense that this bersion is relatively new. However I saw it performed in one section of Pittsburgh in 1999 and in another quite distance section in 2005. There is also a mention of this version of Little Sally Walker in a Mudcat thread [??? I'll look it up].
I recall that the poster said she saw girls perform it in a summer camp in New York.

The basic words to this version are:
Little Sally Walker
was walkin down the street
She didn't know what to do
so she stood in front of me
and I said
Ooh girl do your thing
do your thing
Stop!
Ooh girl do your thing
do your thing
Stop!

-snip-

Instructions: girls form a circle with one girl in the middle. The girls forming the circle don't hold hands but stand in place while they recite the words to the song.**

The girl who is playing the part of "Little Sally Walker" doesn't sing. While the others sing, she moves around the circle, and eventually [arbitrarily picks some one to stand in front of. When the girls sing "ooh girl do your thing, do your thing" , the girl does a popular social dance of the hip shaking variety..When the girls sing "Stop"!, she stops dancing and starts up again when the other sing again.

BTW, the girl that she is standing in front of is supposed to also dance, but sometimes I've seen others have to remind that girl that she is supposed to be dancing too {another indication to me that this is a relatively new game song]...I also get the impression that,in the grand ole tradition of "Show me your motion game songs [a tradition that I'd bet the farm these girls don't know anything about], the girl who "Little Sally" chose to stand in front of is supposed to exactly imitate the dance that "Little Sally" does.
At the end of the second "Stop" the girl who Sally stands in front of is the next Sally and the former one rejoins the circle. This continues until the girls get tired of singing it, and move on to another 'song', usually a handclap rhyme like "I don't want to go to Mexico No More" or "Tweedleelee"-both of which IMO are definitely much more popular than "Little Sally Walker" or even "Miss Mary Mack".

**When they perform this modern version of "Little Sally Walker" I've also seen girls standing in place in a circle but as they stand in place they also perform a bass sounding "stomp stomp" clap 'step' routine. However, the more I think about it, this addition was probably adult driven. My 32 year old school teacher daughter and I share game songs and rhymes with co-ed but mostly girl elementary school age groups. An integral part of the sessions is 'show & tell' when children have the opportunity to share the songs {as they call rhymes}" that they know. After the girls showed us what I call "Little Sally Walker walkin down the street, my daughter who loooves African American Greek letter steppin, suggested adding the stomp stomp clap step to the song. And the girls loved it. From then on that's how they performed that song {at least in front of us}.

And come to think of it, that 'step' addition is the folk process at work.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 03:56 AM

Okay, I'd like to comment on Janie's first post in this thread.

Like so many children's rhymes {and other African American songs] this song appears to be a number of lines from traditional songs [rhymes] that are strung together with some 'new' words and phrases added..

Let's break it on down:

1. "Tryin' to get the Old Man to come back home with the dollar".
   ...Gotta ride, Sally...

In the book "Shake It To The One That You Love The Best, Play Songs And Lullabies from Black Musical Traditions" {Cheryl Warren Mattox; California Warren Maddox Productions, 1989, p. 8}, version #2 of "Little Sally" mentions the "old man" and "ride Sally ride":

Little Sally Walker, sittin' in a saucer,
Cryin for the old man to come for the dollar.
Ride, Sally, Ride.
Put your hands on your hips
And let your backbone slip.
And fly to the east, and fly to the west,
and fly to the one that you love the bets.
Ah, shake [it] to the east, ah, shake it to the west.
Ah, shake it to the one that you love the best.

-snip-

I think the "ride with your head up high" is a new addition, perhaps prompted by the Black pride/self-esteem movement that talked encouraged individuals to be proud of they are and to hold their head up high [as opposed to holding their head down in a subservient posture]

"put your hands on your hip/let your backbone slip" is a floating verse that describes a certain dance step.

My speculation about the meaning of "tryin to get the old man to come home with the dollar" is that this line is from adult [reels/blues] songs and refers to a woman's husband [or partner] who has made some money that he should be bringing straight home instead of doing other things with it [like going to bars or gambling]...
"My old man' is still used as a referent for one's male lover and it has nothing to do with chronological age, btw.

2}"I ain't never, no never been satisfied....satisfied."
There is a game song/rhyme that was included in Harold Courlander's book "Negro Folk Songs, USA" [or some such title]. I will look it up and post later...

3. "Hey Mr. Rabbit, you got a mighty habit"..
   This is a often published, once very popular but sadly now seldom
   known or performed Rabbit song. It's probably included on some
   Mudcat thread. I or someone else will look it up and post
   later...

****

There's more I would love to say about good ole Little Sally-I mean I haven't even bought her sister "Little Sally Ann" into the discussion yet. But I guess I better slow my roll and give someone else a chance to share their versions of and insights about this song.

But I shall return!


Positive vibrations,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 04:06 AM

I re-read my posts and noted a lot of typos.

Sorry..I hope they don't interfere with understanding the overall content of the posts.

I promise that I will try to get over my aversion to the preview feature...

soon and very soon.


Azizi

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 10:19 AM

Ooh Azizi...you go, Girl!

I'll go check on the Mr. Rabbit line right now. Didn't occur to me before.

Thanks (and more, please, more.)

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 10:32 AM

Found the Mr. Rabbit thread, and one variant does have a line very close to the one I have. I listened to all the midi's for that song and none of the tunes are close to the tune I know for Sally Walker. Any midis for Sally Walker?

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 13 Aug 05 - 10:35 AM

Old Sally Walker, in the DT has a midi, but of course, those files still aren't working. The other two variants in the DT do not have midis attached.

J

---

Click here for the tune at Yet Another Digital Tradition.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 08:10 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 08:50 AM

In 2002 I was priviledged to receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Art in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Council of the Humanities to support my research & writing on art commentary
[children's rhymes]. I had included an essay about Little Sally Walker in my submission for that grant. Here are some excerpts from that essay:

When I was growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1950s, Sally was known as "Little Sally Ann". In parts of the Caribbean, she's known as "Little Sally Waters". And in Trinidad, she's known as "Little Sandy Girl". But no matter what her aliases, in the United States, we played ring games with Little Sally. We had ourselves a lot of fun too. Folks in the Caribbean played circle games with Little Sally, too, although I hear tell that children over there also used to chant about her while jumping rope and doin fancy handclap rhymes.

Little Sally even used to show up in records they played on the radio like that "Spirit In The Dark" one by my girl Aretha Franklin. Listen to her say

It's like Sally Walker
sittin in her saucer
that's how you do it.
Ain't nothin to it.
Rise, Sally, rise.
Put your hands on your hips
and cover your eyes
and move with the spirit in the dark.

....

For example, I work in this after-school program in Pittsburgh and one day I had the nerve to ask them kids if they knew about Sally, and they acted like they had never heard of her. Now that's a low down pity and a cryin shame. So, you know what I did? I took myself off my seat, and told them kids to get themselves up in a circle and then I showed them some Little Sally. I started with the words I learned when I was growin up:

Little Sally Ann
sittin in the sand
weepin and a cryin
for a nice young man.
Rise, Sally, rise.
Wipe your weepin eyes.
Now turn to the East
and turn to the West.
And turn to the very one
that you love best.

....

And then I showed off a little and gave those kids a history lesson. I told them that there was this famous Black singer by the name of Leadbelly (you ever heard of him?) who used to sing "Little Sally" this way:

Little Sally Walker
sittin in a saucer
a'weepin and a'moanin
like a little turtle dove.

....

Well anyhow, I'll tell you what else I told those children. I went waaay back and told them that ring games were used in slavery to teach SURVIVAL skills. Since you never knew when you'd be picked to go inside the circle, you had always to be ready. And then you had to move QUICK in the center of the ring and REAL FAST think up a different dance or motion from any other that had been done before. All this was happenin while the beat kept goin on and the other children kept singin on. But this fast thinkin is not just needed during slavery times. It's still needed now 'cause Black people still have to think quick and move fast when the spirit says move. You know what I'm talkin' bout?

But, wait a minute. Didn't I give those kids some more history!
I bet you didn't even know this. Little Sally Walkers' really WHITE. No, wait a minute. I'm not kiddin. Her real name was Sally Waters and she really came from Europe. How she got started was like this: way back when, a woman who was gettin married had to step over a saucer of water on her way to the wedding ceremony. I swear I'm not making this up. That's how those Little Sally sittin in a saucer words came about. It was a water purification thing. Ain't that somethin? We jumped over brooms, and they stepped over saucers. Anyway, who cares if Sally first came from White people - we made her Black with all those shake to the East let your back bone slip hip shakin motions. Not to mention that Black people are all mixed up with Black, White, Indian, Hispanic, and Asian blood…Anyhow, ole Sally Walker's all right by me. Wherever she came from, she's one of us now. And that's all I'm gonna say on that subject.



Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 10:18 AM

Janie, the lyrics you cite are very close to those of a song called "I Ain't Never Been Satisfied" on Jim Kweskin's album Relax Your Mind.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 10:47 AM

Thanks Bob. I just did a google search to try to find the lyrics, without success. I did find notes on the song though. They say Kweskin and his wife (or sister?) Wrote it, based on children's rhymes--fits right in with Azizi's information! I can also believe that my friend would have, or would have heard, Jim Kweskin's music. I'll Keep looking for the lyrics.

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 11:15 AM

See these comments & lyrics the African American children's rhymes "Satisfied" from Harold Courlander's "Negro Folk Music, USA" {New York, Columbia University Press, pps 150-151; 1966; originally published in 1963}. [Note: I added a few words in brackets for clarity]:

"In the Negro ring game sone shown in Example 18, recorded in Alabama, there are the usual fun-inspired lines without any special significance, but there is an interspersed ironic theme about people who migrate north to better themselves, only to find that their lot has not been improved. This tyype of social allusion is characteristic of adult songs of critical comment, and is found in numerous Negro ring game lyrics. The responsive form of the song is comparable to that of cetain kind of religious or [prison chain]gang singing. The leader sings everything but the last word of each line, which is reserved for the chorus [the rest of the singers]:      

Example 18

SATISFIED
I'm goin up north
sat-is-fied!
And I would tell you
sat-is-fied!
Lord I am
sat-is-fied!
Some people up there
sat-is-fied!
Goin' to bring you back
sat-is-fied!
Aint noth-in' up there
sat-is-fied!
What you can do
sat-is-fied!
Mama cooked a cow
sat-is-fied!
Have to get all the girls [boys]
sat-is-fied!
Their bel-lies full!
sat-is-fied!"

-snip-

[repeat from the beginning, substituting another thing that Mama cooks, such as
"Mama cooked a chicken
sat-is-fied!
Have to get all the girls etc.]"



Azizi

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 11:29 AM

Here is another comment and example from Courlander [p. 152; "Negro Folk Music, USA"]:

"Another ring game {Example 19} with the same response "satisfied" deals with another subject, but like the previous song {Example 18}
the social complaint has a theme somewhat beyond the experience of participating children. Beginning with the line "See see rider"
{a phrase appearing in a number of blues songs, sometimes written as C.C. Rider}, there is a kind of generalized blues statement of discontent, followed by specific criticism:

SEE SEE RIDER {SATISFIED]
See see rider,
satisfied!
What's the matter?
satisfied!
I got to work,
satisfied!
I am tired,
satisfied!
And I can't eat,
satisfied!
Satisfied Lord,
satisfied!

After other lines of nonsense variety, the song admonishes the older generation, seemingly for its double standards:

Mamma Mamma,
satisfied!
Leave me alone.
satisfied!
When you were young,
satisfied!
were you in the wrong?
satisfied!
Papa Papa,
satisfied!
You the same.
satisfied!
You the one,
satisfied!
Give Mamma's name,
satisfied! "

-snip-

This example and the preceding one are included with lyrical transcriptions in Harold Courlander's chapter on Ring Games and Play Party Songs.



Azizi

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 08:17 PM

A couple of clueless rubes posted these messages in a "Sally Ann" thread, but they really belong here.

Thread #13719   Message #747795
Posted By: Mark Cohen
28-Jan-03 - 02:58 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann


I thought you meant this one, a circle game from my kindergarten days:

Little Sally Ann
Sitting in the sand
A-weeping and a-crying
For a nice young man
Rise, Sally, rise
Wipe your little eyes
Turn to the east
And turn to the west
And turn to the one
That you love best

Anybody else remember this? It went with Punchinello and Farmer in the Dell and London Bridge and In and Out the Window...

Aloha,
Mark

---

Thread #13719   Message #747820
Posted By: Joe Offer
28-Jan-03 - 04:10 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann


You're making me feel old, Mark - but in Detroit, it was:


Little Sally Water,
Sitting in a saucer,
...
turn to the east, Sally
turn to the west
turn to the very one that you love best!


..Which has nothing to do with this song, dammit!
-Joe Offer-

---

Here's what's at KIDiddles, with MIDI:

Little Sallie Waters
Sitting on a stone,
Crying and weeping
Because she's all alone.
Rise, Sallie, rise,
Wipe off your eyes,
Fly to the East,
Fly to the West,
Fly to the very one
You love the best!

That's not the tune I remember - I one I know is more like the familiar "neener, neener, neener" tune (also known as "nyagh nyagh nyagh nyagh nyagh").

---

And here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:

Little Sally Walker

DESCRIPTION: "Little Sally Walker, sitting in (a saucer), Cryin' (for the old man to come for the dollar), (Ride, Sally, Ride). (Fly) to the east, (fly) to the west, (Fly) to the one that you love best."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: US(So) Ireland Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber),Wales)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
SHenry H48g, p. 11, "Old Sally Walker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 143, pp. 209-291, "Little Sally Walker" (1 text)
Courlander-NFM, p. 157, "(Little Sally Walker)" (1 text); p. 278, "Little Sally Walker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 392, "Little Sally Walker" (1 text)
DT, LTLSALLY; also SALWALKER (a collection of several songs with this title, some of which belong here)
Roud #4509
RECORDINGS:
Mattie Gardner, Ida Mae Towns & Jessie Lee Pratcher, "Little Sally Walker" (on LomaxCD1703)
Vera Hall, "Little Sally Walker" (AFS 1323 B1, 1937)
Pete Seeger, "Little Sally Walker" (on PeteSeeger21)
Notes: In England, if the collections in Gomme are to be believed, this is about equally known as "Poor Mary Sits A-Weeping" and "Little Sally Walker/Waters." The latter name seems to dominate in the U. S., and so has been used on the basis of plurality. - RBW
File: CNFM157

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions

The Ballad Index Copyright 2005 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

---

And here's a note from my younger sister - I learned this song from her, and she learned it in Detroit in the mid-1950's.

I just read through the whole mess of listings for this song. Here's what I remember:

Little Sally Walker,
Sitting in a saucer.

Rise, Sally, rise.
Wipe out your eyes.

Turn to the East, Sally.
Turn to the West, Sally.
Turn to the one that you love best!

It had something to do with someone sitting down in the middle of the circle, then standing when told to rise, and pivoting one way and then the other, finally pointing to someone, who got to be Sally next.

I don't remember it being a very stimulating game, and the song was pretty sing-song-y. It was definitely a little kids sort of activity, dropped before I ever graduated to jumping rope. Ours must have been the white kids' dumbed-down version.

I think a couple of songs are getting mixed up in the discussion (more than "Mary Mack Mack Mack, all dressed in black", which is definitely a different clapping game), but it's pretty interesting anyway.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Aug 05 - 11:43 PM

Alice B. Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland," part 2, pp. 149-179, has seven tunes for British Isles versions of "Sally Water."

I.
Sally, Sally Water,
Sprinkle in the pan;
Rise, Sally, rise, Sally,
And choose a young man.
Choose (or bow) to the east,
Choose (or bow) to the west,
And choose (or bow to) the pretty girl (or young man)
That you love best.

Gomme provides 48! rhymes, and describes several forms of the game.

A version of the "sitting in the sand" (2nd line) given by Mark, is no. XXV and "sitting in the sander" is no, XXVI.
She doesn't "sit on a stone" in any of the given rhymes.
All of the rhymes are 'ring and sing,' there are no clapping forms of the game.

With regard to the water, she describes an Estonian wedding custom in which the bride, on the morning after the wedding, is taken to make offerings to the water spirit. They make an offering to the spirit, overturn a vessel of water in the house, and sprinkle their bridegroom with water.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 16 Aug 05 - 09:26 AM

Here are the words to I Ain't Never Been Satisfied from Jim Kweskin's 1966 album Relax Your Mind. The LP label composer credits state "new words and music by Marilyn & Jim Kweskin":

I Ain't Never Been Satisfied

Easy rider, whatsa matter
I can't work, and I'm tired
And I ain't never, no never,
Been satisfied

Been to the river, been baptised
That didn't make me satisified
Mama couldn't make me
Papa couldn't make me
I ain't never been satisfied

Old uncle rabbit got a mighty habit
Jumping in my garden, eating all my cabbage
My red tomatoes
My sweet potatoes
If I live to see next fall
Ain't gonna raise no cabbbage at all
And I ain't never, no never,
Been satisfied

Little Sally Walker sitting in a saucer
Trying to get the old man to come back home
Ride Sally ride, put your hand on your hip
Let your back bone slip
Shake it to the east, shake it to the west
Shake it to the dear one you love the best
Little Sally Walker sitting in a saucer
Trying to get the old man to come back home

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Aug 05 - 12:16 PM

Bob the Postman, thanks for those lyrics.

That song can be divided into the following floating rhymes and verses:

1. "Satisfied"
Easy rider, whatsa matter
I can't work, and I'm tired
And I ain't never, no never,
Been satisfied

Been to the river, been baptised
That didn't make me satisified
Mama couldn't make me
Papa couldn't make me
I ain't never been satisfied


2. "[Mr] Rabbit {had a mighty bad habit}"
Old uncle rabbit got a mighty habit
Jumping in my garden, eating all my cabbage
My red tomatoes
My sweet potatoes

3.If I live to see next fall
If I live to see next fall
Ain't gonna raise no cabbbage at all [substitute some other
                                     crop/work]

4. "Little Sally Walker"
Little Sally Walker sitting in a saucer
Trying to get the old man to come back home
Ride Sally ride, put your hand on your hip
Let your back bone slip
Shake it to the east, shake it to the west
Shake it to the dear one you love the best
Little Sally Walker sitting in a saucer
Trying to get the old man to come back home

-snip-

These rhymes and/or floating verses are used in a number of traditional African American children's & adults' secular folk songs. Courlander wrote that "Satisfied" was also used in African American religious songs.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Aug 05 - 01:41 PM

'Easy rider' is the name for a man who is supported by a woman, usually a prostitute. It also has has come to mean a 'client' who is undemanding of a prostitute, e. g. an older man or one with low sex drive.
Who says kids don't know what is going on?

Mr. Rabbit, combined into these versions, is quite old, first mentioned in print by Joel Chandler Harris in "Uncle Remus, His Songs and Sayings." "Mr Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit, your tail's mighty white." "Yes, bless God, been gettin' out of sight." It probably goes back to the days of slavery.

The verse "Mr. Rabbit Had a Mighty Bad Habit" might trace back to "Rabbit Stole the Greens," but also might be sexual in its connotations.

"Satisfied...," recorded by Courlander in the 1960s, undoubtedly is much older. The Example 18 quoted by Azizi from Courlander, as she says, refers to the migration 'up north' to find a better life and is at least as old as the depression days of the 30s. Jazz recordings date from the 20s.

The words and actions of the games are different from those recorded for white children (where they have not disappeared altogether, e. g., the community I live in with mostly single family housing and no groups of children playing together except under supervision at school).

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Aug 05 - 10:11 PM

Q's comments about "C.C. Rider" interested me because I recall reading somewhere that "C.C. Rider" meant "Circuit Court rider" which doesn't help much since I wasn't sure what "circuit court" meant. But apparently this isn't a correct definition for "C.C. Rider" anyway.

See this Answers.com definition of "Easy Rider" that also includes a reference for "C. C. Rider":

"In the early 20th century African American communities with conservative Baptist outlooks the term [C.C. Rider]came to mean a woman who had liberal sexual views, had been married more than once, or someone skilled at sex. The term appears in numerous blues lyrics of the 1920s and many popular early folk-blues tunes had "See see rider" or "C.C. rider" in its title. Confusion over the term or origin as it relates to music has it refer to the back and forth or see-saw rhythm sung by the southern railroad workers a majority of whom were from the south, were segregated, and sung songs in rhythm to the pounding action of their sledgehammers as they laid rail, and to the two-man see-saw piston driven caboose used during that time, another explanation has the term "see see" as a lyrical variation on the term "easy", but there is no denying the fact that the railroad is where Rhythm & Blues music originated. Early uses of the term include the 1924 jazz recording by Johnny Bayersdorffer's Jazzola Novelty Orchestra entitled "I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Riding Now"....

Although the term is similiar to the "See See Rider Blues" song recored by Ma Rainey in 1925, the song and others like it used the loneliness of a rider of the rails or wanderer as a theme in their music, it is coincidence that the Easy Rider movie had wandering motorcyle riders as its characters, and due to the notoriety of the movie the term again acquired another meaning to fit into the cultural morés of the time to mean a good, usually Harley Davidson motorcycle."

MORE HERE

-snip-

See also information about "See See Rider"
in Harry's Blues Lyrics Online

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Aug 05 - 10:19 PM

Hmmm. I'm sorry. I note that Q's comments are about "Easy Rider", and not "C.C. Rider".

But the links to the definitions still provide interesting reading...

BTW, does anyone remember that Morgan Freeman played a character in the PBS children's series "The Electric Company" called Easy Reader?

IMO, that play on the name "Easy Rider" is is a small reflection of how very creative that series was. I was sorry when it was cancelled.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 12:54 PM

This thread is one of the reasons I love Mudcat.

I don't think Kweskin's song is the version that my friend did, but there are clearly many variants and elements to work with here. Think I will allow the "folk process" to continue, and pull together verses and phrases of my own choosing from the many offered.

I wonder why Sally "Waters" was picked up, and persisted in the new world among African-Americans in various forms, but appears not to have persisted in white folk traditions in the new world?

Although we had many songs and singing games as children, they were nearly all jump-rope songs. I never met Sally Walker--not in central West Virginia anyway. West Virginia was settled primarily by people from the British Isles. The very earliest white settlers came up the Potomac watershed from Northeast Virginia, or up the Susquehanna (spelling?)watershed, then to the Monongalia and down the Ohio. A significant number of slightly later settlers, mostly Scots-Irish, moved across North Carolina up into the Appalachians, and into Tennessee, Kentucky and then on to what is now West Virginia. West Virginia had a very minimal slave population, and it was not until the coal industry came into being that many African Americans moved into West Virginia. The state probably still has a lower percentage of people of color than any other state east of the Mississippi. Of course, West Virginia has also probably got the smallest percentage of urban population of any state east of the same. Without neighborhoods of kids playing on the sidewalks, kids rhyming games may not be as likely to persist. There were also many churches, (i.e. primative and old regular Baptist) that thought any form of dancing a frightful sin.

I wonder what combination of the above permitted Sally to travel to Trinidad, but not to West Virginia?

Janie

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 02:12 PM

William Wells Newell, "Games and Songs of American Children," lists "Little Sally Waters" as no. 13 in his book, first pub. in 1883 and reprinted in 1903 (Dover reprint 1963, p. 70). He doesn't say where he collected it, but notes that in north England, her name was Walker (Gomme shows clearly that 'Waters' was most common in the British Isles).
Walker collected mainly from people's memories; the rhyme he cites may have been from a childhood in the British Isles and not from America.

His verse:

Little Sally Waters
Sitting in the sun,
Crying and weeping for a young man.
Rise, Sally, rise.
Dry your weeping eyes,
Fly to the East,
Fly to the West,
Fly to the one you love best.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 02:58 PM

Apparently, Sally Water was fairly widespread in the U. S. and Canada. Some 20 texts were collected and published in the U. S. between 1883 and 1976. Most involve crying and weeping and no other reference to water except one collected in the Southern Appalachians c. 1927, "Rise up, Sally, and tinkle in the pan" (North Carolina Folklore, pp. 130-131). Collected in Canada in 1880 and later.
References given in Iona and Peter Opie, 1985, The Singing Game," pp. 167-171.

Brown (North Carolina Folklore) collected at least one 'Sally Walker' (I only have vol. 5, the music volume, which has only two texts.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 03:19 PM

See this reference to Sally Walters from The Golden Age of Calypso

"Others are more particularistic as in Lion's use of an old children's ring game in Sally Sally Water c recorded in 1937.
Sally Sally Water
(Chorus)
Sally Sally Water sprinkled in a saucer
Ride Sally ride, Sally Sally water
Well when I bumped with a craft, [girl]
And she was a wealthy dame
You can imagine how the Lion made his name."

-snip-

The article includes lyrics from other songs and is quite interesting if you like to read about early Calypso.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 03:39 PM

A good article. I thought several had been posted, but only "Roosevelt in Trinidad" has been entered in Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 03:48 PM

As I indicated upthread [in my post of 13 Aug 05 - 03:19 AM]
in 1999 I observed African American elementary school aged girls in one area of Pittsburgh playing an updated version of Little Sally Walker, and in 2005 I observed elementary school African American girls who performing basically the same game in the same way in a widely separated area of Pittsburgh {"over the river and through the woods" LOL!!-if you know Pittsburgh, you'll get what I'm saying}

The tune for this song is similar to "Ring Around The Rosie", or "Jack Be Nimble Jack Be Quick" [Are those two the same tune??]

See this 01 Mar 04 post from LNL from the Mudcat thread Children's Street Songs

"I was a counselor at a camp about three years ago, and the campers (good-natured high school students) played a surprising amount of games during break time. Not surprisingly, they weren't all innocent little rhymes. For example, Little Sally Walker has been reincarnated! She's now a circle game, with the chant:

"Little Sally Walker,/walking down the street.
She didn't know what to do, so/she jumped in front of me and said:
'Hey, girl, shake that thing,/shake that thing like it ain't no thing.
Come on, girl, shake that thing,/shake that thing like it ain't no thing."

-snip-

PS:
I hope that I haven't done anything against the rules by re-posting this. I've attempted to PM LNL to ask her {him?} for additional information about this rhyme and permission to use it a book on rhymes that I am writing.

If LNL is reading this, please PM me, thanks!



Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 17 Aug 05 - 04:52 PM

I should also add that I got the 2005 example of the "updated Little Sally Walker" from a group of girls who were part of an after school coed group my daughter and I conduct [in various incarnations].
The purpose of the group is to explore the creative & performing arts potential of traditional, contemporary, and originally composed [mine] game songs, rhymes, and chants.

During one session I asked the group of children what games did they do in a circle {I had learned that the terms "game songs" and "rhymes" would elicit no responses}. The only true game song that they mentioned that was not a hand clap rhyme was "Goin to Kentucky." This is off topic but the words they sang with accompanying motions were *

We're goin to Kentucky
we're goin to the fair
to see the sister Rita
with the flowers in her hair.
Oh, shake it Sister Rita
shake it all you can.
All the boys are watching you
so do the best you can.
Rumble to the bottom
rumble to the top
turn around
and touch the ground
until you holler
S-T-O-P
spelllls
Stop!

-snip-

I started to say that I was surprised to learn that these children did not know the standard version of "Little Sally Walker". That version of that old old game song may have finally died out among African Americans [in Pittsburgh area anyway]. I ahould note that my early 30 year old daughter's generation played the standard version. And she and her friends didn't get it from me because I didn't know the "Little Sally Walker" version. I sang the "Little Sally Ann/sittin in the sand" words {which makes perfect sense since I am from the ocean community of Atlantic City, New Jersey}.

* The standard line in "Goin to Kentucky" is "to see a senorita".
However, because there are very few people of Spanish descent in Pittsburgh, children don't know the word "senorita". Therefore they used folk etymology and changed that unfamiliar word to words that made sense to them. In Braddock, PA, a town about 12 miles from Pittsburgh, children sang "to see the Sister Reena".

"Goin to Kentucky" was clearly a girls only song, as evidenced by the children's confusion about what to call the boy who was randomly picked {by the center person closing her eyes, putting her right hand over her eyes, stretching her left arm out and spining around while she points}. Since our game songs/rhyme groups are co-ed we had to come up with a standard name for a boy who might be picked. So we [well, really I] chose the name "Brother Rico" [because it sounded Spanish, and seems contemporary 'hip']. We also changed the line "with the flowers in her hair" to "with the flowers in his hand"-because no self-respecting boy would want to be seen with flowers in his hair...

Besides, I figured maybe the idea about giving flowers to girls would seep into those 5 year old to 9 year old boys' memory banks so that when they got old enough to date they'd automatically remember to give girls flowers.

LOL!!



Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 19 Apr 06 - 11:23 PM

Well, I wrote my own version of "Little Sally Walker" some time back and I am finally getting enough nerve to post it. I used the traditional first verse and the last verse is probably from Jim Kweskin's version (see first several posts to this thread.)

I burned a crude CD and sent it to Bobert. He tells me I've written a 'field holler' in terms of melody and cadence.

LITTLE SALLY WALKER DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS
                                     By Janie Endres 2005

Little Sally Walker, sittin' in a saucer
Weepin' and a moanin' like a turtle dove
Gotta rise, Sally, rise wipe your weepin' eyes
Turn to the east, turn to the west
Turn to the one that you love best
I ain't never, no never been satisfied. Satisfied.

Way down south in southern Louisiana
Mississippi gulf coast and Alabam'
Better run, Sisters, run 'til the storm is done.
Hurricane Katrina roared from the Gulf
Big Muddy rose up. It was a terrible loss
I ain't never, no never seen such a sight. Such a sight.

Over in Biloxi the saints and the sinners
Clingin' to each other hand in hand.
Better pray, Brothers, pray, 'til the break of day.
Gamblin' boats and churches, fishermen and merchants
The storm it spared not a single man.
I ain't never, no never had such a fright. Such a fright.

Little Sally Walker sittin' in saucer
Water to the attics down in New Orleans
Better row, Sally row, or you won't ever know.
Row to the east, row to the west
Searchin' for the ones that you love best
I ain't never, no never been satisfied. Satisfied.

Mother, Father, Sister dear Brother
Sweet Jesus won't you take me by the hand.
Get me out. Get me out, or I'll die no doubt.
Take me to the east, take me to west
Just take me to a place where I can rest.
I ain't never, no never seen life this hard. Life this hard.

Little Sally Walker sittin' in a saucer
Tryin' to get the old man to come back home
Better ride, Sally ride with your head up high.
Shake it to the east, shake it to the west
Shake it to the one that you love best.
I ain't never, no never been satisfied. Satisfied.

Janie

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 09:33 PM

Wow, Janie! Thanks for posting your version.

At times like this I wish Mudcat had an audio feature.
If as you wrote in your post this song sounds like a field holler, that means it's slow, right? And is the last word meant to be repeated by just one person or multiple voices?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

I especially like these verses:

"Little Sally Walker sittin' in saucer
Water to the attics down in New Orleans
Better row, Sally row, or you won't ever know.
Row to the east, row to the west
Searchin' for the ones that you love best
I ain't never, no never been satisfied. Satisfied.

Mother, Father, Sister dear Brother
Sweet Jesus won't you take me by the hand.
Get me out. Get me out, or I'll die no doubt.
Take me to the east, take me to west
Just take me to a place where I can rest.
I ain't never, no never seen life this hard. Life this hard".

-snip-


Thanks again!

Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 09:55 PM

Hi Azizi,

I was hoping this might call you out to play!

It is rather slow, but not wearily so.

I know little about music or genres, and I thought it blues. Bobert said it is a field holler. I googled field holler to get an idea of what he meant, and can see where that fits. But I don't know about field hollers so never really thought about multiple voices.

Which is all a long-winded way of saying there ain't no 'meant' to it.

If it sounded good or sounded right--then multiple voices would be just right!

Janie

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Apr 06 - 07:47 AM

"If it sounded good or sounded right--then multiple voices would be just right!"

Hey Janie, you're a poet and you know it!

Best wishes!

Azizi

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: pavane
Date: 21 Apr 06 - 09:12 AM

The song in the first posting looks similar to the one Stefan Grossman recorded in the 70's (album Ragtime Cowboy Jew) though not exactly the same. It certainly has a simple bluesy feel.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 06:13 PM

Little Sally Walker Was Walking Down The Street She had No Place To Go So She Stopped In Front Of Me

She Said Come On Girly Shake That Thing Shake That Thing Don't Stop
Come On Girly Shake That Thing Shake That Thing Don't Stop

{{Repeat The Whole Things}}

Formation:
Everyone is in a circle.
Captain and Co-Captain Dance Around the Circle untill right before 'She Said..' Captain and Co-Captain each pick one person. They Stop In Front Of them and cheer 'She Said...' but while cheering it they dance and shake. :]

---

Please remember to use a consistent name when you post. Messages with the "from" space blank, risk being deleted.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 12 Dec 07 - 01:35 AM

Here is Ida Goodson's remembered version:

Little Sally Walker
Sittin in a saucer
Rise Sally rise
And wipe out your eyes
Rub your rosy cheeks,
And shake it to the east and shake it to the west
And shake it to the one that you love the best

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST,Duck
Date: 21 Dec 09 - 07:08 PM

When I worked in schoolaged child care back in Washington, DC years ago this was the version the kid's sang:

Little Sally Walker, sitting in a saucer
Crying and a-weepin' her life away.
Rise, Sally, rise. Wipe your eyes.
Put your hands on your hips; let your backbone slip.
Shake it to the east and shake it to the west
And shake it to the one that you love the best.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 08:28 PM

I am Evelyn,......

As a child in St. Louis Missouri, this little chant was said when every one was in a circle. A girl (blindfolded) was always in the middle of the circle. The circle would hold hands and walk around the "little Sally Walker " and chant the rhyme. Little "Sally" would put her hands on her hips, do a little shake with the line came, and at the very end, point (blindfolded) so someone. There would be boys in the circle also. (but never in the middle of the circle) The last line was "shake it to the one that you love the best. When there were boys in the circle and you pointed to one, then you were immediatly dubbed as in love with that boy. If it was a girl, and not your best friend, it could be hurtful to your best friend, (we were so silly). (lol)...etc.

The chant was:

Little Sally Walker, sittin' in a saucer, Rise sally rise, Wipe your weepin' eyes, Put your han's on ya hip, Let ya backbone slip, Shake it to the East, Shake it to the West, Shake it to the one That you love the best.

The blindfolded "Sally" would mime the chant. (mock sitting down, rising up,shaking her little body's hips, or doing a little dance as the circle joined hands and walked or skipped around "little sally walker". When the line "Shake it to the one your love the best" came, she would point her finger in any direction she wanted to, and that's when the fun began! "Sally" would remove here blindfold, to remarks like "oooooo you love such and such if it was a boy, (and every silly little thing that kids say when given an opportunity would come flying out of the "circls'" mouths) lol.

After the laugher and teasing died down, the next "little sally walker" would enter the circle and it would start all over again.

The kids with a fun "attitude" in the middle of the circle or those that made the circle is what made the game funny and fun.

Sometimes, boys were "Little Sally Walker", (they usually cheated so they could point to the little girl they liked...their clowning usually put the Little Sally Walker game to a rest, and we would stary playing hide and go seek, or some other game. Dodge ball, Hop Scotch, kick ball, Tag, Double Dutch or other outside group games.

Enjoy!!

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 09:37 PM

Welcome to Mudcat, Evelyn.

Thanks so much for sharing your information with us. Priceless!

Janie

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 10:30 PM

Upthread, in 2006, I posted words to "Little Sally Walker Down in New Orleans."    I finally recorded it and uploaded it to myspace.

Bob the Postman had referred to "Ain't Never Been Satisfied," by Jim Kweskin in answering my original inquiry. The tune I use for "Little Sally Walker Down in New Orleans." is my best memory of the tune used by the friend mentioned in my very 1st post, and I speculated, after reading Bob's post, that it is possible she learned it from the Kweskin album.

If you have heard the Kweskin song, I'd appreciate it if you would take a listen to LIttle Sally Walker Down in New Orleans, and tell me if it is the same tune. (1st song in player - and I ain't no artist.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Mar 12 - 05:45 PM

Evelyn that is the one that i remember and i am from chicago.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 20 Jul 13 - 01:12 PM

Found a video of Bessie Jones singing and talking about Little Sally Walker. Little Sally Walker Bessie Jones

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 03:48 AM

Didnt stefan grossman do this one?

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Janie
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 06:58 AM

Yes, he did a version on Pleasant Days.

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST,hg
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 07:44 PM

great video janie

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Mar 15 - 08:29 PM

I'm working on this song for inclusion in the upcoming Rise Again Songbook, so I'm playing a number of recordings of the song. I came across one recording I really liked. You know, it was kinda sexy-like, and very mellow....and I thought the voice sounded a lot like Mudcat's Janie.

Turns out, it WAS Janie I was listening to. Great job, Janie!

Are the Mudcat This Is Us CDs still for sale? I think Dick Greenhaus has them at CAMSCO.

-Joe-

Subject: ADD Version: Little Sally Walker
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Mar 15 - 02:31 AM

This is the version I sent to the upcoming Rise Again Songbook. Does it work?

LITTLE SALLY WALKER

Little Sally Walker, sitting in a saucer
Crying & a-weeping over all she has done
Rise, Sally, rise - wipe the tears from your eyes
Put your hands on you hips, let your back-bone slip
Turn to the East, turn to the West
Turn to the very one that you love the best
Shake it to the East, shake it to the West
Shake it to the very one that you love the best
D - - - (6x)

trad. (U.S. play party song).

'Little Sally' sits in the center and acts out the parts of the song. On "turn to the very one," 'Sally' faces the one she chooses. On "shake it to the very one," that person becomes 'Sally..' You can change gender if boys are chosen.

From Step It Down by Bessie Jones & Bess Lomax Hawes.
On Pete Seeger Song & Play Time, Lead Belly Sings for Children.

Please realize that I cannot wax verbose, because space is limited.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST,Sally
Date: 08 Mar 15 - 04:59 PM

I work in an infant center daycare and the other ladies just taught me little sally walker march 6, 2015...the one sitting in the saucer...shaking it to the east and the west and to the one you love best. So i decided to do some research on this rhyme as i had never heard it while growing up. These ladies grew up in S.Carolina, Alabama, and Ohio...so i know it was popular throughout the states. I'm just so surprised that it was so popular and i missed learning it in my childhood. I'm in my late forties now. Ironically, I was a real crybaby....and oh so shy...probably why the kids didn't want me to feel teased. Possibly its a mental block.Lmbo....

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 16 - 07:29 AM

A

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 09:39 PM

This is the way I learned it way back in the 60’s:
Poor Sally Walker
Sitting in a saucer
Cry Sally cry
Wipe your weeping eyes
Put your hands on your hips and let your backbone flip
Oh shake it to the east oh shake it to the west
Shake it to the one that you love the best
Turn to the east, turn to the west
Turn to the one that you love the best!

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 08:21 PM

Watch "Little Sally Walker funk disco version" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/wJ9cVHVKqeA

Subject: RE: Origins: Little Sally Walker Other versions
From: John C. Bunnell
Date: 15 Aug 19 - 02:21 AM

Interesting thread. Here's yet one more lyric to complicate the equation:

"Oh, little Sally Waters, sitting in the sun,
A-crying and weeping for a young man;
Oh, rise, Sally, rise, wipe your eye out with your frock;
That's sung by the babies, a-living on our block."

That's one of the refrains for a song from the 1870s called "The Babies On Our Block", by Ed Harrigan and Dave Braham.

Sheet music from the NYPL here.

Modern recording by Mick Moloney here.