Informant Information:

Alex, 19,  is a student at the University of Southern California studying Interactive Media and Game Design. He lived in Cincinnati, OH  for most of his life until moving to Los Angeles, CA for college. He comes from a Persian(Iranian) background.

Game:

“There’s this game  where everyone sits in a circle and their arms are stretched out so their hands are on top of each other. Then they sing a song and slap the other people’s hands to a beat/word. The song goes like ‘King.. Kong.. jungle.. man.. swinging.. from.. a.. rubber.. band.. slipped.. and.. fell.. and.. cut.. his.. hand.. the.. color.. of.. his.. blood.. was…’ whoever was the last person slapped says a color and they slap their hands for every letter of the color so it’s like B..L..U..E.. and whoever was hit on E leaves the circle, and the game continues until there’s only one person left.”

Q: What happens when there’s only one person left? Do they get anything?

“No they don’t get anything. They get the satisfaction of winning or a high-five. It’s a school yard game.”

Q: How old were you when you played this game?

“Middle school.”

Q: Did you know of any other similar games? Is this version common?

“No I don’t think I heard this exact song outside of my school, but I know that other people played the same game with a different song.”

Analysis:

This playground game seems to derive from another similar game called “Down by the Banks of the Hanky-Panky”. In the original game, the informant’s colors weren’t present. It was only the song, and whoever was slapped to the last beat of the song was considered “out” of the game and had to leave the circle. I couldn’t find the origin of the the original game, but I know that this game is very widespread, with many different versions appearing across the country.

For more information about the original game, see this reference: Emily, By: Sing Books with. “Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky, a funny little circle game or counting song (a Girl Scout Songbook song, too).” Sing Books with Emily, the Blog. N.p., 16 June 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.