Tag Archives: elementary school

Game

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 10
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Gabriel, CA
Performance Date: May 2007
Primary Language: English

When the designated “Simon” says “Simon says” before a command, then the people have to do it.  If he or she simply says the command and the people follow, then they lose the game.  The person who can follow the rules best wins the game.

Victoria plays this game in her elementary school and first learned it from her Kindergarten school teacher.  She says that they played the game every week and the teacher was always “Simon.”  She says that it is a fun game and that the meaning of the game is to win the game.

Since Victoria is only a 10-year-old, her interpretation of this game was simply to win.  The motives of elementary school students show that they do not see any more to a game than a winner and a loser.  She learned this game from a very young age, demonstrating that the spread of folk games start from a very young age in American culture.  Even from grade school, all the teachers teach it to their students in order for them to settle down and concentrate on one thing.  This game could have been created to increase the students’ ability to follow directions.  In order to teach discipline, games such as these and the “silent game” are taught from young. The silent game is not actually a game but a way to convince students to be quiet.  These virtues are taught to children and converted into a game so that the children will obey.  By making following directions fun, grade school teachers can trap their students to listening to them.

The “Simon says” game designates a person to be “Simon,” which is the person in charge of the group.  By having an authority for the rest of the group to listen to, this game creates a hierarchy with the students on the bottom and the teacher at the top.  Learning this game is both educational and fun for the children, especially because it revolves around such a simple idea.

Children’s Rhyme

Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Culver City, CA
Performance Date: April 1, 2007
Primary Language: English

Miss Susie had a tugboat

The tugboat had a bell—ding ding

Miss Susie went to heaven

And the tugboat went to—

HELL-o operator lease give me #9

And if you disconnect me I will

Chop off your behind

Behind the‘frigerator there was

A piece of glass

Miss Susie sat upon it

And it went right up her—

ASS-k me no more questions and I’ll

Tell you no more lies

The boys are in the bathroom

Zipping up their—

Flies are in the meadows

The bees are in the park

Miss Susie and her boyfriend are

Kissing in the

D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K, Dark, dark, dark

–is like a movie, a movie’s

like a show,

A show is like a TV set and that

Is all I—

Know I know my Ma, I know I know my Pa,

I know I know my sister with her

40 meter bra, bra, bra

My mother is Godzilla

My father is King Kong

My brother is the stupid one

Who made up this whole song

Miss Susie had a baby

She named him Tiny Tim

She put him in the bathtub to

See if he could swim

He drank up all the water

He ate up all the soap

He tried to eat the bathtub

But it wont fit down his throat

Miss Susie called the doctor

The doctor called the burse

The nurse called the lady

With the alligator purse

Miss Susie punched the doctor

The doctor punched the nurse

The nurse punched the lady

With the alligator purse

Analysis:

The subject told me that she used to recite the rhyme with all of the other girls at recess in third grade (which is about 10 years ago). She said that the Miss Susie rhyme was one of the most popular rhymes used often in conjunction with hand clapping of various patterns (see above picture for example). When I asked her why this one was so popular, she suggested that it may be because of the length and the melody, which makes it easier to make up intricate clapping routines.

When I first heard the subject recite this rhyme I was immediately taken back to my elementary school. I also did the various clapping routines during this rhyme with my little sister, however mine was a little different, instead of a tug boat mine was a steam boat, as well as several other word choice changes throughout the rhyme. I mentioned this to her, and she nodded saying that within her own school district there were many different versions. I took note of this and looked up the rhyme online and found many different websites citing the rhyme, each one a little different. Some of the rhymes, like the one below, is shorter than the one she and I knew. Also a few of the rhymes had Miss Lucy as the subject rather than Susie. I was surprised as to how many variants there were of this one children’s rhyme. Then I read the website, and it was dedicated to children rhymes of the eighties, and although there was no proof of its birth in the eighties, I think that since its been around for over 20 years, there are many different variants. However each variant still stays true to the melody and the disguised cuss words.

I think that this rhyme was and is still so popular among young girls and boys is because of the cuss words, hell turns into hello, ass into ask, and flies (referring to pants) turns into flies (referring to bugs). I know that little kids are normally not allowed to cuss so this is a way to get around it, without getting into trouble. I also agree with the subject, in the fact that the length and speed of the rhyme was ideal to a good clapping routine.

When I looked up this rhyme I found a wikipedia article on it, in which it gave a list of allusions that use a line or refer to the rhyme in their contents, I have included the list at the bottom of the page. I was surprised at the array of sources that used the rhyme from cartoons like Rocko’s Modern Life and The Simpsons to bands such as The White Stripes as well as comedian Bob Saget.

http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml 4/20/07

Miss Susie had a tug boat,

her tug boat had a bell (ding ding),

miss Susie went to heaven her tug boat went to HELL…o operator

please give me number nine,

and if you disconnect me I’ll cut off your behind the refrigerator

there lay a piece of glass

miss Susie sat upon it and cut her little ASS…k me no more questions,

I’ll tell you now more lies

the boys are in the bathroom zipping up their flies..are in the meadow,

the bees are in the park,

miss Susie and her boyfriend are kissing in the d-a-r-k, d-a-r-k, dark dark dark.

The dark is like the movies,

the movies’ like the show,

the show is like tv

and that is all I know know know, I know I know my ma

I know I know my pa,

I know I know my sister with the 49’rs bra. The bra is for the boobies,

the boobies for the milk,

the milk is for the babies with diapers made of silk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Susie

Allusions

  • Bob Saget sings a similar song at the end of his live comedy act.
  • In the White Stripes song “Hello Operator” (on the album De Stijl): “Hello operator / Can you give me number nine?”
  • In the Self song “Pattycake” (a reminiscence of the narrator’s 1970s childhood, on the album Gizmodgery, which was performed using only children’s toy instruments): Verses 2 through 4 and a modified version of verse 5 as a bridge.
  • In The Simpsons episode Bart Sells His Soul, Sherri and Terri sing, “Bart sold his soul, and that’s just swell / Now he’s going straight to / Hello operator / give me number nine” in Bart‘s nightmare.
  • In The Simpsons episode Fat Man and Little Boy, Lisa and her friend Janey recite this rhyme. An eavesdropping Homer gasps whenever he expects profanity and lets out sighs of relief when they turn out to be innocuous.
  • In South Park, Wendy Testaburger has a similar song (“Miss Landers was a health nut…”).
  • On Rocko’s Modern Life, Rocko and Heffer sing the first few bars of the song on a car trip.

Game – United States

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Redmond, WA
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Sourashtra, Tamil

Down By the Banks

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Where the eeps, ops, sodapops
Hey Mr. Lilypad and went kerplops

Hand clapping games are very popular all over the world. My informant told me about one of her hand clapping games she played when she was young. The above lyrics are what two people sang while they smacked their hands together kind of like “patty cake” hand motions. At the end of the song they would shout freeze and they would hold their positions and who ever flinched or moved would loose the game. She said that she played this game at recess all throughout her elementary school years. She said that she would play this game out of leisure and fun and all her of friends played it.

As I was growing up in elementary school hand clapping games were popular then too. As a guy I would not participate in them but because I had a younger sister I would know a lot about them. There are many variations to this hand game. I can remember at least 5 different hand clapping songs from when I was young and I am pretty sure there were many more. I feel that this game is played predominantly by girls because as children girls are more prone to sing songs play sit down games compared to guys who would play sports and run around. Many variations of this song have not only clapping of hands with the other person but they would also smack their thighs and each other’s heads. This game is probably played all around the world in many different languages.

Song

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 7
Occupation: Student
Residence: Clayton, MO
Performance Date: March 20, 2008
Primary Language: English

Song: Happy Birthday Variation

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too.”

Connor explained to me that he learned this song at his elementary school whenever his class sang happy birthday to one of the students. He said that he learned it at Meramec Elementary School in Clayton, Missouri where he is from. However, he told me that his friends from other areas knew the song as well. A good time to perform this song is at a friend’s birthday party, where many children can get together and sing this version. He knows of other ways to continue the song but he said that this is the most popular between him and all of his friends. Parents tend to laugh at the children for singing this version because it reminds them of their own childhood when they used to sing different versions of songs to joke around.

According to Connor, the students sing as loud as they can so that everyone can hear their version over the other. He said that if people can hear the original version of the song, then their joke is not working. The goal is to embarrass the birthday kid on his or her own birthday. By telling the child that he or she looks like a monkey and smells like one too, Connor said that their friend will feel embarrassed as his or her face will hopefully turn red. But, it ends up being just a big joke for everyone to enjoy.

Connor thinks that this revision of the happy birthday song is a funny way to wish someone a happy birthday. He believes that there are many different versions but this is the one he knows the best. I agree with Connor in the sense that this joke is supposed to make people laugh. It is not supposed to mean that the child literally looks and smells like a monkey. Instead, it just makes him or her laugh. Birthdays are all about having fun with friends and family. This joke helps add to the excitement of turning another year older as a child because it gets everyone involved in the song. This song is great for adults too because although they are older now, the tune will help them remember their days as child singing similar birthday songs.

Song

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 7
Occupation: Student
Residence: Clayton, MO
Performance Date: March 20, 2008
Primary Language: English

Connor Taylor, 7, Male

Caucasian, English, Student

Clayton, MO

20 March 2008

Song: Jingle Bells Revised Chorus

“Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg, Bat mobile lost a wheel, and joker took ballet.”

Connor advised me that he learned this song at his elementary school when he was around five or six years old. He learned the remake of the tune “jingle bells” in Clayton, Missouri, where his school is located. He said he learned it when he overheard many students and even teachers performing the song instead of singing the original lyrics. When I asked him when it is performed, he told me that it is primarily sang in the winter months, especially around Christmas time when many classes are singing holiday jingles in their music classes. He said most students have learned this song and that it is sang regularly to make people laugh and have fun. The rest of the song is performed with quiet voices and proper lyrics but the chorus, which is the remade folk version, is sung loud for all to hear.

When I asked Connor what this song meant to him, he said it really did not have a meaning. Instead, it was just used to poke fun at the classic jingle bells song. Instead of singing the “boring” lyrics as he mentioned, students like to sing different versions to make the performance more exciting. He said it uses comic book characters because that is what students his age are familiar with. If they used any other characters, he said, it would not be as much fun.

The song basically makes no sense as it randomly fluctuates from characters and ideas. It does not go in any particular order as it seems it was only created to rhyme with the original version of the song. In my opinion, the song is just a way for elementary school students to feel rebellious by singing a different version. The song has no meaning but they sing it to stand out and be different from the rest of the group. There is no harm in singing this song but it is usually only sung when students are having fun. In a serious performance in front of parents, I do not believe they would sing this version. Overall, this song encourages students to have fun, but only whenever the timing allows for it.

This song can also be seen in American Children’s Folklore, which is a book written by Simon J. Bronner that discusses many types of folklore. Within this book, there are also many different versions of the “Jingle Bells” tune.

Annotation: Bronner, Simon J. American Children’s Folklore. Little Rock: August House Inc. 1988.