The line broke the monkey got choked song lyrics

Roy M. Randall

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Dec 9, 1993, 5:35:50 AM12/9/93

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The dub section of UB40's version of "Red Red Wine" has a line which
sounds like, "The line broke, the monkey got choked". This line is
surrounded by lines unintelligible to me. However, I seem to have a
vague memory of a children's rhyme which contained this line and which
might shine some light on what UB40's toaster is saying.

There is a transcription of the lyrics to the song at monkfish.nosc.mil,
but it seems that the transcriber was as confused as I am.

Perhaps someone with a better memory than mine can remember this rhyme
from a long past youth.

In a similar vein:

When I was a child I used to sing a song called "Old Hiram's Goat". The
melody of this song was almost identical to that of the Melodians'
"Rivers of Babylon". Does anyone remember the words?

--
Roy M. Randall, FG |
Inconsequential Systems, Inc. | BEACH YETI! I've got BEACH YETI on my team!
|

Ruth Cross

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Dec 9, 1993, 10:19:02 PM12/9/93

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In article <>, (Roy M. Randall) writes:
|> The dub section of UB40's version of "Red Red Wine" has a line which
|> sounds like, "The line broke, the monkey got choked". This line is
|> surrounded by lines unintelligible to me. However, I seem to have a
|> vague memory of a children's rhyme which contained this line and which
|> might shine some light on what UB40's toaster is saying.
|>
|> There is a transcription of the lyrics to the song at monkfish.nosc.mil,
|> but it seems that the transcriber was as confused as I am.
|>
|> Perhaps someone with a better memory than mine can remember this rhyme
|> from a long past youth.
|>

I used to do a clapping game with these words in it. It wasn't
sung, but chanted --
All the words that end in "ine" are stressed and drawn out
(niiiine, wiiine, liiine)

Three six nine
The goose drank wine
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line
The line broke
The monkey got choked
And they all (lived?) together in a little rowboat
Clap, clap !
(repeat over and over, increasing speed until you miss a clap.
--

Clisby Williams

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Dec 10, 1993, 12:06:33 AM12/10/93

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That's pretty much the way I remember it, except
we said:
"And they all went to heaven in a little red boat"

Clisby

Kevin Mayall

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Dec 10, 1993, 2:04:19 PM12/10/93

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David Dalton

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Dec 10, 1993, 8:01:50 AM12/10/93

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I thought it went "And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat"

----------
Sounds like Tom Waits, but maybe he "sampled" it.
--
David Dalton ------------------------------ <> ------
Dept. of Geophysics & Astronomy, (604) 822-2267
2219 Main Mall, University of British Columbia fax 822-6047
Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z4 home 733-1303

Roy M. Randall

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Dec 11, 1993, 5:19:29 AM12/11/93

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Thanks to all who responded.

I remember reading about a book on the subject of such rhymes years ago.
I think that the author's basic premise was that such rhymes and games
represent a true folk tradition. The interesting thing is that such
rhymes are usually taught to children by other children. Adults, like
myself, usually forget them or remember them improperly. Thus they make
up the folk tradition of a sub-culture based entirely on age.

Abby Sale

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Dec 10, 1993, 7:27:02 PM12/10/93

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On 09 Dec 93 00:05, Roy M. Randall said:

RMR> The dub section of UB40's version of "Red Red Wine" has a line which
RMR> sounds like, "The line broke, the monkey got choked". This line is
RMR> surrounded by lines unintelligible to me. However, I seem to have a
RMR> vague memory of a children's rhyme which contained this line and which
RMR> might shine some light on what UB40's toaster is saying.

Rap's been around a _long_ time. Just mostly underground and largely
obscene. There were a large number of talking "monkey" things that this
line and cadence reflect.

The only one I remember happens to be one of the less objectionable
ones:

The monkey and the baboon sitting on a pole,
The baboon stuck his finger up the monkey's hole.
The monkey said, "Goddamn your soul,
Stick your mother-fucking finger up your own ass-hole."

Essential statement of the human condition!

a=========================================================================
From - |
Abby Sale | ...!{peora!bilver,osceola!alfred}!vicstoy!animece!Abby.Sale
Orlando, FL | "Chat" conference on Intelec, RIME, U'NI, FidoNET.
=========================================================================s

Elaine Charlson - Sun EIS

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Dec 14, 1993, 9:36:16 PM12/14/93

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A couple of good books on the subject were written by a couple called Opie whose
first names I forget. One of them is "The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren" which
is an excellent discussion of the folklore behind the rhymes. The other has a title
some thing like "Rhyming Games" that is not quite up to the standard of the first one
but is still very interesting and informative.

If anyone is interested, I could go home and look up the full title/author/publisher/
ISBN etc.

Elaine.

Elaine Clark

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Dec 15, 1993, 9:10:43 PM12/15/93

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Ruth Cross () wrote:
: There was one game we played that involved a witch, and 3
: visitors, and an exchange of dialog. The younger kids played the
: witch's children and eventually the game became a Red Rover type
: of rescue game. I'd forgotten it until years later, when I ran across
: it in a Revels production with an Appalachian theme.
:
: I still think of those playtimes as something set apart
: from the everyday adult-organized world. Do kids still play
: this way, or has TV taken over that role-playing niche?

TV can't entirely replace the large body of children's games. Even though
TV played a major role in my childhood entertainment, the parents sent us
outside often enough that we had to be inventive. TV has, however, changed
the body of games themselves. Along with the kind of games you have
mentioned, we also played such games as "TV Tag," which obviously was a
response to the new technology.

I'm sure now the games are even more different then they were 15 years
ago. I was walking down the block not long ago and heard several boys
singing a rhyme about how stupid Barney the Dinosaur is. Children as a
whole have to much creativity to let it be bottled by television, although
the TV may well shape their play.
--

Geoff Walters

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Dec 16, 1993, 9:04:38 PM12/16/93

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On 09 Dec 93 00:05, Roy M. Randall said:

> The dub section of UB40's version of "Red Red Wine" has a line which

> sounds like, "The line broke, the monkey got choked". This line is

> surrounded by lines unintelligible to me. However, I seem to have a

> vague memory of a children's rhyme which contained this line and which

> might shine some light on what UB40's toaster is saying.

I don't know the origin of these lines, but Shirley Ellis in her hit "The
Clapping Song" from way-back-when made them famous.

"...and they all went to heaven in a little row boat. Clap hands, clap, clap..."

Geoff

Ruth Cross

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Dec 15, 1993, 1:26:32 AM12/15/93

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|> In article , (Roy M. Randall) writes:
|> >Thanks to all who responded.
|> >
|> >I remember reading about a book on the subject of such rhymes years ago.
|> >I think that the author's basic premise was that such rhymes and games
|> >represent a true folk tradition. The interesting thing is that such
|> >rhymes are usually taught to children by other children. Adults, like
|> >myself, usually forget them or remember them improperly. Thus they make
|> >up the folk tradition of a sub-culture based entirely on age.
|> >
|> >--
|> >Roy M. Randall, FG |
|> >Inconsequential Systems, Inc. | BEACH YETI! I've got BEACH YETI on my team!
|> > |

I was a child in Miles City, Montana in the late 50's, when
TV was just starting to come in. The neighborhood children would
come home from school and immediately go out again until dinner.
There were elaborate games, with strict rules and dialog, passed
down from child to child. I'm sure my parents didn't know the
games. The younger children would have minor roles and learn the
major ones by observation.

There was one game we played that involved a witch, and 3
visitors, and an exchange of dialog. The younger kids played the
witch's children and eventually the game became a Red Rover type
of rescue game. I'd forgotten it until years later, when I ran across
it in a Revels production with an Appalachian theme.

I still think of those playtimes as something set apart
from the everyday adult-organized world. Do kids still play
this way, or has TV taken over that role-playing niche?

Scott Utley

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Dec 18, 1993, 7:24:00 PM12/18/93

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EC-SE>From: (Elaine Charlson - Sun EIS)
EC-SE>Organization: Sun Microsystems (UK)
EC-SE>@Reply-To:
EC-SE>@Message-ID: <2eko9o$>

EC-SE>In article , (Roy M. Randall) writes:
EC-SE>>Thanks to all who responded.
EC-SE>>
EC-SE>>I remember reading about a book on the subject of such rhymes years
ago.
EC-SE>>I think that the author's basic premise was that such rhymes and games

EC-SE>>represent a true folk tradition. The interesting thing is that
such EC-SE>>rhymes are usually taught to children by other children.
Publication #20 of the American Folklore Society:
Jump-Rope Rhymes by Roger Abrahams TEXAS:1969
My children have always been able to identify a few, the index is by
first line

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Rowland Whittet

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Nov 11, 2020, 7:50:02 PM11/11/20

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Three six nine, the Goose drank wine, the Monkey chewed tobacco on the street Frauline,
the line broke, the Monkey got choked, they all came together, you should have seen it bloke!

Ian Jackson

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Nov 11, 2020, 8:07:52 PM11/11/20

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In message <>,
Rowland Whittet <> writes

I remember it was in the 'top hundred' (?) about 40 years ago - and I
actually remembered the words of this version correctly.
https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=3149

Three, Six, Nine, The Goose Drank Wine
Hand Clapping Rhyme

Three, six, nine, the goose drank wine.
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line.

The line broke
The monkey got choked

And they all went to heaven in a little row boat!
--
Ian

David Dalton

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Nov 14, 2020, 6:12:13 AM11/14/20

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Where did the clapping song come from?

Who wrote the clapping song?