Skip to My Lou facts for kids

"Skip to My (The) Lou" is a very old and fun American dance. It's also a popular folk song. People have been singing and dancing to it since the 1840s! It's a partner-stealing dance, which means you get to swap partners while playing.

The poet and writer Carl Sandburg wrote about this game. He said "Skip-to-my-Lou" was a favorite party game. Even Abraham Lincoln, who later became a US President, played it when he was young. He lived in southern Indiana at the time. Some of the verses they sang were "Hurry up slow poke, do oh do" and "I'll get another girl sweeter than you."

John A. and Alan Lomax explained how "Skip to My Lou" was played. It's a simple game where you swap partners, much like in square dancing. The game starts with many couples holding hands. They skip around in a circle. One boy stands alone in the middle of the circle. As the girls skip past him, he sings, "Lost my partner, what'll I do?" He then picks a girl, singing, "I'll get another one just like you." When he takes her hand, her old partner moves to the center. This game is a great way for people to meet and have fun. The song "Skip to My Lou" is listed as number 3433 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

The word "lou" in the song's title comes from an old Scottish word. This word is "loo," which means "love."

How the Song Is Used

In Movies and Music

"Skip to My Lou" was shown in the 1944 movie Meet Me In St Louis. Parts of the song were put together by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. They used tunes from other songs like "Kingdom Coming" and "Yankee Doodle".

Many different artists have recorded this song. Some famous ones include Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Judy Garland, and Nat King Cole. The song is still a favorite for many classic choirs. A popular version was arranged by Paul Busselberg.

In Dancehall Music

The song has also been changed for dancehall music. This is a type of music from Jamaica. In 2009, QQ and Ding Dong released a version. In 2010, the Jamaican artist Serani released his own version. It was called "Skip to My Luu" and also featured Ding Dong. Another version by Serani included Raz n Biggy. In 2011, RDX released a reggae dancehall version called "Skip."

In Cartoons

In an episode of Thomas & Friends, Peter Sam sings a song. It's called "I'm Peter Sam I'm running this line." This song has a tune that sounds a lot like "Skip to My Lou."

Lyrics

Common Version

Here are some of the changing verses:

• Fly in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo.
• There's a little red wagon, paint it blue.
• I lost my partner, what'll I do?
• I'll get another, as pretty as you
• Can't get a red bird, jay bird'll do.
• Cat's in the cream jar, ooh, ooh, ooh.
• Off to Texas, two by two.

Another Version

See also

In Spanish: Skip To My Lou para niños