Gary Glitter (born Paul Francis Gadd, May 8, 1944 in Banbury, Oxfordshire) … Read Full Bio ↴Gary Glitter (born Paul Francis Gadd, May 8, 1944 in Banbury, Oxfordshire) is a rock & pop singer who came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s. His reputation was greatly tarnished and his popularity quickly declined following a child pornography conviction, although he continued to record and release new work until his arrest and conviction on child abuse charges in 2006.

He had one of the longest chart runs of any solo singer during the 1970s. His success as a live performer lasted well beyond the 1970s, and the chant from his hit "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" is a perennially popular stadium anthem at sports events, particularly in the United States. Glitter's 1973 number 1 "I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am!)" also remains one of the better-known songs of its era. He continued to record in the 1980s and 1990s, with his 1984 song "Another Rock And Roll Christmas" being one of the top 30 Christmas hits of all-time. In the UK alone Glitter scored more than 20 hit singles in the UK Top 75, and released more than twenty albums.

In 1999, Glitter was convicted of child pornography offences classifying him as a sex offender under UK law. He went to live in Vũng Tàu in Vietnam in March 2005 and applied for permanent resident status. Glitter then served three years in prison in Vietnam, convicted (in a highly controversial case) of sexually abusing two girls of 10 and 11 years of age, after being arrested on November 19, 2005.

In February 2015, he was jailed for 16 years for pedophilia in the 1970s.

The Clapping Song
Gary Glitter Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Three six nine, the goose drank wine.
The monkey chew tobacco on the street car line.
The line broke, the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat.
Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Slap! Clap Pat!
Clap your hand, Pat it on your partner's hand . . . Right Hand.
Clap Pat Clap your hand. Cross it with your left arm.
Pat you partner's left palm.

Clap Pat, Clap your hand, Pat your partner's right palm
with your right palm again.
Clap Slap, Clap your hand, Slap your thighs and sing a little song.

My mother told me, If I was goody.
that she would buy me a rubber dolly.
My Aunty told her I kissed a soldier,
now she won't buy me a rubber dolly.
(Spoken) Three six nine, the goose drank wine.
The monkey chew tobacco on the street car line.
The line broke, the monkey got choked
and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat.

Clap Clap (Clap your hands and prepare to pat)
Pat (Take your right arm Put your partner's right palm with your right palm)
Clap (Take your hand back and clap)
Pat (Take your right arm, cross your right arm with your left arm. Pat
your partner's left palm with your left palm.)

Clap(Take your hand back and Clap)
Pat (Take your right arm, cross your left arm Pat your partner's right
palm with your right palm.)
Clap(Now back, with a clap)
Slap (Take the pats of your palms and slap your thighs and watch the
fun materialize as you sing this little song. . .

My mother told me, If I was goody.
that she would buy me a rubber dolly.
My Aunty told her I kissed a soldier,

now she won't buy me a rubber dolly.
Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Slap!

Overall Meaning

The Clapping Song by Gary Glitter is a fun-filled kids rhyme that depicts a little story about a goose, a monkey, and a streetcar line. The song describes how the goose drank wine while the monkey chewed tobacco sitting on the streetcar line. But unfortunately, the line broke, and the monkey got choked, and all of them met their end and went to heaven in a little rowboat. The lyrics also include a four-step clapping pattern, where the singer is asked to clap and pat their hands and their partner's hand.

The song's chorus is "Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Slap! Clap Pat! Clap your hand, pat it on your partner's hand, right hand." It includes three claps, two pats, and one slap. The singer is then asked to cross their left arm with their right arm and pat their partners' left palm with their left palm. Similarly, the next verse asks to pat the partner's right palm with the right palm and then clap and slap.

Overall, The Clapping Song is a catchy tune with playful lyrics and a fun clapping pattern that people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy.

Line by Line Meaning

Three six nine, the goose drank wine.
Group of friends sharing drinks and having a good time.

The monkey chew tobacco on the street car line.
A monkey smoking on a public place.

The line broke, the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat.
A metaphor for a group of friends having a good time despite a mishap.

Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Slap! Clap Pat!
Instructions for a clapping game with friends.

Clap your hand, Pat it on your partner's hand . . . Right Hand.
Instructions for the first step in the clapping game.

Clap Pat Clap your hand. Cross it with your left arm. Pat you partner's left palm.
Instructions for the second step in the clapping game.

Clap Pat, Clap your hand, Pat your partner's right palm with your right palm again.
Instructions for the third step in the clapping game.

Clap Slap, Clap your hand, Slap your thighs and sing a little song.
Instructions for the final step in the clapping game, which involves singing a song.

My mother told me, If I was goody. that she would buy me a rubber dolly.
Childhood memory of a promised reward for being well-behaved.

My Aunty told her I kissed a soldier, now she won't buy me a rubber dolly.
Childhood memory of being punished for a perceived wrongdoing.

Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Slap!
Repetition of the clapping game instructions for emphasis and continuation of the game.

Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kay Werner, Sue Werner, Lincoln Chase

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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