The Clapping Song
The Belle Stars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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.
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!
The Belle Stars' "Clapping Song" is a fun and lively tune about a silly story involving a goose, a monkey, and a broken streetcar line. The song's lyrics are composed of several repetitive lines that give instructions for a clapping game. The game starts with the lyrics "Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Slap!" before giving specific directions for each clap and pat to perform with a partner.
The song then breaks into a verse about the consequences of not being good, with the lines "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." This verse adds an element of humor and playfulness to the song, showing that even as adults, we can still enjoy a childlike game and sense of humor. The song then returns to the repetitive clapping and patting game until it ends with a final "Clap Slap" and the phrase "watch the fun materialize as you sing this little song."
Line by Line Meaning
Three six nine, the goose drank wine.
A group of people were drinking together and they named the drinks according to the counting rhyme.
The monkey chew tobacco on the street car line.
A monkey was seen chewing tobacco on the street car line.
The line broke, the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat.
The monkey choked on the tobacco and died, and the people in the group imagined that they went to heaven in a little rowboat.
Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Slap! Clap Pat!
A rhythmic clapping and patting pattern was created and followed by the group.
Clap your hand, Pat it on your partner's hand . . . Right Hand.
One starts by clapping their own hand and then patting their partner's right hand.
Clap Pat Clap your hand. Cross it with your left arm.
After clapping and patting the right hand, one then claps their own hand again and crosses their arm to pat their partner's left hand.
Pat you partner's left palm.
The previous line ends with patting the partner's left palm.
Clap Pat, Clap your hand, Pat your partner's right palm with your right palm again.
One then repeats the process on the partner's right hand.
Clap Slap, Clap your hand, Slap your thighs and sing a little song.
Finally, one claps their hand and then slaps their thighs while singing a little song.
My mother told me, If I was goody. that she would buy me a rubber dolly.
A rhyme that talks about a mother promising to buy a rubber dolly for her child if the child is good.
My Aunty told her I kissed a soldier, now she won't buy me a rubber dolly.
However, the child's aunt told her mother that she kissed a soldier, and now the mother won't buy her a rubber dolly.
Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Pat Clap Slap!
The clapping and patting pattern starts again.
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
@Gbaljetify
hree 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.
@careymahoney4058
40 years old! Damn, I was 8 when this came out. Made absolutely no sense to me (and prolly still doesn't, lol.) But I loved it and couldn't stop singing it. Three six nine...
@ASleepyTanuki
This song still rocks!
@justinturner4681
Wow. I didn't know there was a video.!
Sweet!
Say.. How you doing Babe? You still around?
@ASleepyTanuki
@Justin Turner for better or for worse. Life’s a nightmare, but I keep on trucking through it. What about you Justin? You doing alright?
@justinturner4681
@Babe Ruthless I used to OTR for Swift. 🤷👍
Times have to get worse for everyone still. Kind of like birth pangs, the world is going through labor.
@leojones22
Dude, you posted this while you were still in the 20th century, eh
@ASleepyTanuki
@leo jones Because I was a kid when it came out in 1983. It still rocks.
@somnay
Definitely brings back memories and I still have this song on 7" vinyl,just haven't listened to it for awhile!
@infiniteinspiration1628
Way to goooooo🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
@jrabbit5473
Long live 80s music 🎶