Participation dance
People doing the Hokey Cokey at an annual "Wartime Weekend" in the
United Kingdom
The Hokey Pokey, also known as Hokey Cokey in some parts of Australia,
the United Kingdom and the Caribbean,[1] is a campfire song and participation dance
with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well-known in
English-speaking countries. It originates in a British folk dance, with variants
attested as early as 1826. The song and accompanying dance peaked in popularity as a
music hall song and novelty dance in the mid-1940s in the UK. The song became a chart
hit twice in the 1980s. The first UK hit was by the Snowmen, which peaked at UK No. 18
in 1981.
Origins and meaning [ edit ]
Despite several claims of a recent invention,
numerous variants of the song exist with similar dances and lyrics dating back to the
19th century. One of the earlier variants, with a very similar dance to the modern one,
is found in Robert Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland from 1842.[2] The words there
are given as:
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la:
Hinkumbooby, round about;
Right hands in,
and left hands out,
Hinkumbooby, round about;
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la.[3]
A later
variant of this song is the Shaker song "Hinkum-Booby", which had more similar lyrics
to the modern song and was published in Edward Deming Andrews' A gift to be simple in
1940: (p. 42).[4]
A song rendered ("with appropriate gestures") by two sisters from
Canterbury, England while on a visit to Bridgewater, N.H. in 1857 start an
"English/Scottish ditty" thus:
I put my right hand in,
I put my right hand out,
In out,
in out.
shake it all about.
As the song continues, the "left hand" is put in, then the
"right foot," then the "left foot," then "my whole head." . . . [I]t does not seem to
have been much used in Shaker societies.
A version known as "Ugly Mug" is described in
1872:[5]
I put my right hand in
I put my right hand out
I give my right hand, shake,
shake, shake, and turn myself about
A version from c. 1891 from the town of Golspie in
Scotland was published by Edward W. B. Nicholson:
Hilli ballu ballai!
Hilli ballu
ballight!
Hilli ballu ballai!
Upon a Saturday night.
Put all your right feet out,
Put
all your left feet in,
Turn them a little, a little,
And turn yourselves about.[6]
In
the book English Folk-Rhymes, published 1892, a version of the song originating from
Sheffield is given:
Can you dance looby, looby,
Can you dance looby, looby,
Can you
dance looby, looby,
All on a Friday night?
You put your right foot in;
And then you
take it out,
And wag it, and wag it, and wag it,
Then turn and turn about.
Here we go,
Looby Loo.
Here we go, Looby light.
Here we go, Looby Loo.
All on a Saturday
night.
[7]
Some early versions of this song thus show a marked resemblance to the
modern song Looby Loo, and the songs have been described as having a common
origin.[8]
In the book Charming Talks about People and Places, published circa 1900,[9]
there is a song with music on page 163 entitled "Turn The Right Hand In". It has 9
verses, which run thus: "Turn the right hand in, turn the right hand out, give your
hands a very good shake, and turn your body around." Additional verses include v2. left
hand...; v3. both hands...; v4. right foot...; v5. left foot...; v6. both feet...; v7.
right cheek...; v8. left cheek...; and, v9. both cheeks... The tune is not the same as
the later popular version of the Hokey Cokey but the verse is more similar as it states
to "turn your body around." No author or composer was credited.
In recent times various
other claims about the origins of the song have arisen, though they are all
contradicted by the publication history. According to one such account,[10] in 1940,
during the Blitz in London, a Canadian officer suggested to Al Tabor, a British
bandleader of the 1920s–1940s, that he write a party song with actions similar to
"Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree". The inspiration for the song's title that
resulted, "The Hokey Pokey", supposedly came from an ice cream vendor whom Tabor had
heard as a boy, calling out, "Hokey pokey penny a lump. Have a lick make you jump". A
well-known lyricist/songwriter/music publisher of the time, Jimmy Kennedy, reneged on a
financial agreement to promote and publish it, and finally, Tabor settled out of court,
giving up all rights to the number.
In 2008, an Anglican cleric, Canon Matthew Damon,
Provost of Wakefield Cathedral, West Yorkshire, claimed that the dance movements were a
parody of the traditional Catholic Latin Mass.[11] Up until the reforms of Vatican II,
the priest performed his movements facing the altar rather than the congregation, who
could not hear the words very well, nor understand the Latin, nor clearly see his
movements. At one point the priest would say "Hoc est corpus meum" Latin for "This is
My body" (a phrase that has also been suggested as the origin of the similar-sounding
stereotypical magician's phrase "hocus-pocus"). That theory led Scottish politician
Michael Matheson in 2008 to urge police action "against individuals who use it [the
song and dance] to taunt Catholics". Matheson's claim was deemed ridiculous by fans
from both sides of the Old Firm (the rival Glasgow football teams Celtic and Rangers)
and calls were made on fans' forums for both sides to join together to sing the song on
27 December 2008 at Ibrox Stadium.[12] Close relatives of Jimmy Kennedy and Al Tabor
have publicly stated their recollections of the origin and meaning of the Hokey Cokey,
and have denied its connection to the Mass.[13][14] Those accounts differ, but they are
all contradicted by the fact that the song existed and was published decades before its
supposed composition in the 1940s.
Dance across the world [ edit ]
Australia [ edit
]
In Australia, the dance may be called the "hokey pokey" or the "hokey cokey."[15] It
was a hit for Johnny Chester & The Chessmen in 1961. [16]
Denmark [ edit ]
Mostly
performed in the British style of the dance, it is known as the "boogie woogie"
(pronounced ).[17]
Germany [ edit ]
Performed mainly in the carnival in a variation of
the British style of the dance, it is known as "Rucki-Zucki".
Mexico [ edit ]
Released
as a commercial recording by Tatiana (singer) as "Hockey-Pockey".[18]
New Zealand [
edit ]
In the North Island, the dance is usually known as the "hokey tokey",[19][20] or
the "hokey cokey" because hokey pokey is the usual term for honeycomb toffee.[21] In
the South Island it's just The Hokey Pokey.
United Kingdom [ edit ]
Known as the "hokey
cokey" or the "hokey kokey", the song and accompanying dance peaked in popularity as a
music hall song and novelty dance in the mid-1940s in Britain.
There is a claim of
authorship by the British/Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy, responsible for the lyrics to
popular songs such as the wartime "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried
Line" and the children's song "Teddy Bears' Picnic". Sheet music copyrighted in 1942
and published by Campbell Connelly & Co Ltd, agents for Kennedy Music Co Ltd, styles
the song as "the Cokey Cokey".[22]
In the 1973 Thames Television documentary, May I
Have the Pleasure?, about the Hammersmith Palais de Danse, Lou Preager comments on how
his was the first band to record the 'Okey Cokey'.
EMI Gold released a Monsta Mash CD
featuring the "Monsta Hokey Cokey" written and produced by Steve Deakin-Davies of "The
Ambition Company".
The song was used by comedian Bill Bailey during his "Part Troll"
tour, however, it was reworked by Bailey into a style of the German electronic group
Kraftwerk, including quasi-German lyrics and Kraftwerk's signature robotic dance
moves.[23]
The comedy act Ida Barr, a fictional East End pensioner who mashes up music
hall songs with rap numbers, almost always finishes her shows with the hokey cokey,
performed over a thumping RnB backing. Ida Barr is performed by a British comedian
Christopher Green.
United States and Canada [ edit ]
Known as the "hokey pokey", it
became popular in the US in the 1950s. Its originator in the US is debatable:
In 1953,
Ray Anthony's big band recording of the song turned it into a nationwide sensation. The
distinctive vocal was by singer Jo Ann Greer, who simultaneously sang with the Les
Brown band and dubbed the singing voices for such film stars as Rita Hayworth, Kim
Novak, June Allyson, and Esther Williams. (She also charted with Anthony later the same
year with the song "Wild Horses".)
In 1978, Mike Stanglin produced a "skating version"
of the Hokey Pokey, for use in skating rinks.[26][27]
Dance moves [ edit ]
United
Kingdom, Australia and Ireland style of dance [ edit ]
The instruction set goes as
follows:
You put your [left arm] in,
Your [left arm] out:
In, out, In, out
Shake it all
about.
You do the hokey cokey,
And you turn around.
That's what it's all about!
On "You
do the hokey cokey", each participant joins their right and left hands at the
fingertips to make a chevron and rocks the chevron from side to side. After that the
participants separately, but in time with the others, turn around (usually clockwise
when viewed from above – novices may go in the opposite direction to the main group,
but this adds more hilarity to this joyous, novelty dance). The hands are either still
joined together or moved as in a jogging motion – dependent on local tradition or
individual choice.
Each instruction set is followed by a chorus, entirely different
from other parts of the world. There is either a caller, within or outside the group,
or the instructions are called by the whole group – which can add to the confusion and
is laughed off as part of the dance's charm and amusement.
Whoa, hokey cokey
cokey
Whoa, hokey cokey cokey
Whoa, hokey cokey cokey
Knees bend, arms stretch,
Rah,
rah, rah!
The first three lines of this chorus are sometimes rendered 'Whoa, the hokey
cokey', with the 'whoa' lasting three beats instead of two. It can also be said "Whoa,
the hokey cokey cokey".
For this chorus, all participants stand in a circle and hold
hands: on each "Whoa" they raise their joined hands in the air and run in toward the
centre of the circle, and on "...the hokey cokey" they run backwards out again. This
instruction and chorus are repeated for the other limb, then for the upper right, and
then the upper left arm. Either the upper or lower limbs may start first, and either
left or right, depending on local tradition, or by random choice on the night. On the
penultimate line they bend their knees then stretch their arms, as indicated, and on
"Rah, rah, rah!" they either clap in time or raise their arms above their heads and
push upwards in time. Sometimes each subsequent verse and chorus is a little faster and
louder, with the ultimate aim of making people chaotically run into each other in
gleeful abandon. There is a final instruction set with "you put your whole self in,
etc", cramming the centre of the dance floor.
Often, the final chorus is sung twice,
the second time even faster and the song ends with the joyous chant, 'aye tiddly aye
tie, brown bread!'.
United States style of dance [ edit ]
The dance follows the
instructions given in the lyrics of the song, which may be prompted by a bandleader, a
participant, or a recording. A sample instruction sequence would be:
You put your
[right leg] in,
You put your [right leg] out;
You put your [right leg] in,
And you
shake it all about.
You do the hokey pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That's what
it's all about! Yeah!
Participants stand in a circle. On "in" they put the appropriate
body part in the circle, and on "out" they put it out of the circle. On "And you shake
it all about", the body part is shaken three times (on "shake", "all", and "-bout",
respectively). Throughout "You do the hokey pokey, / And you turn yourself around", the
participants spin in a complete circle with the arms raised at 90° angles and the index
fingers pointed up, shaking their arms up and down and their hips side to side seven
times (on "do", "hoke-", "poke-", "and", "turn", "-self", and "-round" respectively).
For the final "That's what it's all about", the participants clap with their hands out
once on "that's" and "what" each, clap under the knee with the leg lifted up on "all",
clap behind the back on "a-", and finally one more clap with the arms out on
"-bout".
The body parts usually included are, in order, "right foot", "left foot",
"right hand", "left hand", "head", "buttocks" (or "backside"), fingers, toes, hair,
lips, tongue and "whole self"; the body parts "right elbow", "left elbow", "right hip",
and "left hip" are often included as well.
The final verse goes:
You do the hokey
pokey,
The hokey pokey,
The hokey pokey.
That's what it's all about! Yeah!
On each
"pokey", the participants again raise the arms at 90° angles with the index fingers
pointed up, shaking their arms up and down and their hips side to side five
times.
Copyright [ edit ]
In the United States, Sony/ATV Music Publishing controls 100%
of the publishing rights to the "hokey pokey."[28]
In popular culture [ edit
]
Advertising [ edit ]
It was used in a 2005 Velveeta Salsa Dip commercial.
Salsa Dip
commercial. In a 1982 radio advert for Video 2000 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, a
character refers to a television called the "Hokey Cokey 2000". [29]
It was used in a
Marvel toy commercial with parody lyrics in the mid-2010s.
It was used in a 2024 Apple
Watch commercial.
Comedy and humor [ edit ]
Comedian Jim Breuer performs the hokey
pokey as he imagines it would be interpreted by AC/DC, commenting on the band's ability
to turn any song, no matter how mundane, into a rock anthem. [30]
Comedian Bill Bailey
performed a Kraftwerk inspired version for his Part Troll tour.
There is a joke about
when Larry LaPrise died, his family had trouble getting him into his coffin ("they put
his left leg in, and that's where the tragedy began…").[ citation needed ]
Music [ edit
]
(Alphabetical by group)
Sports [ edit ]
The Marching Virginians of Virginia Tech play
this song (known as the "Hokie Pokie" at Virginia Tech because of their mascot) between
the third and fourth quarters at all Virginia Tech football games. Much of the crowd
participates in the dance, as do the tubas during much of the song and the rest of the
band during the tuba feature. The song is also generally used as the Marching
Virginians' dance number in the first half-time field show of the year, and an
abbreviated version is played as a "Spirit Spot" (short song used between plays during
the football game) after a big play.
The University of Iowa Hawkeye football team,
under coach Hayden Fry, used to perform the hokey pokey after particularly impressive
victories, such as over Michigan and Ohio State. On September 3, 2010, a crowd of 7,384
– with Fry present – performed the hokey pokey in Coralville, Iowa, establishing a new
world record.[35]
Television [ edit ]
The BBC TV comedy series 'Allo 'Allo! showed one
of its characters (Herr Otto Flick) demonstrating a variation of the Hokey Cokey in an
episode from season 3. Being a Gestapo officer the lyrics are changed to reflect his
sinister nature, as follows:
You put your left boot in
You take your left boot out
You
do a lot of shouting
And you shake your fist about
You light a little smokey
And you
burn down the town
That's what it's all about
Heil!
Aah, Himmler Himmler Himmler—
Film
[ edit ]
The 1947 British film Frieda features a group of dancers in a dance hall
singing and performing the hokey cokey.
In the 1988 film Cherry 2000, the Hokey Pokey
is performed by the fanatical followers of the film's antagonist Lester (Tim Thomerson)
after he murders a tracker.
Video games [ edit ]
In the video game Constructor (1997),
the Thief in the Pawn Shop can be heard mentioning a computer called the "Hokey Cokey
2000".
Other uses [ edit ]
The Washington Post has a weekly contest called The Style
Invitational. One contest asked readers to submit "instructions" for something
(anything) but written in the style of a famous person. The popular winning entry was
"The Hokey Pokey (as written by William Shakespeare)", by Jeff Brechlin, Potomac Falls,
and submitted by Katherine St. John.[citation needed]
