I LOVE COFFEE
I love coffee
I love tea
I love {boy’s name} and he loves me

[or]
I love the boys and they love me

[or]
I love a Black boy and he loves me
so step back White boy
you don’t shine
I’mma get a Black boy to beat your behind

****
[the rest of this handclap rhyme then goes]


I met my boyfriend at the candy store.
He bought me ice-cream, he bought me cake,
he brought me home with a belly-ache.
Mamma, Mamma, I feel sick.
Call the doctor – quick, quick, quick.
Doctor, Doctor, will I die?
Count to five and you’ll be alive.
1-2-3-4-5. I’m alive.

****

[I’m posting this especially for Anonymous on Tuesday, September 19, 2000 – 12:47 pm who said ” I came to this site, hoping to find the first line to a verse — someone typed it here, but the first line is still missing”…

These are some first lines for that rhyme. The last example is the way I’ve heard it most often in Pittsburgh, PA in late 1980s and now; I’ve seen that version on other websites too].