Streetplay Discussion Archive

It’s been seven years, but I’m writing in response to V Pesante {I haven’t tried her email} and I’m not sure if she’ll see this. But for those who are interested in this rhyme, I also grew up in South Jersey {Atlantic City, NJ}. I remember learning this song in the 1950s from a vacation Bible school teacher who was from Georgia. I’ve phonetically spelled that word “Zoodio”, but I’ve seen it written “Zudio”, or “Zodiac”. We played this game {or danced this dance} the same way as V Pesante described in the first part of her comment-two partners stood facing each other, we criss-crossed arms holding both of our partners hands and did what I call a see-saw, back & forth motion to the beat. Our knees were slightly bent when we did this motion. On the words “step back sally” we jumped back to the beat. On the words “walkin through the alley” we continued singing but strutted across the large room and at the end of the song we were arbitrarily standing in front of a new partner. And then song would start again from the beginning. The words that I recall were the very much like those posted above, but we sang “Step back, Sally Sally Sally” and “Walkin’ down the alley alley”. I don’t think we sang the next part, though that “Big man tryin’ to hypnotize me” is awfully familiar to me for some reason or the other. When I read that line, what popped into my head was the line “A big Black man tryin to hynotize me”. Btw, I’m African American, if that matters :o} I found another version of this song on at http://www.peterandellen.com/lyrics/zudio.htm . That version starts with the Here we go Zudio verse but then gives this verse: Walkin’ thru the alley, what do I see? I see a great big man from Tennessee. I betcha five dollars that you can’t do this: To the front, to the back To the side side side. To the front, to the back To the side side side. My mama called the doctor and the doctor said “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my side” “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my toe” “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my tummy” “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my head.” -snip- [the verse here we go zudio verse is repeated, and then there’s a slightly different version of the “I got a pain” verse: My mama called the doctor and the doctor said “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my chin” “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my knee” “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my neck” “Ooh aah, I got a pain in my belly button.” -snip- That also sounds familiar too me. It may be because I’ve mis-remembered what I knew of the song, or those other parts sound like other rhymes that I used to sing or have read.