The idea for the Miss Lucy’s Playground Songs blog came to me when I had the senorita song in my head one morning – probably 25 years after I had last sung it. I had completely forgotten about this song! Then in my head I came to the line “shake it all you can” and then “do the best you can” and I thought that cannot be right; Rhyming “can” with “can”. My husband said that if Lorette Lynn can rhyme “Tired” and “Hard” together, then I can rhyme can and can together. Never the less… I thought I would double check my memory and look it up on the internet. As it turns out, there are a TON of versions of this song, and tons of internet song sites. And I thought wouldn’t it be fun to make my own.
The song that I remember – the one that started it all – goes like this:
One day when I was walking,
walking to the fair,
I met a senorita,
with a flower in her hair.Oh shake it senorita,
shake it all you can,
shake it like a milkshake,
and do the best you can.Oh she wobbled to the bottom.
Oh she wobbled to the top.She turned around and turn around
until she made an S-T-O-P stop!
But in looking around online, I found a few different versions:
Source: Mothering
i was going to Kentucky
i was going to the fair
i met a senorita, with flowers in her hair.
shake it senorita
shake it all you can
shake it like a milkshake
and shake it once again
waddle to the bottom
waddle to the top
turn around and turn around
until you make an S-T-O-P stop!
Source: Eskimo
I love all the verses of this. Particularly about the chandelier.
One day when I was walkin’
A walkin’ to the fair,
I met a senorita
With a flower in her hair.Oh shake it senorita. (* Shakes both hands *)
Shake it if you can.
Shake it like a milkshake
And shake it once again.Oh she wowed them on the bottom. (* Lower hands *)
She wowed them on the top. (* Raise hands *)
She turned around and turned around (* Turn around *)
Until she make us stop.Salome was a dancer.
She danced before the king.
And every time she danced
She wiggled everything.Stop said the king.
You can’t do this in here.
Baloney said Salome
And she kicked the chandelier.Oh she wowed them on the bottom. (* Lower hands *)
She wowed them on the top. (* Raise hands *)
She turned around and turned around (* Turn around *)
Until she make us S-T-O-P stop.
Source: Educational CyberPlayGround
What is interesting is that many that I found said Kentucky. I’m going to the Kentucky, I’m going to the old Kentucky fair, etc. But this one – instead of ending with S-T-O-P – it ends in Y-O-U.
I was going to Kentucky,
I was going to the fair.
I met a senorita,
with flowers in her hair.Oh, shake it, mama shake it.
Shake it all you can.
Shake it like a milkshake,
shake it all you can
Oh, rub to the bottom,
rub it to the top.
And turn around and turn around
until you make a stop!
Oh Y – O – U
Via Google Book Search, I found this version.
I’m going to Kentucky
I’m going to the fair
I met a senorita
with flowers in her hairShake it senorita, shake it all you can
So all the boys around you
Can see your underwear.
Rumble to the bottom, rumble to the top
And turn around and turn around
Until you make a stop.
It is in a book called “American Children’s Folklore”. It looks like a great book. I may need to pick it up.
I found this version online (but I forget where).
I saw a senorita
going to the fair,
she had a lovely dress on
with flowers in her hair.
Oh shake it, shake it, shake it,
shake all you can,
shake it like a milk-shake
and shake it once again.
Now rock it to the bottom.
Rock it to the top.
Turn around,
turn around
until I holler stop!
And another version from Girl Guides of Canada.
We’re going to Kentucky, we’re going to the fair
To see the senorita with flowers in her hair!
Shake it baby, shake it, shake it all you can.
Shake it like a milkshake and put it in a can.
Oh rumble to the bottom, rumble to the top,
Turn around and turn around until you make a stop!
Miss Lucy's Playground Songs 
Wow! this is great! I was searching for the “senorita” song, I couldnt remember all the words, and I found your blog. I grew up in southern TX and the one from your childrens folklore is the closest to the rhyme I sang as a child. When I played this rhyme the little girls would circle around the senorita in the middle and as the rhyme came to a close the senorita would cover her eyes with one and point with the other while turning around.
Thanks for all the info!
Merrily, thank you for leaving a comment. I am glad you found the blog useful. Now that you mention it, I believe that we did the same movements as children. 🙂 What a fun song.
thanks for this. i grew up in northeast pennsylvania and we did the circle around the senorita too. so great to find it again!
We’re going to Kentucky, we’re going to the fair, to see the senorita with flowers in her hair. Oh! Shake it senorita, shake it if you can. So all the boys around the block can see your underwear. Oh! Rumble to the bottom, rumble to the top. And turn around and turn around until you make a stop!
Yeah, that was pretty naughty, but we said it as little children in New York back in the 1980’s.
Yeah!!! This is the one I remembered too growing up in the Bronx. I couldn’t remember the words exactly and I’m so glad I found it! My daughter is 6 and I just sang her the words. She thought it was hilarious. She can’t wait to teach her friends in school. I may tell her to leave out the underwear part, he, he, he. (that would only be allowed to sing with cousins) I don’t want any Long Island parents knocking on my door on what their daughter learned. LOL
the one i learned when i was a young girl went like this
I’m going to Kentucky
I’m going to the fair
to see the senoritas(the itas part rises into high pitch)
with flowers in their hair
shake it shake it shake it
shake it all you can
shake it like a milkshake
and do the best you can
now rumble to the bottom rumble to the top
and turn around and turn around
untill you make a stop
FREEZE
Ladies,
It’s funny, but my version is totally different. I guess that’s what happens when you live in New York:
We’d all hold hands in a circle and have one person in the middle, we’d sing the song while going clockwise around her:
We’re going to Kentucky
We’re going to the fair
to see the seniorita with flowers in her hair
(At this point we’d stop turning and clap our hands)
Oh, shake it seniorita
shake if you can
so all the boys around the block
could see you’re under wear
(The girl in the middle would shake it going down to the ground and then come back up)
Oh rumble to the bottom
rumble to the top
(The girl in the middle would then close her eyes, extend one arm and point and when we’d say ‘stop’ that would be the next girl to go in the middle)
And turn around and turn around
until you make a stop
Does anyone else know any other 1970’s songs and hand songs you sang during recess time? I remember Miss Mary Mac, but I know there are others I just cannot remember!
I just notice, another New Yorker wrote the same song!! I need to know what other songs you (Lori) sang. I sang it in the 70s though! LOL Thanks in advance for anyone that could help me. I’d like to teach my daughter’s some of my songs too ;<)
our dance was like that too!! exact same!! I don’t remember if she was going to kentucky and to the fair or just the fair or what, or how she was shaking (I remember the word was shaking though).
We used to do this in my old school in arlington, VA…maybe if I keep reading them I’ll remember.
Miss Mary Mack goes
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump over the fence, fence, fence
He jumped so high, high, high
He reached the sky, sky, sky
And never came back, back, back
‘Til the fourth of July-ly-ly
The version i know goes like this:
I went to the Old Kentucky,
The Old Kentucky Fair,
I met a senorita
With flowers in her hair
Shake it, shake it, shake it,
shake it all you can
shake it like a milkshake
in a frying pan
Oooooh point to the east
point to the west
point to the one you like the best
S-T-O-P speeeeelllllllllssss STOP!! (and whoever u are pointing to gets to be the “senorita”
I missed a part…
I went to the Old Kentucky,
The Old Kentucky Fair,
I met a senorita
With flowers in her hair
Shake it, shake it, shake it,
shake it all you can
shake it like a milkshake
in a frying pan
Oooooh round and arouns and around she goes
where she stops nobody knows,
point to the east
point to the west
point to the one you like the best
S-T-O-P speeeeelllllllllssss STOP!! (and whoever u are pointing to gets to be the “senorita”
YES! This is the one I remember! I couldnt remember the beginning only the end! Thanks for the refresher! I was in the 4th grade doing this which was in the early 90’s.
In response to Diane Raia, that was the same version (in terms of the movements) that I learned at my elementary school which is in NY too & in the mid-1990’s.
“We’re going to Kentucky
we’re going to the fair
to see the senorita with flowers in her hair
Oh shake it, shake it, shake it
Shake it all you can
shake it like a milkshake & do the best you can
Oh rumble to the bottom
rumble to the top
& turn around & turn around
until you make a stop
S-T-O-P spellllls STOP!”
[I believe those were the correct words…it’s been a while =) ]
Other songs I sang as a child in school or with my friends were “Little Sally Walker”, “Candy Girl”, “Down, Down Baby”, Numbers…& others that I can’t really think of right now, but thanks for bringing back great memories!
Thanks your your comment Shari! How did “Little Sally Walker”, “Candy Girl”, “Down, Down Baby” and Numbers go?
down down baby, down down the rollar coaster, sweet sweet baby I’ll never let you go, chimmy chimmy cocoa pot, chimmy chimmy pie, chimmy cocoa pot, chimmy chimmy pie, momma momma, sick in bed, called the doctor and the doctor said, lets do the rhythmn of the…
btw I’m totally guessing from what we said, we were probably really of hahaha…
Was it…lets do the rhythm of the head, ding dong, x2, lets do the rhythm of the hands *clapclap*, x2, lets do the rhythm of the feet, *stomp stomp*, x2, lets do the rhythm of the hooooot dog *whirls hips* x2, put em all together and what do you get? ding dong clap clap stomp stomp hoooot dog x2. the end. hahahaha..maybe stomp wasn’t in there actually….
I remember the same version as Diana – but like you said Diana, I guess thats what happens when you grow up in NY. LOL… I do remember Down Down Baby too: It went like this:
Down, down baby, down by the roller coaster,
Sweet, sweet baby, I’ll never let you go.
Shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy pow!
Shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy pow!
Mama, Mama sick in bed,
Call the doctor and the doctor said,
Let me here the rhythm of your head, ding-dong. (move head side to side)
Let me here the rhythm of your hands, clap, clap. (clap hands)
Let me here the rhythm of your feet, stomp, stomp. (stomp feet)
Let me here the rhythm of your hips, hoooot dog. (swing hips)
Put it all together and what do you get?
Ding-dong, clap, clap, stomp, stomp – hooot dog.
Say it all backwards and what do you get?
Hot Dog, Stomp, stomp, clap, clap….. ding-dong!
whoop! didn’t even see this, sorry xD…ohhh POP not pot. I’ve been sayin pot my whole life hahhaa. Oh yeah the backwards part forgot about that. hahaha we did backwards then forward again.
I was interested to see Shari’s (July 29, 2009 at 5:50 pm) mention of “Candy Girl”.
Here are the words to that “foot stomping cheer” that my daughter and her friends chanted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s:
Candy Girl
All: Candy Girl
All my world
Look so sweet
Special treat
Soloist #1: This is the way we do the bounce
Candy Girl
Group: Do the bounce Do the bounce
Soloist #1: All my world
Group: Do the bounce Do the bounce
Soloist # 1: Look so sweet
Group: Do the bounce Do the bounce
Soloist #1: Special Treat
All: Candy Girl
All my world
Look so sweet
Special Treat
Soloist #2: This is the way we do the Snake
Candy Girl
Group : Do the Snake Do the Snake
Soloist #2: All my world
Group: Do the Snake Do the Snake
Soloist #2: Look so sweet
Group: Do the Snake Do the Snake
Soloist #2: Special Treat
[Continue with the same pattern until every member of the informal group of friends has one turn as the soloist. Each soloist is supposed to name a different current or once popular R&B/Hip-Hop dance]
The order of soloist is usually determined in the beginning of the informal cheer session by which girls shouted out “First, second, third etc the quickest. I call this and other examples whose text is similarly structured “foot stomping cheers” to differentiate them from [other] dance style cheerleading cheers. The pattern of the group voice (being heard first) and consecutive soloists is what distinguishes “foot stomping cheers” from other cheers. The name “foot stomps” also refers to the emphasis on making bass sounding percussive foot stomps to the beat of the chant throughout the entire chant. These foot stomps alternate with (your own) hand claps, and (sometimes also with) body slaps (which used to be called “pattin juba). In Pittsburgh girls usually stand in one more horizontal line to do these cheers. Recently, I’ve seen the soloist step out in front of the other girls. I think this is a new development. I’ve also learned that some girls do these types of cheers in a circle, but I’ve not seen it done that way in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.
The earliest documentation I have found for these types of cheers is in the notes for Old Mother Hippletoe. Rural and Urban Children’s Songs , New World NW 291, LP (1978) which includes four different examples from school girls in Washington D. C. I’m curious about the demographics of any examples of these cheers because to date I’ve only heard of them being performed this way by African American girls (around ages 6-12 years). It will be interesting to see when and how this tradition expands to other populations.
I hope that this comment wasn’t too long.
**
By the way, thanks for including http://www.cocojams.com/ in your blogroll!
Okay who WRITES these things?! I found this because Going to Kentucky has been stuck in my head since I first joined a group of girls singing and doing the circle dance back in 1985! I didn’t know there were so many versions! The one I remember goes:
Going to Kentucky
We’re going to the fair
To see the Senorita with the flowers in her hair
Shake it baby shake it, shake it all you can
And if you cannot shake it then do the best you can
Rumble rumble rumble
Rumble to the top
Now turn around and turn around until you make a stop
STOP! (that was the point and choose of the next girl for the circle)
I was only five but I felt really adult dancing to this song lol. I also remember Down down baby exactly as it was typed above. For the record I grew up in Western Mass. These songs were pretty far reaching but everybody has their own twist on it
i used to sing a different one when i was younger:
i went to california
to see a country fair,
i saw a senorita,
with flowers in hair,
oooooh,
a loopy loopy loopy,
a loopy all around,
a loopy loopy loopy,
a loopy touch the ground
(then repeat continuously)
I remember when me and my friends would play this in the bronx in elemantary school. Except we changed it a bit.
I was going to kentucky
Was going to the fair
To see the senorita
With the flowers in her hair
Oh shake it senorita
Shake it everywhere
And turn around and turn around
Till we see your underwear
Oh east west
Who you love the best?
Nobody!
North south
Shut your big fat mouth!
Thank you so much for posting this! I was at a Girl Scout function today, and one of the troops were singing it non-stop this weekend, the camp director looked at me and told me that I needed to remember it for staff training, which is in June. When I got home and couldn’t remember how the song was I googled the words, hoping (actually praying) that something would come up. When I saw this I was so happy 🙂 You will make over 800 girls really happy this summer when they learn this song.
Thanks for sharing!
I grew up singing this version…
All the girls stand in a circle, and start with a volunteer in the center..
We’re going to Kentucky
We’re going to the fair
To see a senorita
With ribbons in her hair
(Center girl starts to boogie)
“Oh, shake it, baby, shake it
Shake it if you can
Shake it like a milkshake
Shake it if you can!
(Center girl closes eyes, points finger, and twirls, others chant)
“Round and round and round she goes
Where she stops, nobody knows!”
Whereupon, the girl who is being pointed AT, takes the center of the circle. Repeat until the bell rings.
I remember this as far back as 1970. Now I am going to check with my older sisters to see if they did them, too. This was at a Catholic elementary school, which was all white, at the time.
This is the version…or the closest to it…..that I remember as far back as the 50’s! We played this at recess and with our neighborhood friends as well! I’ve been trying to remember the words for months now! Thanks for the memories! My grand kids are going to love this!
Our version is:
One day when I was walkin
Walkin to the fair
I met a senorita
With a flower in her hair
Oh shake it senorita
Shake it all you can
Shake it like a milkshake
And shake once again
Oh wobble to the bottom
Wobble to the top and turn around
And turn around until you make a stop
S.T.O.P. spells stop!
I am fascinated with this song. I sang it in a small south east Texas town over 45 years ago. I always wondered where did it come from. My version has California instead of Kentucky which to me makes more sense since you are more likely back then to find a Senioriata in California. My version also has bubbles instead of flowers which flowers does make more sense.
All of us girls would form a circle around a girl and sing while the girl danced and then she closed her eyes and turned around and whoever she pointed to was the next person in the middle. I do not remember the circle of girls moving but it has been a long time ago.
The version I know goes like this.
I went to California to see the fair
I saw senorita with bubbles in her hair
Oh shake ’em shake ’em shake ’em shake ’em if you can
shake ’em shake ’em shake ’em and see where they land.
Just found this as the song popped in my head. I’m sure my version came from the Girl Guides of Canada, but I thought it was a skipping song:
Oh, I’m going to Kentucky
I’m going to the fair
To see a senorita
With flowers in her hair
Oh, shake it baby, shake it
Shake it all you can
Shake it like a milkshake
And pour it in the pan
(This part was skipped ‘pepper’ – really fast:)
Oh, round and round and round she goes
Where she stops, nobody knows
Ding dong!
We never did it at school but me and my sister used to sing it (I guess we learnt it from mum). Our version went:
We’re going to Kentucky
We’re going to the fair
To see a senorita
With roses in her hair
So shake it, baby, shake it
Shake it if you can
Shake it like a milkshake
And drink it if you can
Oh! Shake it baby, shake it
Shake it till you drop
And turn around and turn around
Until you make a stop!
I’m from NY and I always remember we sang it . We are going to the country, we are going to the fair. I don’t remember Kentucky . But it was all good.
Our version was
We’re going to Kentucky
We’re going to the fair
To see a senorita
with flowers in her hair
Shake it, baby, shake it
Shake it if you can
Shake it like a milkshake
And shake it once again
Rumba to the bottom
Rumba to the top
And turn around
and turn around
until you make a
STOP
Just thought about it here at work and wondered why kids don’t sing these songs or play these games anymore. I had so much fun as a kid doing this. It really wasn’t that long ago.
I went to old Kentucky,
The old Kentucky fair,
I saw a señorita with flowers in her hair.
Oh, shake Em, shake Em, shake Em!
Shake Em all you can,
Round, round, round she goes,
Where she stops nobody knows
This was the version in West Texas around 1983. 🙂
I think we sang this in the 60’s in New Orleans: (the “Twist” was popular).
(Group moves clockwise in circle around dancer in the center)
I was going to Kentucky,
to see the county fair.
I met a senorita, with flowers in her hair.
(Circle stops and claps, Dancer in the center twists)
Oooooooh, shake it, shake it, shake it,
Shake it if you can.
Shake it like a milkshake, shake it if you can.
Oh, rumble to the bottom, and rumble to the top.
Now turn around and turn around, until you have to stop!
S-T-O-P, stop!
(Dancer spins and stops and points to the next person to be Dancer.)
I grew up in southeastern Ohio. Our version had California instead of Kentucky and bubbles in her hair. Everyone would dance in a circle around the señorita. The end of the song had “turn to east, turn to the west, turn to the one that you like best.” And that person would become the senorita.
kids circle round one in the middle
“I went to Oklahoma
To see the World’s Fair
I met a Senorita
With buckles in her hair”
circle stops and everyone shakes
“Shake it, shake it, shake it,
Shake it if you can,
Shake it like a milkshake
and drink it from a can”
center one closes eyes and points finger while the ones in the circle spin the center one round fast
“Round and around and around she goes
Where she stops nobody knows,
Turn to the East,
Turn to the West,
Turn to the one that you like best”
Center one stops and whoever is pointed at goes to the middle.
Here’s the version I learned in campfire girls in the early 80s. We would stand in a circle and the girl in the middle would do a little dance to the words, then close her eyes and turn around pointing her finger and on Stop the girl she was pointing to would go to the middle of the circle.
Goin’ to Carolina
To see the county fair
Saw a senorita
with a flower in her hair
I said
Shake it Senorita
Shake it if you can
Shake it like a milkshake
and do the best you can
Rumba to the bottom
Rumba to the top
Turn around
and turn around
Until I holler STOP!