Lyrics
(Folk song)
Ama lama cooma lama cooma lama veestay.
Ama lama cooma lama cooma lama veestay.
Oh no no, no no no veestay.
Eenie meenie gipsa leenie ooh ah ooh ah me leenie,
Atchy patchy cooma latchy I mean you!
See also
- Subject: silly
- Harmony: i, VII / Orff
- Melody: repeated tones / E,G,A,B
- Meter: 4
- Rhythm:
/ 
- Scale: tetratonic
- Tones: l,drm
- Similar song: Flee Fly Flo
YouTube
or purchase here (printables only)
- Printable & Digital Rhythm Visuals
- Recognize the Rhythm – Visuals & Assessments
- PDF with song with chords + Lesson ideas + Orff arrangement
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
I actually learned this years ago on a camp bus with alternate lyrics:
2nd verse-
“Imma leeny disileeny Ooo ah I’m a leeny
Otch kotch kooma lotchy Ooo ah oh!”
Probably the telephone effect, but just wanted to put that out there, haha
Great! Thanks for sharing!
I learned this song when I was a kid. I was looking it up to see if there is any history behind it and found your page. The lyrics in the version I learned are quite a bit different. They were:
Mamma lama kuma lama, kuma lavista
Mamma lama kuma lama, kuma lavista
Oh no, no, no, no lavista
Oh no, no, no, no lavista
Ainy-mainy dixa-painy, ooahp a lama lainy,
achy catchy ava wachi X,Y,Z.
Just thought it was interesting.
-Mickel
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the video and the lesson! I’m only teaching Kinder and 1st grade music during this “Virtual Year” so won’t use your lesson until the schedule changes. However….. Love seeing you so animated telling the story. I love being animated with the kids and you just encourage me to be more so!
Ah, the evolution of camp songs! One more… from Camp Archibald in Wisconsin, circa 1973, done as a call & response, line by line, with a patsch-clap-snap-clap pattern:
Cooma lada cooma lada cooma la vista
Oh, no, no, no, not la vista
Eenie meenie dessimeenie oo-wah-la walla-meenie
Ex-a-meenie zy-la-meenie oo-wal-la wah.
Then a spoken scat ending:
Eet’n billie oat’n doat’n bo-bo ba deet’n doat’n Shhhhhhh!
It is interesting that the melody is essentially the same, but these nonsense syllables have such variation.