
Lyrics
(Melody by Charles Leslie Johnson, 1904, Traditional Lyrics, Melody & Lyrics combined by Saxie Dowell)
Say say oh playmate,
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three,
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rain barrel
Into my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more.
Say say oh playmate,
I cannot play with you.
My dolly’s got the flu,
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
Ain’t got no rain barrel,
Ain’t got no cellar door,
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more.
Hand-Clapping
C=Clap own hands
R=High five right hand with partner
L = High five left hand with partner
BHB = High five both partner’s hands with the back of hands
BHP = High five both partner’s hands with palms
Formation – Students facing partners
Hand-clapping on eighth notes:
- Say say oh = C,C,C
- playmate = R,C,L,C,C
- (Repeat the following pattern until the end)
BHB,BHP, C,R,C,L,C,C - more, more, more = R,C,L,C,BHP
See also
- Subject: hand-clapping
- Harmony: chords I, IV, V
- Meter: 4
- Scale: hexatonic
- Tones: drmslt
- Source: The Singing Game, Iona & Peter Opie, Oxford University Press, 1985
- history of the song
YouTube
- PDF of song with chords + Lesson ideas
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song


Amazon links are affiliate links. I earn a small commission, but there is no extra cost to you.
1 thought on “Say Say Oh Playmate”
… my dolly has the flu, she threw up in my shoe…