The Washington Post has a weekly contest called the Style
Invitational. One contest asked readers to submit "instructions"
for something (anything), but written in the style of a famous
person. The popular winning entry was "The Hokey Pokey (as written
by William Shakespeare)" by Jeff Brechlin, Potomac Falls, and
submitted by Katherine St. John.
O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.
The hokey pokey (United States) or hokey cokey (United
Kingdom), also known as the okey cokey, hokey tokey, or cokey
cokey, is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying
tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking
countries. It is of unclear origin, with two main traditions having
evolved in different parts of the world.
Origins and meaning
According to one account, in 1940, during the Blitz in London, a
Canadian officer suggested to Al Tabor, a British bandleader of the
1920s, 1930s and 1940s that he write a party song with actions
similar to "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree". The inspiration for
the song's title that resulted, the hokey pokey, came from an ice
cream vendor whom Tabor had heard as a boy, calling out, "Hokey
pokey penny a lump. Have a lick make you jump". He changed the name
to the "hokey cokey" at the suggestion of the officer who said that
cokey, in Canada, meant "crazy" and would sound better. A well
known lyricist/songwriter/music publisher of the time, Jimmy
Kennedy, reneged on a financial agreement to promote and publish
it, and finally Tabor settled out of court, giving up all rights to
the number. There had been many theories and conjectures about the
meaning of the words "hokey pokey", and of their origin. Some
scholars attributed the origin to the Shaker song Hinkum-Booby
which had similar lyrics and was published in Edward Deming
Andrews' A gift to be simple in 1960: (p. 42).
Dance moves
United States style of dance
The dance follows the instructions given in the lyrics of the song,
which may be prompted by a bandleader, a participant, or a
recording. A sample instruction set would be:
You put your [right leg] in,
You put your [right leg] out;
You put your [right leg] in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the hokey pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!
Participants stand in a circle. On "in" they put the appropriate
body part in the circle, and on "out" they put it out of the
circle. On "And you shake it all about", the body part is shaken
three times (on "shake", "all", and "-bout", respectively).
Throughout "You do the hokey pokey, / And you turn yourself
around", the participants spin in a complete circle with the arms
raised at 90° angles and the index fingers pointed up, shaking
their arms up and down and their hips side to side seven times (on
"do", "hoke-", "poke-", "and", "turn", "-self", and "-round"
respectively). For the final "That's what it's all about", the
participants clap with their hands out once on "that's" and "what"
each, clap under the knee with the leg lifted up on "all", clap
behind the back on "a-", and finally one more clap with the arms
out on "-bout".
The body parts usually included are, in order, "right leg",
"left leg", "right arm", "left arm", "head", "backside", and "whole
self"; the body parts "right elbow", "left elbow", "right hip", and
"left hip" are often included as well.
The final verse goes:
You do the hokey pokey,
The hokey-pokey,
The hokey-pokey.
That's what it's all about!
The University of Iowa Hawkeye football team, under coach Hayden
Fry, used to perform the hokey pokey after particularly impressive
victories, such as over Michigan and Ohio State. On September 3,
2010, a crowd of 7,384 — with Fry present — performed
the hokey pokey in Coralville, Iowa, establishing a new world
record.
The Marching Virginians of Virginia Tech
play this song (known as the "Hokie
Pokie" at Virginia Tech because of their mascot) between the
third and fourth quarters at all Virginia Tech football games. Much
of the crowd participates in the dance, as do the tubas during much
of the song and the rest of the band during the tuba feature. The
song is also generally used as the Marching Virginians' dance
number in the first half-time field show of the year, and an
abbreviated version is played as a "Spirit Spot" (short song used
between plays during the football game) after a big play.
Alternative band The Three O'Clock used the roller
skating version of the hokey pokey in the video for their song
"Her
Heads's Revolving" The video opens and ends with them doing the
hokey pokey.
