
The meaning: The meaning of this rhyme is rooted in the slave trade. Eenie, meenie, minie mo." An alternate version: "Catch a negro by his toe/ If he hollers make him pay/Twenty dollars every day." "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo" ( Early 19th Century) Johnson's piece got us thinking about the songs like the ice cream truck song - a seemingly innocuous folk song, nursery rhyme, or jingle - that we may not have known were racist, and what we should do when we learn about their histories. Whenever I hear the music now, the antique voice laughing about niggers and watermelon fills my head," Johnson wrote. " When the reach of racism robs me of fond memories from my childhood, it feels intensely personal again. The song's melody, it turns out, was popularized in antebellum minstrel shows where the lyrics "parodied a free black man attempting to conform to white high society by dressing in fine clothes and using big words." To make matters worse, that song became the basis for an offensive folk song in 1916 titled, "Nigger Love A Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!" before turning into the melody that beckons ice cream seekers today.įor Theodore Johnson III, who wrote the article, knowledge of that history ruined ice cream trucks for him. There is some offensive language below.Ī little over a week ago, NPR had an illuminating and poignant report on the the racist beginnings of the ice cream truck song. © 2021 : We are talking about racism in this article. In Ireland, it debuted at number forty-one in the Irish Singles Chart on April 15, 2010, and rose the number twelve on May 17, 2010.Ī B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z The next week "Eenie Meenie" rose to number seventeen and peaked at number nine in the next two weeks. The song appeared in the UK Singles Chart on May 22, 2010, at number fifty-eight. What year was eenie meenie song released? I've opted for 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo' but there are many others - 'Eenie, meenie, miney, moe', 'Eany, meany, miney, mo' and so on.

Of all of the phrases and idioms in the English language 'eeny, meenie, miny, mo' must be the one with the widest variety of spellings. The names of many songs include some or all of the phrase, including: "Eenie Meanie Miny Ho" released by Tech N9ne on JEeny Meeny Miny Moe by the Dutch group Luv in 1979 "Eenie Meenie" by Jeffrey Osborne on self-titled 1982 album. What's the origin of the phrase 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo'? What is Eenie Meenie Records?Įenie Meenie Records is a Los Angeles-based music record label. What's the meaning of the phrase 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo'? The first line of a popular children's counting rhyme. 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo' - meaning and origin.

EENIE Frequently Asked Questions What does 'Eeny, meeny, miny, Mo' mean?
