Skip to My Lou
American Traditional, 1800’s· Songs Well-Known in America · p.289
A
Choose your partner, skip to my Lou,
E
Choose your partner, skip to my Lou,
A
Choose your partner, skip to my Lou,
E A
Skip to my Lou my darling.
Chorus:
A E
Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou, Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou,
A E A
Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou, Skip to my Lou my darling.
Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo,
Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo,
Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo, fly, shoo,
Skip to my Lou my darling. (Chorus)
Lost my partner, what'll I do?
Lost my partner, what'll I do?
Lost my partner, what'll I do?
Skip to my Lou my darling. (Chorus)
I'll get another one prettier than you,
I'll get another one prettier than you,
I'll get another one prettier than you,
Skip to my Lou my darling. (Chorus)
*Roud folk song index 3593. In early America, respectable folk in Protestant communities regarded the fiddle
as the devil’s instrument and dancing as sinful. Faced with such prejudice, young people developed the “play-
party,” where objectionable features of a square dance were removed so that their elders could approve.
“Skip to My Lou” is a game of stealing partners. A number of couples hand in hand, skip around in a ring. A
lone boy in the center of the moving circle of couples sings, “Lost my partner what’ll I do?” as the girls whirl
past him. The young man in the center hesitates while he decides on a girl, singing, “I'll get another one
prettier than you.”. Edited from wikipedia.org.