There are So Many Worlds to Explore

There are so many worlds to explore.

  There are so many worlds to explore.

All you have to do is to open the door 

  and let your spirit soar!

There's the world of yourself when you're all alone.

   There's the world of yourself  when you're just at home.

There's the world of friends so true…

   And there's a world of others, too.

But the world that is best is the out-of-doors.

   You can never tell just what's in store.

There's beauty, rest and solitude

  to fill your heart with gratitude.

Of the things that make the world so nice,

  the birds and the trees are just a slice

of what some people will sacrifice

  to make this world a paradise.

There are so many worlds to explore.

   There are so many worlds to explore.

All you have to do is to open the door,

   and let your spirit soar!

Patty-cake polka

Heel and toe, heel and toe, slide, slide and stop.

  Heel and toe, heel and toe, slide, slide, slide and stop.

Right, right, right.   Left, left, left. Both, both, both.   Knees, knees, knees.

Turn your partner once around and on to the next.

Partners face each other, holding both hands in a double circle, greasy-barrel joined up at the ends.

Heel and toe   (with clockwise foot)   Slide  (sashay to clockwise)

Repeat in opposite direction.

Clap R hand w. partner,  then L, then both, then knees.

Take both hands, turn around in a clockwise direction until the inside partner gets back to where she was.  She stops. Drop hands.   The outside partner keeps going a couple of steps to where the person on her left was formerly.  Everyone has a new partner, and the game goes again.


( You can change the last line to "Turn your partner once around and curtsy so politely" if you want to get the hang of the dance before adding the complication of changing partners.)

Tune: 355- 466- 7-67 89mi
355- 466- 7-67  988-
mi 88- 866- 777- 655-
mi 888 8667 7-67 8---

Basically, a variant of "Little Brown Jug."

Down in the Market

Down in the Market of La Sal-le   I am selling apples.

  Down in the Market of La Sal-le I am selling cheese.

Who'll buy my apples, buy my shiny apples?

  Who'll buy my apples and buy my cheese?

4 44 4 4  4 6 8 8    1 1 1 1   6 -  4-    

4 44 4 4  4 6 8 8    1 1 1 1   4 - - -

6 -  5  6   4  - 1 -     6  6  5  6 4 -  1 -  

6 -  5  6   8 - b7 6   5 - 8 - 6 - - -

Round, handclap game.   

Two pairs of players face each other crossways (i.e., standing north, south, east and west, they reach across each others' hands to their partners.)   Lap, clap, touch both hands flat with partner, clap.

The first set of partners sings "Down in the market" (two beats) when the second pair starts to sing "Down in the Market."

When one pair is reaching across to touch the other partner's hands, the other pair is doing lap.  They all clap together.

London Bridge--1950-60's Willmar Version

This version of the song is different from anything I see on the internet.  I am not sure of my memory, but am trying to figure out how we played it in the Willmar neighborhood.

Two children form an arch with their hands.  The other children form a line (of pairs holding hands? or singly?) which goes under the arch,  as the game goes, the line becomes a circle.

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair Lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with sticks and stones,
Bricks and mortar, sticks and stones,
Build it up with sticks and stones,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with iron bars,
iron bars, iron bars.
Build it up with iron bars,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with silver and gold,
silver and gold, silver and gold.
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair Lady.

(The arch comes down, trapping a person (or a pair?), who are swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the song)

Back to the workhouse you must go,
you must go, you must go.
Back to the workhouse you must go,
my fair lady.

(The arch joins the circle, and the entrapped pair become the new arch, and the game continues.)

Well, the Lord said to Noah

Well, the Lord said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody, floody...

Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

  'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

  To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

  Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Simple gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

  'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

  To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

  Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.