Skip to My Lou

History & Origin

"Skip to My Lou" is a traditional American play-party song, used by communities where dancing was considered sinful or otherwise prohibited. Play-party games — where participants walked, clapped, and sang rather than dancing to instrumental music — were common in frontier and religious communities of the nineteenth century, allowing the social benefits of communal dancing without the theological complications.

The word "Lou" in the refrain is generally understood to be a variant of "loo", an old dialect word for a sweetheart or partner. "Skip to my Lou" therefore means something like "come skip with me, my love" — an invitation to join in the game.

The traditional verses of "Skip to My Lou" tend toward the comic and the agricultural — flies in the buttermilk, cats in the cream, lost partners. This arrangement keeps the infectious refrain while updating the verses to a more contemporary setting: a doctor, a councillor, a mother, all consulted about the same problem, all arriving at the same advice. "Skip to my Lou, my darlin'" turns out to be universally applicable guidance.

The skipping rhythm and repeated refrain make the song ideal for movement sessions with young children.