The Hokey-Pokey – Shakespeare Style – Is What It’s All About

This one will definitely (hopefully) get stuck in your head and make your morning just as it has ours at HottyToddy.com.

Remember this?

You put your left foot in,
You put your left foot out,
You put your left foot in,
And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey-Pokey
and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about.

HottyToddy.com photo contributor TJ Ray graces command central (our office) on a regular, weekly basis; breezing in, gifts in hand while distributing CDs loaded with cool photos as well as cue card sized slips of paper with humorous anecdotes that he prints himself on his vintage 1906 Chandler and Price printing press.

Today, he handed out this beauty; a re-boot of the Hokey-Pokey dance… done Shakespearian style:

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 heaven’s yoke.
Blesses dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke-banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say ‘tis what it is all about.

Take it from me and my experience this morning; before reading the above and giving it much more thought, make sure you don’t have a mouth full of coffee, tea… or anything, really. After five minutes of spewing and cleaning, my computer monitor is now thoroughly cleansed.

HealYourselfMagazine.com offers this as a prophetic “history” of sorts for the dance/song:

The hokey cokey (United Kingdom) or hokey pokey (United States, Canada, Ireland, and Australia) is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It’s well known in English-speaking countries. It’s of unclear origin, with two main traditions having evolved in different parts of the world. The only thing for sure is that in the U.S. it became very popular in the 1950s as THE party song.

It seems that when folks are participating, concentrating on the movements at hand and listening to the voice of the singer/leader; they are able to feel a kind of gleeful abandon. No one is self-conscious, nor are they overly critical of others. Where other activities of life demand a certain amount of proficiency, the Hokey Pokey is all about being in the moment and participating with your whole self.

When you think about it, this is how life should be: Living it to the fullest, following the leader, enjoying each and every moment, sharing laughter, assisting others and looking forward to the next step. Simple really. Even a child of three gets it.

Oh, to be childlike once again. Here’s wishing you a ‘hokey pokey’ day and, as always, we appreciate the childlike wonder Dr. Ray continues to possess and share. Everyone wins.

Jeff McVay is a staff writer and graphic designer for Hottytoddy.com. He can be reached at jeff.mcvay@hottytoddy.com.

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