# "All the Girls in France Do the Hoochie-Coochie Dance" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304 "2003-11-14T20:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/1 "2003-11-14T20:31:40Z")
Thanks to those wonderful old-music sites from a recent thread, I have been listening to a lot of pop tunes, c1910–30. One musical leitmotif that recurs frequently is the “Little Egypt” music, which I sang as a child as, “All the girls in France Do the hoochie-coochie dance, And the way they shake, it could really kill a snake. When the snake is dead, they will tie it 'round their head . . .” Now, that _can’t_ be right. I mean the lyircs, I don’t mean the entire female population of France hoochie-coochie-ing with dead snakes tied around their heads. I have never been to France, but I trust that is not the state of affairs there. What are the lyrics to this ditty you heard as a tot? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/2 "2003-11-14T20:48:04Z")
I’ve seen the lyrics for this in several different places, but they all seem to differ. One of the (and possibly the most) popular versions opens: “There’s a place in France/ Where the naked ladies dance” (BTW, **Eve** , did you get my e-mail and go to that site?) ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/3 "2003-11-14T20:50:51Z")
There a place in France/ Where the alligators dance/ But the one wouldn’t dance/ So they shot him in the pants/ And the pants that he wore/ Cost $1.64/ Plus tax. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/4 "2003-11-14T20:56:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*(BTW, **Eve** , did you get my e-mail and go to that site?) \*\* I don’t remember . . . All heck’s been breaking loose, I’ve been in and out of town and extremely _fardeiget_ recently. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/5 "2003-11-14T20:57:24Z")
There’s a place in France, where the naked ladies dance There’s a hole in the wall, where the men can see it all And [something] don’t care, 'cause they [something] underwear ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/6 "2003-11-14T21:06:57Z")
On an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Tom Servo sings, “There’s a place in France where the ladies wear no pants,” but that’s as far as he gets. (In case you’re wondering, the episode is “Laser Blast”) ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/7 "2003-11-14T21:10:25Z")
I know that you were gone for personal reasons last week, but I just sent it yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/8 "2003-11-14T21:13:15Z")
There’s another version, not involving ladies in France, but all I can remember of it at the moment is a line in the middle: “When the roses die/ They put diamonds in their eye”. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/9 "2003-11-14T21:13:45Z")
They have a recording of that at the Sex Museum in NYC. It’s a neat little song. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/10 "2003-11-14T21:16:58Z")
**Guv** —you better send it again, In think I deleted most of my e-mail in a fit of pique. It must be hard to tie a snake around your head when you have diamonds in your eye. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/11 "2003-11-14T21:17:53Z")
When I was a kid, this musical classic went: There’s a place in France Where the ladies wear no pants There’s a hole in the wall So the men can see it all. Sheer poetry. Brings a tear to my eye. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/12 "2003-11-14T21:21:22Z")
Hey, hey, hey, the people who said it were 10-year-old girls. 10 year-olds are not particularly known for full logic. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/13 "2003-11-14T21:35:48Z")
I’ve definitely heard “There’s a place in France/Where the naked ladies dance” which, as I recall, continues with something like “But the men don’t care/'cause they chew their underwear” There’s also: “There’s a place on mars/where the ladies smoke cigars” ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/14 "2003-11-14T21:59:43Z")
Thanks, **Max** , that was just the mental stimulation I needed to remember some more lines to the above post. “Every drop they take/Is so much to kill a snake/When the snakes are dead/They put roses in their head” Yes, this will pass down in the ages, along with Marlowe’s “Passonate Shepard”, Eliot’s “Four Quatros”, and Keats’ “Can You Loan Me Two Bob?” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/15 "2003-11-14T22:29:26Z")
There’s a place in France Where the naked ladies dance And the dance they do Is enough to [I forget] And the love they make Is enough to charm a snake And there’s a hole in the wall Where you can see it all! That’s they way I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/16 "2003-11-14T23:05:10Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s a place in France, where the naked ladies dance > There’s a hole in the wall, where the men can see it all > And [something] don’t care, 'cause they [something] underwear Ours was ’ But the Men don’t care, cause they lost their underwear’ which might be what you are thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/17 "2003-11-14T23:25:49Z")
We didn’t use the word “ladies” very often when I learned this song…late 70s and 80s. So for us it was: “There’s a place in France Where the naked _women_ dance There’s a hole in the wall Where the men watch it all” We also had “There’s a place on mars where the women smoke cigars But the men don’t care Cause they smoke their underwear” which didn’t make sense at all. But had the magic word “underwear” which makes any song hilarious for the under 10 set. ---
**Author:** ![silly\_duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@silly\_duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silly_duck)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/18 "2003-11-14T23:30:55Z")
“There’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance There’s a hole in the wall where the men can see it all But the men don’t care because they’re in their underwear And the cops don’t shoot, 'cause they think its kind of cute” ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/19 "2003-11-15T00:28:04Z")
“There’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance Each step they take is enough to kill a snake. When the snake is dead, they put diamonds in its head. When the diamonds break, it is 1998.” This sounds like a really bizarre form of augury. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/20 "2003-11-15T00:39:04Z")
There’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance There’s a hole in the wall where the men can see it all And a king and a queen with a rubber ding-a-ling (More verses, but I forgot them.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304.md?page=2)