Frightening questions and realizations about The Hokey Pokey

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The Hokey Pokey lyrics are as follows:

You put your [right hand] in,
You put your [right hand] out,
You put your [right hand] in,
And you shake it all about,

You do the hokey pokey
and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about.

  1. left hand
  2. right foot
  3. left foot
  4. head
  5. butt
  6. whole self

Where you substitute the [right hand] part with 2, 3, etc as you progress through the song. Now, being indoctrinated as a child, I never really paid much attention or questioned what I was doing. But now as an adult, I’ve stumbled upon a few questions and some frightening realizations.

First of all, the song/dance is self-referential, causing me massive confusion. When it says “you do the hokey pokey”, what are you actually supposed to be doing at that moment in the song? The way I remember it, you start turning around at that point… but maybe my memory is wrong. In colloquial speech, “Sam was doing the Hokey Pokey” would seem to imply to me that he was singing the song while doing the dance, including the in, and out, and turn yourself around part. But part of the Hokey Pokey dance itself is to “do the hokey pokey,” so I’m very confused.

Second, what is it all about? Is it the turning yourself around? Is it doing the hokey pokey and turning yourself around?

Furthermore, why is that what it’s all about? What does it mean to be all about something, really? What does the “it” in “that’s what it’s all about” refer to? Is it referring to the dance or the song, or even life and existence itself, perhaps?

Third, what exactly are we putting our various body parts into, and why? Why put it in, take it out, and then put it in again? And there seems to be an implied take it out, since to “turn yourself around” you necessarily have to pull the requisite body part back toward yourself. What was the point of it all?

Finally, in the last verse of the song, we are instructed to “put your whole self in” and “take your whole self out” and then “put your whole self in” once again, and shake it all about. Are they making a spiritual allusion of some sort? Is this some sort of zen Buddhism indoctrination in disguise? What exactly involves one’s whole self? Does jumping forward and backward and forward again really satisfy putting “your whole self in” and taking “your whole self out”?

I’m very interested what the straight dope has to think about this…

2

From memory, the bit you do (here in the UK called the Hokey Cokey), after ‘shaking [whatever] all about’ consisted of a short dance a little like The Twist.

3

It is a metaphor for dying of rheumatic fever (specifically referencing the symptom of “St. Vitus’ Dance”) and being buried, then being resurrected on Judgement Day. Quite clear.

The “Hokey Pokey” part invloves pointing upward (towards Heaven) with alternating index fingers while turning in a circle. The “Hokey” is a dog-latin approximation of “In hoc signo vinces,” while the “Pokey” comes from the poking motion of the dancer’s finger.

Always glad to help.

4

The Tennessee Waltz is even more meta-

5

I never knew it was called the Hokey Pokey anywhere. I thought that was honeycomb ice cream.

6

Lonnnndoooo!

7

Did you know that when the inventor of the Hokey Pokey died, they had a lot of trouble at his funeral? They kept putting the left hand in the coffin, then the right hand would pop out and start shaking.

8

Something tells me you guys aren’t taking my quandary seriously!

9

This part, I can easily answer - the “what”, at least, if not the “why”. The Hokey Pokey, like many sacred rites, is meant to be performed by a group of people standing in a circle. Each body part is extended into the confines of the circle, and then drawn out again. I can’t say what the true purpose of this ritual might be, however, and I suspect that’s partly because of this:

Indeed. As a child, I had a deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong, and instinctively knew that, above all else, Rules Must Be Followed. So it frustrated me to no end to see my fellow dancers putting their limbs back out again when the lyrics clearly did not instruct us to do so. It seemed to me that once a body part was in the circle, it must remain there. I have come to believe this is why our performances of the Hokey Pokey ritual never produced any clear result: I think we are meant to put ourselves into the circle, limb by limb, as a symbolic offering. Each time, we draw it back once and then return it, to demonstrate that, although we have the freedom to flee, we instead freely choose to offer ourselves in sacrifice.

I think you are correct; this must be a reference to one’s soul or spirit. After all, once your arms, legs, head, and butt are in, putting your “whole self” in has already been accomplished, physically. But just as we offer, then retract, and finally return each body part to the circle in order to symbolize our choice to give our bodies to this rite, so do we ultimately offer not just our bodies, but our souls. This is the final step in offering ourselves. Once we complete this ritual correctly, I believe the mystery of what the Hokey Pokey is “all about” will be revealed to us.

But I ask you to consider: do you really want to find out? As I child, I didn’t understand what might be at stake. My only concern was do exactly as the lyrics tell us. But now, I think it is fortunate that the intricacies of performing this ceremony have been lost and corrupted. It might invoke something wonderful, a new era of peace and prosperity… or perhaps it would bring about an eldritch horror unlike any the universe has yet known. Although I firmly believe that the correct method of performing this ritual is as I described, I am content to never know for sure.

10

Heart of Dorkness… you have opened my eyes to possibilities I could have never otherwise foreseen. Thank you very much for taking this matter so seriously.

11

You put things in and out of the circle. You’re supposed to be doing it in a circle.

12

Right. And it pulls kids away from the pinball machines and video games and gets them to interact with each other at the skating rink.

13

Welcome to the Double Secret Inner Circle, drewtwo99.

“Ring a Ring of Roses. . .”

14

Wait…what if the hokey-pokey really IS what it’s all about? :eek:

15

See… it’s this kind of thinking that I’ve been doing and it’s deeply troubling.

16

Please help me. I’ve been trapped in an infinite Hokey Pokey loop since childhood.

I put my right foot in. I put my right foot out. I put my right foot in and I shake it all about. I do the Hokey Pokey, for which the instructions are . . .
Put my right foot in. Put my right foot out. Put my right foot in and shake it all about. Do the Hokey Pokey, for which the instructions are . . .
Put my right foot in. Put my right foot out. Put my right foot in and shake it all about. Do the Hokey Pokey, for which the instructions are . . .
Put my right foot in. Put my right foot out. Put my right foot in and shake it all about. Do the Hokey Pokey, for which the instructions are . . .

Oh God, I long for the day when I can turn myself about. For me, the Hokey Pokey is the only thing it has ever been about.

17

Pinky, have you been pondering what I’ve been pondering?

18

The hokey pokey, properly understood, is not self-referential.

The more “granular” hokey pokey, as mangetout has so well explained, is a short, gyrating dance move not unlike the twist. Within the song, one executes this move and then turns one’s self around.

Unfortunately, and confusingly, the Hokey Pokey is also the title of the song, and therefore of the dance as a whole.

Meaning must be inferred from context. When your pushy aunt drags you into the circle at a wedding and says, “Come on, let’s do the hokey pokey!”, she’s referring to the dance as a whole. She would be bewildered if you were to execute a quick twist on the spot, and then say, “OK, I did it!”

But again, within the song, when you do the hokey pokey, you’re executing a single dance step. Just as when we discuss Moby Dick, we’re talking about a novel, whereas when characters within the novel discuss Moby Dick, they’re talking about a whale.

19

Leprechaun vaginas. Why? Because it’s fun.

20

Obligatory Buffy quote:

In “Intervention,” to begin Buffy’s quest to find out more about being a Slayer, Giles must perform a ritual to temporarily transfer his guardianship of her to a spirit guide. He has brought along a bunch of sticks and a gourd, and makes a circle on the ground with the sticks. Their dialogue is as follows (from the transcript at BuffyWorld.com): BUFFY**:** So, how’s it start?
GILES**:** I, uh, jump out of the circle and then jump back in it, and then, um … (embarrassed) I shake my gourd.
BUFFY**:** I know this ritual! The ancient shamans were next called upon to do the hokey-pokey and turn themselves around.
GILES**:** (straightens up, gives her a sour look) Go quest.
Buffy makes an amused face. Giles looks embarrassed. He sighs, rolls his eyes, jumps into the circle of twigs, jumps out, and shakes the gourd. Nothing seems to happen. He and Buffy look at each other. BUFFY**:** And that’s what it’s all about.