When a schoolmate taught me the "Eenie Meenie" rhyme - ca. 1971 or '72 (I was six, and in kindergarten) - the second line was "catch a TIGER by the toe"! (Which I still think is a wonderful image, especially as it's followed by "if he hollers, let him go.") I don't think I encountered the n-word version until I was well into adulthood. As it happens, the Lennon song introduced me to that other word, perhaps a few months after that; I hadn't even heard the song yet, I just knew John Lennon had a new record out. When I happened to mention the title to my older brothers, they told me what that word meant, and that I was never to use it.
I’m just a few years younger than you, and I always heard it as “tiger” as well. Didn’t know about the n-word version until adulthood. (My parents purposefully moved to an integrated neighborhood when I was a child so I’d attend integrated schools.)
How could one omit Roy Orbison's movie The Fastest Guitar Alive from 1967 when discussing the man's late 60's career missteps? There's a good YouTube video re: pre-Beatles rock 'n roll acts who delved into psychedelic music later in an attempt to stay relevant: Everly Bros., Dion, Del Shannon are some of the better ones. I think it's in the Yesterday's Papers archive if you check for it. Here is the link
When a schoolmate taught me the "Eenie Meenie" rhyme - ca. 1971 or '72 (I was six, and in kindergarten) - the second line was "catch a TIGER by the toe"! (Which I still think is a wonderful image, especially as it's followed by "if he hollers, let him go.") I don't think I encountered the n-word version until I was well into adulthood. As it happens, the Lennon song introduced me to that other word, perhaps a few months after that; I hadn't even heard the song yet, I just knew John Lennon had a new record out. When I happened to mention the title to my older brothers, they told me what that word meant, and that I was never to use it.
I’m just a few years younger than you, and I always heard it as “tiger” as well. Didn’t know about the n-word version until adulthood. (My parents purposefully moved to an integrated neighborhood when I was a child so I’d attend integrated schools.)
Always happy to read you.
I learned it in the very early 1960s as "catch a monkey by the toe." Pretty dubious still in light of the 'n...' original
Thank you, Greil, very interesting article
You certainly are a wealth of knowledge
How could one omit Roy Orbison's movie The Fastest Guitar Alive from 1967 when discussing the man's late 60's career missteps? There's a good YouTube video re: pre-Beatles rock 'n roll acts who delved into psychedelic music later in an attempt to stay relevant: Everly Bros., Dion, Del Shannon are some of the better ones. I think it's in the Yesterday's Papers archive if you check for it. Here is the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C81-_0fL6Uc&t=165s