  the hokey cokey (united kingdom), hokey pokey (united states, canada, ireland, australia), hokey tokey (new zealand) is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. it is well known in english-speaking countries. it is of unclear origin, with two main traditions having evolved in different parts of the world. the song and accompanying dance peaked in popularity as a music hall song and novelty dance in the mid-1940s in britain and ireland. ==origins and meaning== according to one account, in 1940, during the blitz in london, a canadian officer suggested to al tabor, a british bandleader of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, that he write a party song with actions similar to "under the spreading chestnut tree". the inspiration for the song's title that resulted, "the hokey pokey", came from an ice cream vendor whom tabor had heard as a boy, calling out, "hokey pokey penny a lump. have a lick make you jump". he changed the name to "the hokey cokey" at the suggestion of the officer who said that "cokey", in canada, meant "crazy" and would sound better. a well known lyricist/songwriter/music publisher of the time, jimmy kennedy, reneged on a financial agreement to promote and publish it, and finally tabor settled out of court, giving up all rights to the number. there had been many theories and conjectures about the meaning of the words "hokey pokey", and of their origin. despite these claims of recent invention, numerous variants of the song exist going back centuries. some scholars  found similar dances and lyrics dating back to the 17th century. one of the earlier variants, with a very similar dance to the modern one, is found in robert chambers' popular rhymes of scotland from 1826; the words there are given as: ::fal de ral la, fal de ral la: ::hinkumbooby, round about; ::right hands in, and left hands out, ::hinkumbooby, round about; ::fal de ral la, fal de ral la.chambers, robert. popular rhymes of scotland. a later variant of this song is the shaker song "hinkum-booby", which had more similar lyrics to the modern song and was published in edward deming andrews' a gift to be simple in 1960: (p.&nbsp;42). ::a song rendered ("with appropriate gestures") by two canterbury sisters while on a visit to bridgewater, n.h. in 1857 starts thus: ::i put my right hand in, ::i put my right ha
British_popular_music Group_dances Novelty_and_fad_dances Novelty_songs Slade_songs Song_recordings_produced_by_Chas_Chandler Songs_with_lyrics_by_Jimmy_Kennedy