My grandma and your grandma
Were sittin' by the fire
My grandma told your grandma
I'm gonna set your flag on fire

Talkin' 'bout: Hey now! Hey now!
Iko, Iko, unday
Jockamo feeno ai nané
Jockamo fee nané
Chorus
...

Sometimes known as Jockamo instead, this song was best known as it was performed by the Grateful Dead, it was covered by the Belle Stars for the soundtrack to the (excellent) movie "Rain Man" in 1988. The Dead were rather strong fans of zydeco, it would seem.


The Grateful Dead, like myself, first heard this song done by The Dixie Cups in 1965. It's called a traditional song, and some say that it has Native American roots.

I seriously doubt this, due to the use of the term "flag boy." A flag boy is one of the folks in the tribes which take part in Mardi Gras each year. The baddest Indian in the tribe is the Spy Boy. He scouts ahead for other tribes, and when he sees them, he tells Flag Boy so that Flag Boy can alert Big Chief. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about here, you need to visit Nawlins during Mardi Gras some time. It's a hoot.

So I'm guessing that this song was traditional from the Nawlins area and probably the result of some cajun nonsense.

The three girls called the Dixie Cups were sisters Barbara and Rosa Hawkins and their cousin Joan Johnson, from the Calliope housing project in New Orleans. Phil Spector made them stars with "Chapel of Love" in 1964.

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