"Skip a Rope" is a song written by Jack Moran and Glenn Douglas Tubb, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Henson Cargill Henson Cargill (February 5, 1941 – March 24, 2007) was an American country music singer best known for the socially controversial 1968 country number-one hit " Skip a Rope". His music career began in Oklahoma in clubs around Oklahoma City and ...

, released in November 1967 as the first single and title track from the album ''Skip a Rope''. The song was Cargill's debut release on the country chart and his most successful single. "Skip a Rope" was Cargill's sole number one on the country chart, spending five weeks at the top and a total of 16 weeks on the chart. "Skip a Rope" crossed over to the top 40, peaking at number 25.

Content

The song asked listeners to pay attention to what children would say as they played. It touched on, among other things, verbal

spousal abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

, and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, and at the end, laid blame for what the children said directly at the feet of their parents. Cargill's original recording featured background vocals by

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

Cover versions

The song was covered by

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

on his 1968 album ''Soul Country'', by

The Kentucky Headhunters The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band from Edmonton, Kentucky. The band's members are Doug Phelps (bass guitar, vocals), Greg Martin (lead guitar, vocals), and brothers Richard Young (rhythm guitar, vocals) ...

on their 1989 debut album ''

Pickin' on Nashville ''Pickin' on Nashville'' is the debut studio album by American country rock/southern rock band the Kentucky Headhunters. It features the singles "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine", "Oh Lonesome Me", "Dumas Walker", and "Rock 'n' Roll Angel", all ...

'', by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

on his final album ''Hits I Missed... And One I Didn't'', and by

Charley Crockett Matthew Charles Crockett (born March 24, 1984) is an American Neotraditonal countrysinger-songwriter. He has released 15 studio albums since 2015, with ''Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza'' peaking at number 11 on the US ''Billboard'' Blues Albums char ...

on his 2021 album, ''Music City USA''.

Chart performance

References

1967 singles 1967 debut singles Henson Cargill songs The Kentucky Headhunters songs 1967 songs Monument Records singles Songs about children Song recordings produced by Don Law Songs written by Glenn Douglas Tubb Songs about racism and xenophobia {{1960s-country-song-stub