There’s a lot of interest currently about thoroughly washing your hands. The World Health Organization produced some great posters about how to do it properly.
If your hands are soiled, you need to wash them with soap and water. If you simply want to ensure your visibly clean hands are hygienic, rub them with a sanitizer.
In either case, you must rub thoroughly and get all parts of your hand, fingers, and fingernails. These posters illustrate the steps to take to make sure you get the job done right.
Besides making sure you hit all the right spots, humming a tune of 30-seconds with sanitizer or 60-seconds with soap is another technique to ensure a thorough job and make fun, too. There are a lot of favorite tunes being bandied about. Frankly, we prefer songs from the doo wop era and have a number of suggestions below.
Doo Wop handwashing songs
Doo wop refers to a style of rhythm and blues from the 1950s. These African American tunes featured ensembles singing rich vocal harmonies, backed by simple lyrics and music, that included nonsense syllables. If you’re unfamiliar with doo wop, you’ll find a nice range of examples in the songs below. The name doo wop is reported to come from the nonsense syllable uttered in “Never” recoreded by The Dundees in Los Angeles in 1954.
Papa Oom Mow Mow by Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris, Turner “Rocky” Wilson, Jr. (1962)
The Rivingtons were a 1960s group, best known for this doo-wop hit, considered by some to be the best doo wop tune of all time. These lyrics will take you about 30-seconds.
Funniest sound I ever heard
papa-oom-mow-mow, papa-oom-mow-mow
But I can’t understand a single word
papa-oom-mow-mow, papa-oom-mow-mow
If he’s serious or if he’s playin’
Ooo My My is all he’s sayin
Papa-papa-hoooo
Papa-papa-papa-hoooo
Yakety Yak by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (1958)
Listed below are all the verses, which is more than you need for handwashing. But it’s so fun, you’ll want to sing the whole thing. Be sure to check out the Coasters rendition below.
Take out the papers and the trash
Or you don’t get no spendin’ cash
If you don’t scrub that kitchen floor
You ain’t gonna rock and roll no more
Yakety yak (don’t talk back)
Just finish cleanin’ up your room
Let’s see that dust fly with that broom
Get all that garbage out of sight
Or you don’t go out Friday night
Yakety yak (don’t talk back)
You just put on your coat and hat
And walk yourself to the laundromat
And when you finish doin’ that
Bring in the dog and put out the cat
Yakety yak (don’t talk back)
Don’t you give me no dirty looks
Your father’s hip; he knows what cooks
Just tell your hoodlum friend outside
You ain’t got time to take a ride
Yakety yak (don’t talk back)
Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon
Written by 13-year-old Frankie Lymon, performed with The Teenagers on the Frankie Laine show in 1956 (see the video below). The song is a bit tough to learn, or you can simply run through doom bop ooh wah three times to take you to 30-seconds.
Doom bop doom bop doom bop doo-oo
Ooh wah ooh wah ooh wah
Ooh wah ooh wah ooh wah
Why do fools fall in love
Why do birds sing so gay
Love is awake at the break of day
Why do they fall in love
Oh Why does the rain fall from up above
Why do fools fall in love
Why do they fall in love
Come and Go with Me by C. E. Quick (1956)
The great part about this song is you can simply use the refrain without any of the verse. But it’s a little hard to keep track of where you are in the song.
Dom-dom dom-dom dom-de-doo-be
Dom dom dom dom dom dom-de-doo-be
Dom dom dom dom dom dom-be-doo-be
Dom wah-wah-wah-wah-ah
Dom-dom dom-dom dom-de-doo-be
Dom dom dom dom dom dom-de-doo-be
Dom dom dom dom dom dom-be-doo-be
Dom wah-wah-wah-wa-ah
Well I love, love you darlin’
Come and go with me
Come home with me
Way beyond the sea
I need you darlin’
So come go with me
Come, come, come, come
Come into my heart
Tell me darlin’
We will never part
I need you darlin’
So come go with me
He’s So Fine by Ronnie Mack (1964)
This song was #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for four weeks in 1963. George Harrison was found guilty of plagiarism of this song when he released “My Sweet Lord”.
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
Do-lang-do-lang
He’s so fine
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
Wish he were mine
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
That handsome boy over there
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
The one with the wavy hair
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
I don’t know how I’m gonna do it
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
But, I’m gonna make him mine
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
He’s the envy of all the girls
Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
It’s just a matter of time
Do-lang-do-lang
In the Still of the Night by Fred Parris (1955)
Okay, we’re going to slow it down this time with Fred and The Five Satins, seen below in an excerpt from the 1959 film “Sweet Beat”.
Shoo-doop, shooby-doo
Shoo-doop, shooby-doo
Shoo-doop, shooby-doo
Shoo-doop, shooby, whoa
In the still of the night
I held you, held you tight
Cause I love, love you so
Promise I’ll never let you go
In the still of the night
In the still of the night
It’s My Party by John Gluck, Wally Gold, and Herb Weiner (and Seymour Gottlieb)
This is a bit of a ringer. It’s not doo wop as all of the lyrics make perfect sense. But, it’s a great handwashing song. It was originally recorded by Leslie Gore in 1963 and produced by Seattle native Quincy Jones. How cool is that.
Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
But Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he’s supposed to be mine
It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you
Judy and Johnny just walked through the door
Like a queen with her king
Oh what a birthday surprise
Judy’s wearin’ his ring
It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you
