Inspired by the “There’s a place in France” thread, I now have to ask if anyone knows the full lyrics to this wholesome children’s favorite, and what its origins might be?
I know it starts off with,
Did you ever see a hearse go by
And wonder if you’re the next to die?
and then continues somewhere along the line with,
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
They chew your guts and spit them out
Sounds kind of Goth, if you ask me, and this was back in the early 80s.
DHR
Another thing, while I’m thinking about it–I know the melody was the same as the theme song of old Oliver and Hardy shorts (musical notation to follow):
dooo DOOH dee DOOH, dooo DOOH dee DOOH,
dooo DOOH dee DOOH-doo-doo, dooo-dee-DOOH.
So another question is, did the original tune for Oliver and Hardy really carry such gruesome lyrics?
DHR
1950s version:
Did you ever think when a hearse went by
That you might be the next to die.
They wrap you in a big white sheet
And bury you under 6 feet deep.
It all goes well for a week or two
And then the casket begins to leak.
The worms crawl in
The worms crawl out
They all play pinochle on your snout.
The pus pours in
The pus pours out
. . . . and here I am without a spoon!
Yech! I can’t believe we sang that! (And I can’t believe I remember the words.) Who knows where it came from? I thought my friends made it up.
Gagging,
Jac
The version we did in Newfoundland in the 80s was similar, except the Pinochle line was (IIRC) ‘In your nose and out your mouth’ and the last line was ‘…MMMMMM, and me without my spoon!’
‘They couldn’t hit an Elephant from this dist…!’
Last words of General John Sedgwick
Here’s the version I heard:
Don’t you ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For you may be the next to die
They cover youy up in a big white sheet
From your head down to your feet
They put you in a great big box
And bury you up under dirt and rocks
And things go fine for about a week
And then your coffin begins to leak
The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out
In your stomach and out your snout
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose
They eat the jam between your toes
Your stomach turns a lovely green
And pus comes out like whipping cream
You spread it on a slice of bread
And that’s what you eat when you are dead
The version I heard went:
…the worms crawl in
the worms crawl out
the worms play pinochle on your snout
your stomach turns a slimy green
and pus pours out like whipping cream
you spread it on a slice of bread
and that’s what you eat when you are dead.
For versions of this and many other children’s rhymes, try Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood by Josepha Sherman and T. K. F. Weisskopf.
The theme used by Laurel and Hardy was Ku Ku composed by T. Marvin Hatley, the musical director for Hal Roach Studios. You can get more details at http://www.wayoutwest.org/pratfall/prat_marvin.html .
My mom taught my sister and me a version of this little ditty when we were young. However, I’m sure it was around long before the 80’s since she learned it as a child and was born in 1950.
I always thought the tune was “Funeral March of a Marionette,” AKA the theme to “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”
Saltire, that’s the tune I sang it too away back then.It is way more macabre that way. Some did sing it to KUKU. Since I knew the song before we had a TV it made the opening to the show all the more chilling. I am a cubscout master and I know you will all be glad to hear that all those ‘Gruesome ditties’ are alive and doing well. Great Big Gobs of Green Greasy Gopher Guts, My Body Flies Over the Ocean, I’m Mowing over My Dead Dog Rover,I’m Looking Over last Night’s dinner that I threw up on the floor, Upchuck Gotta Upchuck ( to the tune of the Armour hotdog song) and so on ad nauseum.
The KuKu theme is similar to Charles Gounod’s Funeral March for a Marionette but they are recognizably distinct if you hear them together.
Using the Doghouse Reilly method of musical notation, here’s KuKu:
dooo DOOH dee DOOH, dooo DOOH dee DOOH,
dooo DOOH dee DOOH-doo-doo, doo-dee-DOOH
Here’s the Funeral March:
daaaaaa DUM da da da da DUM-da-DUM
DUM da da da da DUM-da-DUM
Any professional musicians reading this may know pause to wipe the soda from their keyboards.
The KuKu theme is similar to Charles Gounod’s Funeral March for a Marionette but they are recognizably distinct if you hear them together.
Using the Doghouse Reilly method of musical notation, here’s KuKu:
dooo DOOH dee DOOH, dooo DOOH dee DOOH,
dooo DOOH dee DOOH-doo-doo, doo-dee-DOOH
Here’s the Funeral March:
daaaaaa DUM da da da da DUM-da-DUM
DUM da da da da DUM-da-DUM
Any professional musicians reading this may now pause to wipe the soda from their keyboards.
So much for the theory that you can pause your post for a last second spelling correction.
If you have a Macintosh and speech capability, try the test for the voice Pipe Organ. (Go into the Speech control panel and select Pipe Organ and click on the speaker icon. It says:
to the Alfred Hitchcock tune.
At least it used to! Now that I check it, it sings:
Hmm… the old version said the poem.
The lyrics I heard were taught to my brother and sister and me by our father–the only member of our family no longer living.
Did you ever think when the hearse rolls by
That sooner or later both you and I
Will take a trip in the same old hack
With never a worry of coming back?
They pick you up, they lay you down
And men with shovels stand all around
They throw in dirt, they throw in rocks
It sounds like hell on the old pine box!
The worms crawl in…
He’ll call his friends and his friends’ friends too
You’ll look like hell when the worms get through!
Hey Doghouse: I’ve long suspected that yer full o’ “doo-dee-doo-dee-doo” ; and this topic proves it.
If this post ain’t Mundane & Pointless, then I’m a Dutchman.
Is an appreciation of beauty a function of the human soul?
My uncles (now in their early 60s) say they learned this tender song in the boy scouts, it was a classic. Also called Zyrex (sp?)a pre-cool aid dring, bug juice.
have you ever seen a hearses go by
and think that you were the next to die
they rap you up in a big white sheet
and send you down six feet deep
all goes well for about a week
and then your kasket springs a leak
the worms go in
the worms go out
they play penouckle apound your snout
they steel the jelly from between your tows
and carry the buggers right out of your noise
What kind of songs do 11 year old zombies sing?