# Is this the same tune? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655 "2020-09-03T00:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/1 "2020-09-03T00:10:11Z")
1. The beginning of “Centerfold” by J. Geils Band, and 2. This school yard rhyme: “Tar-zan the monkey man swinging on a rubber band, along came Superman and knocked him in the frying pan.” The most recent version I heard at the school where I work was slightly different, prompting me to say “no, you got it all wrong.” We would follow this by discussing how stories and songs passed down change over generations. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/2 "2020-09-03T01:11:56Z")
Yep. … ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/3 "2020-09-03T01:13:46Z")
Slight hijack, Sorry, not familiar with the kid’s ditty you mentioned, but I did want to thank you for the earworm that instantly took me back to a freer more innocent and happier time and lightened my mood this evening. I now return you to your regularly posted topic ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/4 "2020-09-03T03:32:47Z")
In my neighborhood, it didn’t _have_ a tune; it was more of a chant. (Also, he fell in a garbage can, and kicked out Superman. No frying pans were involved.) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/5 "2020-09-03T03:52:36Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > This school yard rhyme: “Tar-zan the monkey man swinging on a rubber band, along came Superman and knocked him in the frying pan.” Umm, I can’t tell if it’s the same tune from just the lyrics… We never had that schoolyard rhyme, can you link to something that has the tune? ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/6 "2020-09-03T12:30:19Z")
We used to sing “Tarzan, the monkey man, burned his ass in a frying pan.” Very naughty. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/7 "2020-09-03T12:41:53Z")
Never heard of the Tarzan song before. The J Geils song does start and end with a melody that sounds like it could be something derived from a kids song, so I looked for youtube videos. I found one where the first 6 notes (Tarzan the monkey man) sound like the J Geils song: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JAfsdMnJt5U/hqdefault.jpg "Tarzan the monkey man") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAfsdMnJt5U) but all the rest were either chants like this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JJDGuvJXfgg/hqdefault.jpg "Tarzan--Repeat After Me Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJDGuvJXfgg) or sounded nothing like “Centerfold,” like this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PHITaanLbD8/maxresdefault.jpg "Brain Breaks - Action Songs for Children - Tarzan - Kids Camp Songs by The Learning Station") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHITaanLbD8) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/8 "2020-09-03T12:59:59Z")
It makes sense that it would also exist as a chant. I’m sure there are also regional differences. It just happens that the version I learned (East Tennessee, early seventies) has the same tune as what my students were singing (Washington, DC circa 2018). I will note that when I was a kid “frying pan” was sometimes replaced by “doo-doo can.” My students replaced “frying pan” with “garbage can”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/9 "2020-09-03T22:14:49Z")
I’m offended. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-tune/919655/10 "2020-09-04T01:29:36Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > This school yard rhyme: “Tar-zan the monkey man swinging on a rubber band, along came Superman and knocked him in the frying pan.” When I heard a similar chant, about 45 years ago, it was Batman instead of Tarzan, and the tune was the Batman TV show theme. Nothing like _Centerfold_. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrAuWxxkXDY)