# John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt - Do you know this song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871 "2016-08-05T20:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/21 "2016-08-05T22:55:38Z")
I learned it from [Kidsongs](https://kidsongs.com/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-music-video-mp4.html). Each repetition gets quieter, but you yell the name, along with “Da da da da da da da” or similar. Somehow, they connected it with Old MacDonald’s farm. But there was always that one song that didn’t seem to fit the theme. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/22 "2016-08-05T22:58:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > As noted in the other thread, I liked the [“adult”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=712819)\* version. > \*no not THAT kind of adult. Played on pop radio stations, rather than on kids TV or CDs. Ever find a recording of it? I’d love to hear it. I kinda wonder how the verse sounds. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/23 "2016-08-05T23:16:17Z")
Yes. Born 1979, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/24 "2016-08-05T23:31:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Ever find a recording of it? I’d love to hear it. I kinda wonder how the verse sounds. Not yet, but becuse of this thread I’ll renew my efforts to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/25 "2016-08-06T00:09:29Z")
I graduated from high school with John Jacob. and his song. ---
**Author:** ![appleaday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@appleaday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleaday)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/26 "2016-08-06T00:21:52Z")
That was a standard kid’s song when I was growing up (1960’s, Seattle area). I also remember the second line as “That’s my name, too” . We finished off with a line of “Tra la la la la” or “Dum dee dum dee dum” We just repeated the same words over and over again. Besides being fun to sing, it had the extra benefit of driving our parents crazy. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/27 "2016-08-06T00:45:31Z")
> [@appleaday](#): > > That was a standard kid’s song when I was growing up (1960’s, Seattle area). I also remember the second line as “That’s my name, too” . We finished off with a line of “Tra la la la la” or “Dum dee dum dee dum” Same here, SF Bay Area in the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/28 "2016-08-06T00:49:58Z")
Yes. I was a kid in the 1950s/60s in Indiana and heard it often. ---
**Author:** ![TheInimitableMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/29 "2016-08-06T00:52:16Z")
Yes, born 1983 in Raleigh, NC. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/30 "2016-08-06T01:04:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This came up in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800377). It’s a kids song, just repeating a few lines over and over again as far as I know. I think every kid in the 60s knew this from school or camp or field trips on the bus, at least for me growing up in the Midlantic region. Pretty sure my kids knew it growing up in the 80s and 90s too. Apparently it’s not as universal as I thought, so have you heard this song? When were you a kid and where did you live then? > > Bonus points if your name is John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. > > The lyrics (the only ones I know about): > > _John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, > His name is my name too. > Whenever we go out, > The people always shout, > There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt._ There are more lyrics: “Ba da da da da da da…” mmm ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/31 "2016-08-06T01:37:43Z")
The earliest reference to it that I know of is, it was sung on an episode of _The Andy Griffith Show_ when it was still in black and white, so it would have been around 1965. It was actually sung slightly differently from how I learned it; normally, while each verse gets softer and softer except for the part between the verses, in this one, most of the second verse is quiet, but when they get to “the people always shout,” they shouted the name. The only other time I saw it on TV was an episode of _One Day at a Time_, where it was done the usual way. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/32 "2016-08-06T01:38:45Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Not yet, but becuse of this thread I’ll renew my efforts to find it. Success! It didn’t help that this version is called JJJ-SMITH, especially when the singer sings JJJ-Schmidt. [Jim Lowe performing JJJS.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUmANyVvGg) It holds up better than I would have suspected. ---
**Author:** ![appleaday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@appleaday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleaday)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/33 "2016-08-06T02:58:40Z")
Good heavens! I had no idea the song had all those verses – all we ever knew was the chorus. What a revelation! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/34 "2016-08-06T03:22:47Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I’ve heard it on TV shows but I’ve never sung it myself and I don’t remember my friends, classmates, or siblings singing it. I grew up in upstate New York in the 1970s. I could have written this post but I would have to amend it to read “I grew up in upstate NY, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida in the 1970s and early 80s.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/35 "2016-08-06T03:27:27Z")
Where I used to live, my apartment manager’s small daughters would sing that when they saw me. ('Cause, you know, ‘John’.) ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/36 "2016-08-06T04:13:48Z")
I believe I learned in in 4-H camp in the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/37 "2016-08-06T04:59:06Z")
Yup. Grew up in New England in the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/38 "2016-08-06T05:13:38Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I know the song from summer camp as a kid. We sang the second line as "_That’s my name, too."_ > [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > That’s how I was taught the song, but I think that’s a mutant offshoot, because most people have it the other way. > > Also, I myself frequently rendered the name “Jinglebooty Smith” and I’m pretty sure that was only me doing that. It doesn’t scan. Not enough syllables. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/39 "2016-08-06T05:25:11Z")
We used to sing that song on the bus to day camp, back in the mid-'50s. We also sang a variation of “Hagalina Magalina . . . .” ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871/40 "2016-08-06T07:09:24Z")
We learned this and other camp sort of songs, such as “I Love the Mountains” and “Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory Glory” at PS 24 in the Bronx, early 70’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-jacob-jingleheimer-schmidt-do-you-know-this-song/761871.md?page=3)