# Rhyme about Beans **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439 "2026-01-07T18:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/21 "2026-01-07T20:07:05Z")
I dunno. It’s close enough that I never thought about it until now. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/22 "2026-01-08T00:09:49Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever heard “magical”, but it would definitely be in the tiny minority if I have. I can’t remember ever hearing “magical.” It was always either “…the musical fruit / The more you eat, the more you toot” or “…good for your heart / The more you eat, the more you fart.” It’s “musical” in this version (cutscene from video game “Skullmonkeys”) : [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ozqdqnyusjw/hqdefault.jpg "Skullmonkeys: Beans") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozqdqnyusjw) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/23 "2026-01-08T00:18:56Z")
I heard the “fruit” version first, though I’m not sure if it was originally “musical” or “magical”. And the last line was “So eat your beans with every meal”. And for the record, green beans are fruits. As are a very large number of other vegetables. “Fruit” and “vegetable” are not mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/24 "2026-01-08T01:18:45Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Bart Simpson preferred #1, twice. Once in a religious school (he didn’t get past the second line) and once when he was somehow in an academically advanced school, when I think he got through the whole four lines. He also adapted it as an opera: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6dV3IECIILU/maxresdefault.jpg "The Magic Flute - Mozart "Bart Simpson" | The Simpsons") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dV3IECIILU) ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/25 "2026-01-08T01:55:27Z")
[“You know what they say: Beans, beans, good for your heart; Beans, beans, great for your heart!”](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/1hnht2l/the_bean_cafe_just_beans_thats_all_we_serve_here/) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/26 "2026-01-08T02:40:20Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@dirtball](#): > > > > Beans, beans, a nickel a quart > > The more you eat, the more you fart. > > Is there a dialect somewhere where that actually rhymes? The one I’m speaking. — well, it’s not quite a rhyme, but it’s pretty close. How old is the heart-healthy version? I don’t remember children ever talking about what foods were good for your heart in the 1950’s or so. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/27 "2026-01-08T02:41:28Z")
The more pertinent question is when did “fart” become funny. The point of the heart rhyme isn’t to provide nutritional advice. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/28 "2026-01-08T02:44:43Z")
I think farts have always been funny; at least to a significant portion of the human populace. Isn’t the oldest recorded joke something about a woman farting in her husband’s lap? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/29 "2026-01-08T12:33:18Z")
Discourse’s “related threads” feature points out we did this 15 years ago. See (smell? 🙂 ) this blast from the past: > [@Are beans "the perfect fruit" ,"the magical fruit" or "good for your heart"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-beans-the-perfect-fruit-the-magical-fruit-or-good-for-your-heart/530895): > > Debate amongst several of us including my9 year old. I always knew it as: Beans beans the perfect fruit The more you eat the more you toot The more you toot the better you feel Beans beans with every meal! Other, competing versions include Beans beans are good for your heart The more you eat the more you fart The more you fart the better you feel Beans beans with every meal! and lastly Beans beans the MAGICAL fruit The more you eat the more you toot The more you toot the better you… Lotta familiar names in that thread, and a few not seen nor heard from in years. And some different variations in the rhyme not mentioned here. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/30 "2026-01-08T14:12:44Z")
“musical”, and last line was “So eat some beans at every meal!” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/31 "2026-01-08T14:21:56Z")
It’s _musical_ fruit, because “the more you eat, the more you toot” as if your butt has become a trumpet. There can be no further debate 😏 Also, I always appreciated the lesson in circular logic the rhyme delivers. Beans are good because they cause you to fart, and farting relieves the discomfort caused by the gas buildup due to the beans. Eh whut? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/32 "2026-01-08T14:25:43Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > “musical”, and last line was “So eat some beans at every meal!” That’s the way I learned it. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/33 "2026-01-08T14:26:16Z")
“Musical” for me. Midwest circa the mid-80s. And the last line is “So eat some beans with every meal” or “So eat your beans at every meal” - something like that. Musical is much funnier than magical. It implies butt-trumpetry, which is hilarious to any kid. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/34 "2026-01-08T14:46:18Z")
To complicate the question, I grew up with (Wis, 1970s) Beans beans the musical fruit Makes a man go rooty-toot-toot The more you eat the better you feel So why not eat beans every meal? It would make a nice doctoral thesis tracing the origins of this wondrous, musical, magical rhyme, and see if kids in this modern, interconnected world, all use the same rhyme now. > [@TroutMan](#): > > The more pertinent question is when did “fart” become funny. I think the dawn of man. Kubrick filmed Moonwatcher farting at the other tribe in 2001, but it got cut for time. (not really) Geroge Carlin had recorded routines talking about farts (farts are fun!) going back to the 60s, but I do not imply that is the origin. Just using it as a context in that, in the 60s, 70s, 80s, “fart” should have been in the “seven words you can’t say on TV”, because you couldn’t. No use of the word, no realistic fart sounds. Somewhere along the way the taboo got removed and now we live in the hell on earth of kid shows filled with fart jokes. eta maybe this thread should have been names “rhyme-a-beans” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/35 "2026-01-08T20:00:05Z")
Just “musical” for me. NE US, 70s-80s. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/36 "2026-01-08T22:52:27Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > “So eat your beans at every meal” I learned it as more like “So eat’cha beans at ev’ry meal.” I also heard ca. 1980 “musical fruit” and “good for your heart”, but never heard “magical.” ---
**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:** [January 8, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/37 "2026-01-08T22:55:12Z")
Three. _Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart._ _The more you eat, he more you fart._ _The more you fart, the better you feel._ _So let’s have beans for every meal!_ _PS: Clam chowder makes 'em louder._ _Turkey soup makes you poop!_ ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/38 "2026-01-08T23:07:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Just using it as a context in that, in the 60s, 70s, 80s, “fart” should have been in the “seven words you can’t say on TV”, because you couldn’t. No use of the word, no realistic fart sounds. Somewhere along the way the taboo got removed and now we live in the hell on earth of kid shows filled with fart jokes. And at roughly the same place along the way, the “toot” wording came to be seen as too weak and milquetoast-y to sustain what’s supposed to be a naughty playground rhyme. (Sort of a “reverse euphemism treadmill.”) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/39 "2026-01-08T23:09:25Z")
I heard the last line as > Now you’re ready for another meal of… > > Beans, beans the musical fruit (etc.) (Infinitely looping along the lines of “This is the song that doesn’t end”.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439/40 "2026-01-09T00:31:33Z")
99 pots of beans on the stove Take one off and pass it around … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyme-about-beans/1026439.md?page=3)