# Songs & poems you remember from childhood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683 "2008-08-20T16:37:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/1 "2008-08-20T16:37:51Z")
This morning, for reasons too otiose to rehearse here, I was doing research on the arachnid digestive system. Googling the words “swallow” and “spider” led me, among other places, [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPAGJgCsFWY), [here](http://www.amazon.com/There-Lady-Swallowed-Caldecott-Honor/dp/0670869392), and [here](http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/oldlady.htm). Instantly I was taken back to childhood, or rather early adolescence. I have no idea when I first heard that song; I’ve always assumed it was a folk tale, or perhaps that one of my older relatives made it up. But I do remember, vividly, singing it to my little sister when putting her to bed. Until she was maybe 8 or 9, it was one of her favorite bedtime rituals. Since she was and is one of my favorite human beings, I never minded singing the song over and over. But that’s just me. What songs, poems, and stories instantly take you back to your childhood? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/2 "2008-08-20T17:40:33Z")
Her feet went into the air Her face turned crimson red She felt both dark and damp And she wished that she were dead The moral to my story Is never sit down abrupt Always look behind you For the seat may still be up ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/3 "2008-08-20T17:44:50Z")
Cauliflowers fluffy, and cabbages green Strawberries sweeter than any I’ve seen… [Broad beans are sleeping in their blankety bed!](http://www.ict.oxon-lea.gov.uk/portfolio/cauliflowers_fluffy.htm) ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/4 "2008-08-20T19:19:21Z")
When I was but a wee lass, our home life was. . .troubled. My oldest sister, 13 years my senior, was a _huge_ Beatles fan, and as such, owned a hardback copy of _John Lennon in His Own Write_, a book of poetry by Lennon. (Complete with pen and ink illustrations by Sir Paul). When things were bad in the living area of the house, she would invite me to her room and read me Lennon’s poetry. I was but five when I memorized: I sat belonely down a tree Humbled fat and small A little lady sing to me I could not see at all I’m looking up and at the sky To find such wondrous voice Puzzledy-puzzle, wonder why? I hear, but have no choice ‘Speak up! Come forth You razzle me’, I potty menthol shout ‘I know you hiddy by this tree’ But still she won’t come out Such softly singing lulled me sleep An hour two or so I wakeny slowly Took a peep But still no lady show Then suddy on a little twig I thought I see a sight A tiny little tiny pig That sing with all it’s might ‘I thought you were a lady’ I giggle (well, I may) To my surprise, the lady Got up and flew away For my 10th birthday, she gave me the book. It remains one of my most treasured possessions. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/5 "2008-08-20T20:08:59Z")
_There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold_ Takes me back to family car trips. To this day, no one can recite Robert Service as well as my Daddy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/6 "2008-08-20T20:11:53Z")
The more it snows Tiddely-pom The more it goes Tiddely-pom, The more it goes Tiddely-pom On snowing. And nobody knows Tiddely-pom, How cold my toes Tiddely-pom, How cold my toes Tiddely-pom, Are growing. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/7 "2008-08-20T21:42:16Z")
[They’re coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!](http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~norm/TakeMeAway.html) I only mention it because when they were in junior high, I discovered that a few of my kid’s friends didn’t know the song. I had to force them to listen to a copy. You can’t say you’ve been a kid if you don’t know that one. You also need to know: One fine day in the middle of the night Two dead boys got up to fight. . . I think there’s been a thread or two about regional variations in that one. Sadly, a lazy attempt to find them keeps turning up messages about the words being too common. Also the one about “The worms crawl in - the worms crawl out. . .” ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/8 "2008-08-20T22:00:27Z")
nobody loves me nobody cares i’m going to the garden and eat worms big worms little worms even fat and skinny worms i’m going to the garden and eat worms! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/9 "2008-08-20T23:04:15Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] One fine day in the middle of the night Two dead boys got up to fight. . . I think there’s been a thread or two about regional variations in that one. Sadly, a lazy attempt to find them keeps turning up messages about the words being too common. [/QUOTE] Here ya go! [Old contradictory story about the two dead boys getting up to fight](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=370332) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/10 "2008-08-21T04:05:06Z")
I remember only a line or two of a song my mom used to sing… “Oh, we bathed his head with glue just to see what it would do. But 'twas then we seen our efforts was in vain. Like a dream, he passed away on the 41st of May, and we’ll never see our blue-haired boy again.” If anyone can supply more lyrics, I’d be grateful. And as far as poems go… “…and the goblins will git YOU if you don’t watch out!” “Once a big molicepan saw a bittle lum sitting on the sturb cone chewing gubble bum…” “I eat my peas with honey…” We had lots of books of poetry growing up. I could go on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/11 "2008-08-21T04:16:04Z")
… and while we’re at it, does anyone know what the heck this means/where it’s from: Baby, baby, stick your head in gravy wash it off with bubblegum and send it to the navy Wha? ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/12 "2008-08-21T04:24:10Z")
> **[Senor Don Gato song and lyrics from KIDiddles](https://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/s038.html)** > > Children's songs and lyrics. Nursery rhymes and lullabies, as well as free printable Song Sheets and Sheet Music. I can still sing this from memory. I remember sitting after school and copying the lyrics out by hand from the book it was in. I’m odd. I’m not a big fan of cats–they make me sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/13 "2008-08-21T04:33:05Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] "…and the goblins will git YOU if you don’t watch out!"QUOTE] I remember borrowing that book from my elementary school library in Grade Three. There are still nights when I can’t sleep and I end up with that refrain skulking through my mind. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/14 "2008-08-21T13:27:30Z")
[QUOTE=BrassyPhrase] > **[Senor Don Gato song and lyrics from KIDiddles](https://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/s038.html)** > > Children's songs and lyrics. Nursery rhymes and lullabies, as well as free printable Song Sheets and Sheet Music. I can still sing this from memory. I remember sitting after school and copying the lyrics out by hand from the book it was in. I’m odd. I’m not a big fan of cats–they make me sneeze. [/QUOTE] Jeez, I was gonna post that song. I loved Senor El Gato (meow, meow, meow) ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/15 "2008-08-21T13:58:41Z")
Hmmm…I remember most of [_The Tiger_](http://www.daypoems.net/poems/441.html) by William Blake. It’s one of the first poems I memorized for school. Another one that I remember most of is [_Rags_](http://www.all-creatures.org/poetry/rags.html)…a poem about a stray dog during WWII (I think) that a vertern ran into later after the war. A very touching poem that can still bring a tear to my eye. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/16 "2008-08-21T14:01:23Z")
[QUOTE=hellpaso] nobody loves me nobody cares i’m going to the garden and eat worms big worms little worms even fat and skinny worms i’m going to the garden and eat worms! [/QUOTE] Everybody hates me, Nobody likes me. I’m gonna go eat worms. Big fat juicy ones, Itty bitty little ones. My how the little ones squirm. First you bite their heads off, then you suck their guts out, Then you throw the skins away. Nobody knows how I can live On worms three times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/17 "2008-08-21T14:24:24Z")
Now I’m trying to remember a song that my grandfather used to sing for us kids. I think I’ve only got bits and pieces of it, and the last bit may have been thrown in from another song. Oh, I live under the viaduct (pronounced wye-a-duct) down by the vinegar (pronounced win-a-ger) works. They tie all the children to fences and logs They do it to keep them from biting the dogs. Oh, I live under the viaduct down by the vinegar works They got me for murder, but I didn’t care They said they’d put me in a big 'lectric chair They turned on the juice from my head to my shoes But I was so touch that I blew out the fuse. segue into Oh, if I had the wings of an angel Over these prison walls I’d fly I’d fly to the house of my Grandma And stuff up on blackberry pie ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/18 "2008-08-21T14:28:09Z")
“We are good Sandlappers Yes, we’re good Sandlappers And we’re mighty proud to say That we live; Yes, we live In the very best state of the USA!” ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/19 "2008-08-21T14:35:17Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > “I eat my peas with honey…” I eat my peas with honey I’ve done it all my life It makes the peas taste funny But it keeps them on my knife. That was one of my father’s favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683/20 "2008-08-21T14:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] … and while we’re at it, does anyone know what the heck this means/where it’s from: Baby, baby, stick your head in gravy wash it off with bubblegum and send it to the navy Wha? [/QUOTE] Sounds vaguely like the schoolyard taunt I remember for someone who was being a baby, chanted to a sort of generic “Nyah nyah” cadence: Kindergarten baby! Born in the gravy! Died in the Navy! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-you-remember-from-childhood/460683.md?page=2)