# Songs you sang in school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188 "2018-04-10T22:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/1 "2018-04-10T22:47:08Z")
So what songs did you all enjoy singing in school back in the day? Did anyone else sing “Bingo”? And then do the clapping part? There was another called “Don Gotto” about a cat. Another was “Cindy”. “Git along home, Cindy Cindy” Any others? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/2 "2018-04-10T23:29:16Z")
Of those, I only know “Bingo.” We even did a German version of it, for whatever reason. (I think the music teacher was of German background, or something.) I mean, as a kid we did the usual “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and, on bus trips, “99 Bottle of Beer on the Wall” and all that stuff. I also remember lots of religious songs (I went to a Catholic school, my favorite probably being “On Eagle’s Wings” and “Make Me A Channel of Your Peace.”) Then for fun stuff, I distinctly remember “The Cat Came Back” as well as “Fun, Fun, Fun” by the Beach Boys. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/3 "2018-04-10T23:46:21Z")
The favorites for my students are “The Zoo Song”, “Down By The Bay”, and Woody Guthrie’s “Pick it Up”. They still dig “Bingo” and “Wheels on the Bus”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/4 "2018-04-11T00:03:14Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Did anyone else sing “Bingo”? And then do the clapping part? _clap clap_ NGO > [@](#): > > There was another called “Don Gotto” about a cat. Don GATO, silly. Señor Don Gato was a cat. On a high red roof Don Gato sat. > [@](#): > > Another was “Cindy”. “Git along home, Cindy Cindy” nuh. Never ran into that one. > [@](#): > > Any others? • The “Whoopie Tie Yi Yo” sing, Git along little dogies, it’s yore misfortune and none of my own. All the verses, including “Oh, you’ll be soup for Uncle Sam’s injuns, it’s beef, big beef, I can hear them cry…” • “Waters ripple and flow, on their way to the sea…” • Something about being a horse. “Eat the grass upon the hill, drink cool water form the pool…” and “do you know this wobbly colt, standing side me {something}, soon a handsome horse will be, this shiny colt…” • Columbia the Gem of the Ocean ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/5 "2018-04-11T01:11:15Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > _clap clap_ NGO As if on cue, I walk into the dining room and my 2 year old is on the iPad, listening to that song exactly at that verse. Otherwise, I don’t recognize any of the other songs you’ve listed. So far, “Bingo” and “Wheels On The Bus” are the only songs mentioned in this thread that I’ve even heard of. Oh, and that reminds me, “Puff the Magic Dragon” was also a popular one in grade school, and I seem to recall “Yellow Submarine” also getting a lot of traction. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/6 "2018-04-11T01:25:10Z")
“Walking down Canal Street, Knocked on every door. God damn son-of-a-bitch, I couldn’t find a whore.” What? Not college? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/7 "2018-04-11T02:18:38Z")
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” It had a cuss word in it. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/8 "2018-04-11T06:00:41Z")
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, Counting all the monkeys he can see, Laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra That’s no monkey that’s me. Also all the Christmas songs. ETA Also The Happy Wanderer ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/9 "2018-04-11T11:04:42Z")
“America” and “Here comes Peter Cotton Tail, hopping down the bunny trail, hippity hoppity Easter’s on its way…” Later “A strapping young stockman lay dying, a saddle supporting his head…”, “There was a wild colonial boy…”, and “…Singing toorali-ollari-addity, We’re bound for Botany Bay…” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/10 "2018-04-11T11:07:34Z")
I remember we sang Rainbow Connection, When I’m 64, Yellow Submarine, and various other pop songs the teachers liked. Didn’t sing a whole lot of kids songs. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/11 "2018-04-11T11:20:51Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Don GATO, silly. Señor Don Gato was a cat. On a high red roof Don Gato sat. _Estaba el señor don Gato sentadito en su tejado, marramamiau, miau miau, sentadito en su tejado_… Wonder if it’s the same song, but I’m at work so I’ll have to try a youtube quest later. I don’t have memories of singing it at school; we did sing it during car trips, and when herding little ones (I usually was among the older kids in any group, so I’ve shepherded a lot of toddlers). ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/12 "2018-04-11T12:18:49Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > _clap clap_ NGO > > Don GATO, silly. Señor Don Gato was a cat. On a high red roof Don Gato sat. Oh yeah, Thanks… The funnest part was the “Don Gato was a cat” and you said “meow, meow, meow” “I adore you wrote the lady cat (meow meow meow) who was fluffy white and nice and fat (meow meow meow)”. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/13 "2018-04-11T12:23:51Z")
Various verses to the tune" here is to the bus driver". “He drinks and he smokes and he tells dirty jokes”. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/14 "2018-04-11T13:32:42Z")
Weeeelll I stuck my head in a little skunk’s hole And the little skunk said, Well bless my soul… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/15 "2018-04-11T13:48:35Z")
_Black socks, they never get dirty The more you wear them The more they get sturdy Sometimes I think of the laundry But something tells me, “Don’t think of that yet”_ ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/16 "2018-04-11T14:25:28Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Various verses to the tune" here is to the bus driver". > > “He drinks and he smokes and he tells dirty jokes”. I haven’t thought of this song in 40+ years. We have threads like these every so often and usually at least one song that had previously been totally forgotten gets jarred loose. This be that song. At least that was the version we sung on the bus. Round the campfire when no adults were around it was " . . .he’s happy, he’s jolly, he’s fucked up by golly". > [@pulykamell](#): > > ``` > . . . Then for fun stuff, I distinctly remember "The Cat Came Back" . . . > > ``` I didn’t hear this one in school but had it on a record of childrens’ songs. This song seriously bummed me out! For those unfamiliar, [here](https://genius.com/Fred-penner-the-cat-came-back-lyrics) are the lyrics, which describe the many ways people try to “get rid of” this poor cat. Here’s a kind of a curious one: my second grade teacher, Mrs. Miller, taught us _Oh What a Beautiful Morning_ , which we would sing after saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and which I wouldn’t learn until decades later that it’s from the musical _Oklahoma_. She also taught us “Well I walked around the corner and I walked around the block Then I walked right in to a doughnut shop Then I picked up a doughnut rights out of the grease And I handed the lady a five cent piece.” There’s more but I don’t want to violate the copyright thingy. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/17 "2018-04-11T14:56:54Z")
We sang that [Don Gato](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxnjdN3E-WQ) crap, too. I’m pretty surprised that it was something widespread and non-obscure, though. Then there was [a song about defenestration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pG9mcUiwXY) (those were both in middle school.) In primary school, being in SC we sang _[Sandlappers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbVkkvxHA_g)_ and _[Carolina](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4--z677590k) [in](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoJJcixSfjo) [the](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DB2alPmdaw) [Morning.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpZbnh4TT9E)_ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/18 "2018-04-11T15:33:20Z")
What years were you folks who sang the “Don Gato” song around? Seems to be a popular tune. I was in grade school in the 80s, and never came across it. My kids are now in pre-K and day care, and I haven’t heard it from them yet, either. Is this like a 90s thing or something? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/19 "2018-04-11T15:37:38Z")
My whole sixth grade class sang “Dixie” every morning. We were in southeast Missouri, and it was the 1990s, so this was perhaps a bit odd for a public school. I also remember learning “Kookaburra” and “Waltzing Matilda”, and understanding both of them just fine, in early grade school. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/20 "2018-04-11T17:04:53Z")
“I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee, won’t my mommy be so proud of me…” “Birdie, birdie, where is your nest…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188.md?page=2)