# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/61 "2019-10-29T08:34:26Z")
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree Merry, merry king of the bush is he Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra Gay your life must be. Happy Wanderer, Funiculi Funicular, all via ABC radio transmissions to my primary school circa 1967, Australia. Plus, every morning we sang the National Anthem, back then ‘GOD SAVE THE QUEEN’. 😃 ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/62 "2019-10-29T09:35:42Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > …We kids did, of course, sing the “Glory, Glory Hallelujah” parody, only the last few lines were > > So we bopped her on the bean > with a rotten tangerine, > and her teeth came marching out! Did anyone else do this version?: \* Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord He is tearing down the alley in a 1950 Ford With one hand on the wheel and the other on a can Of Pabst Blue Ribbon beeeeeeeeeer\* ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/63 "2019-10-29T09:46:54Z")
And then there’s “Magalena Hagalena”: Magalena Hagalena Hoopensteier Wallenheimer Hogan Logan Mogan was her name. She had two peculiar hairs on her head, One was black and the other was red. She had two eyes in the middle of her head, One was green and the other was red. She had two teeth in the middle of her mouth, One pointing north and the other pointing south. And one day, a ten ton truck hit poor Magalene; The poor truck driver had to buy a new machine. I remember that song from over 60 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/64 "2019-10-29T10:00:30Z")
A couple that I never encountered anywhere else: [“My Paddle’s Keen and Bright”](https://evablaskovic.com/2016/11/10/dip-dip-and-swing/) [“Sarasponda”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasponda) (1960s-'70s, southern New Jersey) ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/65 "2019-10-29T10:01:45Z")
An appropriate one for this time of year: _Have you seen the ghost of John? Long white bones with his skin all go-o-o-one Ooh, Oo-oo-oo-oo-ooh" Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on?_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phbKMfkt18g)to what I think was the tape we used, as it has the right lyrics. The ending right now is my Animal Crossing New Leaf town song. The game is quite relaxing. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/66 "2019-10-29T10:04:47Z")
I left the United States in 1981, in the middle of 1st Grade, so I don’t remember many of the songs we sang. The ones I do remember are: “This Land is Your Land” “Frère Jacques (Brother John)” - sung in English and French “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho” … and lots of other black spirituals, now that I think of it; kinda funny for a lily-white Manhattan school. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/67 "2019-10-29T12:43:54Z")
In the Titanic song, did you change the line: “Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives” to: “Uncles and aunts, little cousins lost their pants” ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/68 "2019-10-29T13:20:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And then there’s “Magalena Hagalena”: > > Magalena Hagalena Hoopensteier Wallenheimer > Hogan Logan Mogan was her name. In my part of the country, her name was Madalena Hadalena Ookataka Wakataka Oka Poka Noka. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/69 "2019-10-29T13:43:53Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > A couple that I never encountered anywhere else: [“My Paddle’s Keen and Bright”](https://evablaskovic.com/2016/11/10/dip-dip-and-swing/) > > [“Sarasponda”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasponda) > > (1960s-'70s, southern New Jersey) [We sang Sarasponda in High School choir](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3uJ2Uj320s) ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/70 "2019-10-29T14:43:23Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > In the Titanic song, did you change the line: > > “Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives” > > to: > > “Uncles and aunts, little cousins lost their pants” we sang " . . . little children wet their pants" This was one of my favorite camp songs ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/71 "2019-10-29T15:12:19Z")
Maybe it was just us in upstate NY _I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal Fifteen years on the Erie Canal She’s a good old worker and a good old pal Fifteen years on the Erie Canal We’ve hauled some barges in our day Filled with lumber, coal, and hay And every inch of the way we know From Albany to Buffalo_ ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/72 "2019-10-29T15:35:59Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Maybe it was just us in upstate NY > > _I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal > Fifteen years on the Erie Canal > She’s a good old worker and a good old pal > Fifteen years on the Erie Canal > We’ve hauled some barges in our day > Filled with lumber, coal, and hay > And every inch of the way we know > From Albany to Buffalo_ Naah, we had that one and I was in Georgia at the time. Low bridge, evverbody down, Low bridge, cuz we’re comin’ to a town… ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/73 "2019-10-29T16:28:56Z")
EVERY SINGLE TIME, from grade school through high school, whenever we got on a bus for a field trip, we HAD to sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. And by the time we hit seventy-something beers, we’d futz up the number. It’s a shame that due to buget cuts, most kids these days don’t go on field trips. How are they ever going to learn to count backwards? My brain is stuck on a song about a goat that eats somebody’s long red underwear. Then there’s some accident waiting to happen and the goat coughs up the longjohns and stops the train. ~VOW ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/74 "2019-10-29T17:37:18Z")
Bill Grogan’s goat, was feeling fine. Ate three red shirts, right off the line. Bill took a stick, gave him three whacks, And tied him to the railroad tracks. The whistle blew, the train grew nigh; Bill Grogan’s goat, was doomed to die. He gave three moans, of mortal pain, Barfed up those shirts, and flagged that train! ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/75 "2019-10-29T18:51:47Z")
Anyone remember [Piccolomini](https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-Lkry-SF01&hsimp=yhs-SF01&hspart=Lkry&p=piccolo+mini+song#id=1&vid=d408e2463b4ead078b298bc7caab3900&action=click)? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/76 "2019-10-30T12:56:54Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/77 "2019-10-30T15:34:26Z")
I’m apparently the first Texan to add to this thread, because there are 3 songs that all Texas children have to learn: The Yellow Rose of Texas (checks out lyrics… I don’t think those are the lyrics we learned in school?) Home on the Range Deep in the Heart of Texas That last one - you can probably find all the Texans in the room by singing: The stars at night Are big and bright Anyone who claps is a Texan. It’s like Roger Rabbit and “Shave and a Haircut” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/78 "2019-10-30T16:10:31Z")
This thread and the time of year brought back a vague memory from the early 60s. In 2nd or 3rd grade, we’d learned a Halloween song, tho for the life of me, I don’t know what it was. But I do remember one of the people on our block made us sing the song before giving us our treats. What an odd thing to pop into my head… Other than that, I don’t remember singing anything in particular in school, altho we did have some outside-of-school songs that mocked our teachers. 😃 And, no, I don’t remember them either. Cut me some slack - I’m 65!!! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/79 "2019-10-30T16:42:38Z")
The only song I remember singing in class apparently was made up by the teacher or was a local thing. I can’t find it with Google. It’s about eating raisins with oatmeal. And I remember humming the Banana Bunch theme song while playing on the playground. That’s all I remember from school. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188/80 "2019-10-30T16:57:01Z")
I liked the really old songs we learned in music class: _Green Grow the Rushes Above the Plain Greensleeves Waltzing Matilda My Darlin’ Clementine_ On Boy Scout camp outs we sang more earthy tunes, such as: _Granny’s in the cellar Lordy can’t you smell her Baking biscuits in her dirty darned ol’ stove And in her eye there’s matter That’s drippin’ in the batter And she whistles as the snot runs down her nose…_ Or: _Once I went a-swimmin’ Where there were no women Down beside the sea Seeing no one there I hung my underwear Upon a willow tree Jumped into the water Just like Pharaoh’s daughter Dove into the Nile Someone saw me there And stole my underwear and left me with a smile!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-sang-in-school/812188.md?page=5)