Post some of your favorite childhood songs.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

I loved this one from grade school:

Streets of Laredo

As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a poor cowboy wrapped up in white linen,
Wrapped up in white linen and cold as the clay.

"I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy,"
These words he did say as I boldly stepped by.
"Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story;
I was shot in the breast and I know I must die.

"Let sixteen gamblers come handle my coffin,
Let sixteen cowboys come sing me a song,
Take me to the graveyard and lay the sod o'er me,
For I am a poor cowboy and I know I've done wrong.

"It was once in the saddle I used to go dashing,
It was once in the saddle I used to go gay.
'twas first to drinking and then to card playing,
Got shot in the breast, I am dying today.

"Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin,
Get six pretty girls to carry my pall;
Put bunches of roses all over my coffin,
Put roses to deaden the clods as they fall.

"O beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly
And play the dead march as you carry me along,
Take me to the green valley and lay the sod o'er me,
For I am a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

"Go bring me a cup, a cup of cold water
To cool my parched lips," the young cowboy said.
Before I returned, the spirit had left him
And gone to its Maker, the cowboy was dead.

We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly,
And bitterly wept as we bore him along;
For we all loved our comrade, so brave, young, and handsome,
We all loved our comrade although he'd done wrong.

[El Fuego]

1. "Seasons in the Sun"

(I know it's lame but kids love it.)

Goodbye to you, my trusted friend.
We've known each other since we're nine or ten.
Together we climbed hills or trees.
Learned of love and ABC's,
skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.
Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die,
when all the birds are singing in the sky,
Now that the spring is in the air.
Pretty girls are everywhere.
When you see them I'll be there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the hills that we climbed
were just seasons out of time.

Goodbye, Papa, please pray for me,
I was the black sheep of the family.
You tried to teach me right from wrong.
Too much wine and too much song,
wonder how I get along.
Goodbye, Papa, it's hard to die
when all the birds are singing in the sky,
Now that the spring is in the air.
Little children everywhere.
When you see them I'll be there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the wine and the song,
like the seasons, all have gone.

Goodbye, Michelle, my little one.
You gave me love and helped me find the sun.
And every time that I was down
you would always come around
and get my feet back on the ground.
Goodbye, Michelle, it's hard to die
when all the bird are singing in the sky,
Now that the spring is in the air.
With the flowers ev'rywhere.
I whish that we could both be there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
But the stars we could reach
were just starfishs on the beach

[Dogmudgeon]

2. "Thomasina"

It was the song from Disney's cat movie. Terry Gilkyson wrote it (he wrote a lot of Disney songs from 1955-1990). The movie and the song are each kind of sad, about dealing with death and dying.

Another Gilkyson song I learned in kindergarten or an early grade was "Maryann" -- "Down by the seaside, sifting sand / Even little children love Maryann."

Yep, two of his kids became musicians, one of them playing in the band X.

--p!

[maddiejoan]

3. Dunderbeck

Oh, Dunderbeck. Oh, Dunderbeck,
How could you be so mean?
To ever have invented
The sausage meat machine.

Now all the dogs and pussycats
Will never more be seen,
'Cos they'll all be ground to sausage meat
In Dunderbeck's machine.

[intheflow]

6. I learned that as "Johnny Rebeck".

There was a little Dutch boy,
his name was Johnny Rebeck.
He was a dealer in sausages
and saurkraut and speck.

He made the finest sausages
that you had ever seen
And one day he invented
a wonderful sausage machine.

Oh, Mr. Johnny Rebeck,
how could you be so mean?
Now all the neighbors cats and dogs
will nevermore be seen
They'll all be ground to sausages
in Johnny Rebeck's machine.

One day teh thing got busted
the darn thing wouldn't go
So Johnny Rebeck he climbed inside
to see what made it so

His wife, she had a nightmare
went walking in her sleep
She gave the crank a heck of a yank
and Johnny Rebeck was meat!

Oh, Mr. Johnny Rebeck,
how could you be so mean?
Now all the neighbors cats and dogs
will nevermore be seen
They'll all be ground to sausages
in Johnny Rebeck's machine.



There's another verse that I remember my older sisters singing on long car trips before my parents banned it, and I can't remember it now.

[maddiejoan]

8. Interesting

Here's the rest of the lyrics of "Dunderbeck" as my mom had taught me.

One day a little fat boy came walking in the store.
He bought a pound of sausage and laid them on the floor.
Then he began to whistle, he whistled up a tune,
The sausages, they jumped, they barked, they danced 'round the room.

One day the thing got busted, the darn thing wouldn't go,
And Dunderbeck, he crawled inside to see what made it so.
His wife, she had a nightmare, she was walking in her sleep
She gave a yank and turned the crank and Dunderbeck was meat.

Oh Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented the sausage meat machine?
Now all the dogs and pussy cats will never more be seen,
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.


Another favorirte of mine was the old Nedick's Orange Drink jingle:

MY name is Little Nick
And Mister let me be precise
You're outta step. Ya lost your pep!
So here is my advice!

"What'll I do, Little Nick?"

"Here's whatcha do, Mr. Quick. Just hop on down to your nearest Nedick's store!"

"What'll I buy?"

"A cool refreshing glass of tasty Nedick's Orange Drink. A glass is sure to put ya in the pink!"

"That's teriff!!!"

"So for vigor and vim and zip, it's a pleasure to take a sip of a tasty Nedick's Orange Drink!"

B-1 Nedicks B-1 Nedicks B-1 Nedicks.

[intheflow]

14. Ha!

The dancing sausages is almost the "lost" lyric of my childhood! :) I think my sisters sang it this way:

When he was just a young boy
John walked into a store
He bought a pound of sausages
and laid them on the floor

Then he began to whistle
he whistled up a tune
And all the little sausages
went dancing around the room!

LOL! What a twisted song. My sisters learned at Girl Scout camp.

I have NO memory of Little Nick. I've never even heard of Nedick's Orange Drink. :shrug:

[maddiejoan]

17. I'll have to check with my mom on Nedick's

Might just be a Brooklyn thing :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. I loved that one too...

and this one:

I went to the animal fair...
The birds and the beasts were there...
The old raccoon by the light of the moon
was combing her auburn hair.

The funniest was the monk...
He climbed up the elephant's trunk...
The elephant sneezed and fell on her knees,
but what became of the monk,
the monk the monk the monk...
But what became of the monk?

[MrScorpio]

5. Funky Worm by the Ohio Players

You're a little late, so step right this way and we'll get
started Granny What? Say it now? Oh. say it now, say it now. Ahem!
Me and the Ohio Players are gonna tell you about a worm
He's the funkiest worm in the world Alright. Sing it, Clarence
Clarence Theres' a worm in the ground, yes there is
Granny Thats right
Clarence he's six feet long
Granny six feet long
Clarence he only comes around
Granny when he wants to get down
But when he comes out of his hole
He sounds something like this

Granny oh that's funky
Like nine cans of shaving powder, that's funky
Alright. Sing it again, Clarence
Clarence and through all the land, yeah
Granny yeah
Clarence he plays in a band
Granny plays in a band
Clarence plays guitar without any hands
Pretty good, I might add
Granny yeah, when he grabs his guitar and starts to pluck
Everybody wants to get up and dance

Granny ah, get it baby
Don't, don't, don't
Don't fight the feeling. Don't fight it
Hey, don't stop now honey, get down
I'm his manager, heh heh
Gonna make a million dollars
I get it all, cause he can't spend it
There he goes
Goin' back in his hole, just the same way he came out
Do we get paid for this?
I just wanted to make sure. We do? OK

[Beware the Beast Man]

18. That is the funkiest song of all time.

:thumbsup:

[ThoughtCriminal]

7. Comet

Comet, it makes your mouth turn green
Comet, it tastes like Listerine (tm)
Comet, it makes you vomit
So go get Comet and vomit today!

--------------------------------

[maddiejoan]

10. McDonald's

McDonald's is your kind of place
Hamburgers in yer face
French Fries Up your nose
Pickles between your toes.

Another favorite:

A peanut sat on the railroad track his heart was all a-flutter
Along came a train (The 9:15)
Toot Toot peanut butter!

[ThoughtCriminal]

11. Interesting sociology to these

Every kid learned them, from older friends and siblings, you sure as heck never heard them on TV or read them in the 60's and 50's. Our parents and teachers hated them (especially the parodies of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"). You could go from Maine to California and hear the same song - maybe small variations.

It's not hard to figure out how this happened in the post-WW2 age of mobility. I wonder if there were many universal childhood parody songs before then.

[WCGreen]

9. Too Drunk to Fuck

[Greyhound]

23. You are a sick fuck...

lets start a club. :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[WCGreen]

26. Oh yea......

[El Fuego]

12. Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,

Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat, itty bitty birdie feet.
Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,
And meeeee without a spoon.

:bounce:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. We used to sing 'This Land is Your Land' in elementary school.

Arlo Guthrie, right? Loved that.

Also used to sing a lot of Carpenters stuff like "Top of the World".

[6000eliot]

15. Woody Guthrie.

Arlo is his son.

[mvd]

19. I remember "This Land Is Your Land."

Also, "Erie Canal" was big.

I loved those Smurfs records. I wore out songs like "Smurfing All Around The World," "Catch Me," and "Welcome to The Smurfs All Star Show."

[6000eliot]

16. "Gray squirrel, gray squirrel

Swish your bushy tail!"

Did I have about the gayest kindergarten class or what!

[KitchenWitch]

20. "Why Don't We Do It In the Road"

[WCGreen]

21. A woman after my own heart

[Greyhound]

22. "I heard my momma cry, I heard her pray the night Chicago died" n/t

[enigmatic]

24. "Timothy"- The Bouys

We would obsess over whether "Timothy" was a dog or boy. And Cannibalism was pretty heady stuff to 10 year olds..

Timothy
The Buoys

Trapped in a mine all paths caved in
And everyone knows the only ones left
Were Joe and me and Tim
When they broke through to pull us free
The only ones left to tell the tale
WAS Joe and me

Timothy, Timothy, where on earth did you go?
Timothy, Timothy, God why don't I know?

Hungry as hell no food to eat
And Joe said that he would sell his soul
For just a piece of meat
Water enough to drink TO DRINK for two
And Joe said to me, "I'll TAKE a swig
And then there's some for you."

Timothy, Timothy, Joe was looking at you
Timothy, Timothy, God what did we do?

I must have blacked out just 'round then
'Cause the very next thing that I could see
Was the light of the day again
My stomach was full as it could be
And nobody ever got around
To finding Timothy
Timothy...

[AVulgarianHue]

25. Beep! Beep!

While riding in my Cadillac,
What to my surprise.
A little Nash Rambler was following me -
About one third my size.
The guy must’ve wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn. Beep! Beep!
I’ll show him that a Cadillac
Is not a car to scorn.
Beep beep. Beep! Beep! Beep beep. Beep! Beep!
His horn went beep beep beep. Beep! Beep!

I pushed my foot down to the floor
To give the guy the shake.
But the little Nash Rambler stayed right behind;
He still had on his brake.
He must have thought his car had more guts
As he kept on tooting his horn. Beep! Beep!
I’ll show him that a Cadillac
Is not a car to scorn.
Beep beep. Beep! Beep! Beep beep. Beep! Beep!
His horn went beep beep beep. Beep! Beep!

My car went into passing gear
And we took off with gust.
Soon we were doing ninety -
Must’ve left him in the dust.
When I peeked in the mirror of my car,
I couldn’t believe my eyes:
The little Nash Rambler was right behind -
I think that guy could fly.
Beep beep. Beep! Beep! Beep beep. Beep! Beep!
His horn went beep beep beep.

Now we’re doing a hundred and ten -
This certainly was a race.
For a Rambler to pass a Caddy
Would be a big disgrace.
The guy must’ve wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn.
I’ll show him that a Cadillac
Is not a car to scorn.
Beep beep. Beep! Beep! Beep beep. Beep! Beep!
His horn went beep beep beep.

Now we’re doing a hundred and twenty -
As fast as I could go.
The Rambler pulled along side of me
As if we were going slow.
The fellow rolled down his window
And yelled for me to hear,
“Hey, Buddy, how can I get this car
Out of second gear?!”
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!


This may be one of my earliest favourite songs. I can recall doing a beep beep dance. Fun. Sheesh, the things we remember!