Children’s Folklore Recent Titles in Greenwood Folklore Handbooks Myth: a handbook

SONGS
Glory, Glory Hallelujah
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school
We have tortured every teacher, we have broken every rule
We have planned to hang the principal, we boarded up the school
Our troops go marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah, teacher hit me with the ruler
I met her at the door with a loaded 44
And she ain’t my teacher no more—
I WONDER WHYYYYYY (Hand held over mouth to make “wah-wah” sound).
German American Erika V. Gimple collected this song parody from her 12-year-
old daughter, Kathryn, who was singing in the car on the way to her first day of 
junior high school in September 1981 in Springfield, Virginia (Northern Vir-
ginia Folklife Center, George Mason University, item 1981– 030). Since Kathryn 
was on her way to the first day of junior high school, her singing of this popular 
parody of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” helped to express “back to school” 
jitters. Versions of this song parody appear in the Opies’ 
Lore and Language of 
Schoolchildren
(374), as well as more recent publications (Knapp and Knapp 
173–74; Bronner 97–99).
On Top of Spaghetti
On top of spaghetti, all covered in blood,
I shot my poor teacher with a M 16 slug.
I shot her with pleasure, I shot her with pride,
I couldn’t have missed her, she was 20 feet wide.
I went to her funeral, I went to her grave,
Some people threw flowers, I threw a grenade!
Janice Ackerley collected this parody of “On Top of Old Smoky” from New Zea-
land children between 1993 and 2003 (“Gender Issues” 34 –35). Asking whether 
the extreme violence in songs like this one should be taken seriously, Ackerley 
notes that violent acts against teachers may warrant alarm (35); however, chil-
dren’s songs about tormenting their teachers often release tension and provoke 
laughter. Mary and Herbert Knapp include variants of “On Top of Old Smoky” 
in 
One Potato, Two Potato
(174 –76).
Barney
I hate you, you hate me,
Let’s hang Barney from a tree.
With a shotgun, boom, right in the head,
Now that purple thing is dead.

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Examples and Texts 65
I hate you, you hate me,
Let’s gang up and kill Barney.
With a shotgun, boom, Barney’s on the floor.
No more purple dinosaur.
I hate you, you hate me,
Barney died from HIV.
We called the doctor and the doctor said,
“Sorry, kids, Barney’s dead.”
Eight-year-old Robert, an elementary-school student of Anglo-American de-
scent, sang these songs for me in Binghamton, New York, in October 1993. 
During that fall, children all over the United States were singing parodies of the 
theme song of the television show 
Barney and Friends.
While very young chil-
dren enjoyed Barney’s antics, older children found his songs and actions to be 
insipid and ridiculous. Robert’s first two parodies of Barney’s theme song excori-
ate this icon of preschool popular culture; the third parody expresses a reaction 
to the AIDS epidemic, often in the news during that time period. For more 
details about the Barney song parody cycle, see my “ ‘I Hate You, You Hate Me’: 
Children’s Responses to Barney the Dinosaur” (1999) and Josepha Sherman and 
T.K.F. Weisskopf ’s 
Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
(192–200).