The version of a song you referenced months back that I recall went something like this:

On top of spaghetti
all covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball
when somebody sneezed
It rolled off the table
and onto the floor
and then my poor meatball
rolled out of the door
It rolled in the garden
and under a bush
And then my poor meatball
Was nothing but moosh

I don't recall the rest, if there was more (?).

How cone nobody's mentioned (unless I missed it) that horrible, endless "Found a peanut" song with which we used to torment the adults?

You know..

Found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut just now
just now I found a peanut, found a peanut just now
Cracked it open, cracked it open, cracked it open just now
Just now I cracked it open, cracked it open just now
It was rotten, it was rotten ,it was rotten just now...

and so on, and so on, and so on....it ends with dying, going to heaven and yes, finding a peanut.

Then the ones with hand gestures where you drop a line each round but keep up the hand gestures:

Little cottage in the wood
Little man by the window stood
Saw a rabbit hopping by
Knocking at my door
"Help me! Help me! Help me!" he said
Ere the hunter shoot me dead
I am simply filled with dread
Little rabbit come inside
Safely you may hide.

Then there was:

Little rabbit fru fru hopping through the forest
Snatching all the field mice and bopping them on the head
(I don't remember the rest...somebody?)

Another hand gesture ditty:

Under the spreading chestnut tree
There we sat just you and me
With my banjo on my kneee
Under the spreading chesnut tree

And one of my favorite songs from camp (no hand gestures), where one person sings and everyone else repeats each line like a chorus - it's a tad dark..

Bill Grogan's goat
Was feeling fine
Stole three red shirts
From off the line
Bill grabbed that goat
Gave him a whack
And tied him to
The railroad track

The whistle blew
The train grew nigh
Bill Grogan's goat
Was sure to die
He gave three groans
Of awful pain
Coughed up those shirts
And flagged the train.

There was another cute song called "The Cat Came Back" it's kind of long but I'll send it if you like. And one that went:

Ten little angels all dressed in white
tried to get to heaven on the end of a kite
the kite string broke and down they fell
instead of going to heaven they went to...

down through the numbers to "One" and then it starts over again with

Ten little devils all dressed in red
tried to get to heaven on the end of a thread
the thread it broke and down they fell
instead of going to heaven they went to

(backwards to "one" and then the smash ending)

Don't get excited don't lose your head
instead of going to heaven they all went to bed.


I'd love to know the derivation of some of these. I was born in the mid-50's and grew up in L.A., caucasian if you're interested. I remember almost all of the camp songs because of the repitition (6 years) - I won't bore you with all of them. The clapping and jump rope songs are a bit hazy.