My husband brought this up wed. morning as we were driving back from an early morning docter's appt. he had justread a fairly chilling short story by Joe Hill (Also known as Stephen King's oldest son, Joseph Hillstrom King) and the song was used in a very creepy way. he wanted to know if there was any sinister origin to the song. We wound up discussing When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, Johnny's Gone For a Soldier, ButterMilk hill and SHULE AROON among others.

FYI, the story is called "Voluntary Committal" from his collection 20th Century Ghosts. An Autistic boy who likes to build mazes, builds a giant maze with found objects and lures a neighborhood bully in there. From deep within the maze, people always hear kids singing the song. The bully goes in but he doesn't come out, kinda like a Roach Motel! However, when they pull apart the maze, they find nothing