Back of Bus Kids' Songs

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: running.hare
Date: 21 Jul 01 - 09:13 AM

"Right said Fred. Both of us together, one each end and steady as we go. Tried to lift it. Couldn't even shift it. We was getting nowhere and so we had a cup o tea, -- and Charlie had a think and thought we ought t' take off all the 'andles, and the things wot 'eld the candles. Well, it did no good. Well, I never thought it would...."

Was a favorite on family car trips when I was little.

Then when I was I bit less little and went on brownie/guide trips, I learnt such worthwhile songs as...

"Oh the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn. [x3]
And the farmer said it would do no harm.
Second verse the same as the first,
A little bit louder and a little bit worse..."

And again the bus drivers would want to throttle us. As they would when we sang,

"All around the world, [echoed]
Every where we go, [echoed]
People always ask us, [echoed]
Who we are and where do we come from, [echoed]
So we tell them, [echoed]
We're from ______ [echoed]
Mighty, mighty _______, [echoed]
And if they can't hear us, [echoed]
We shout a little louder, [echoed]
[And it all starts again...]

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 19-Sep-02.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Jul 01 - 02:27 PM

Joy wrote these words down for me - I would estimate they were current in the 70's

On top of the mountain, All covered in grass.
A bald-headed eagle was scratching his
- don't be mistaken For what I have said,
A bald headed eagle was scratching his head.

to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey"
the artistic effect of "rhyme refused" is implied by singing straight into the second verse instead of the last syllable of the first.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,D_hand
Date: 24 Jul 01 - 07:54 AM

Here's one we sing. Guaranteed to raise a smile.

'Oh the (name of club/group you're travelling with)are on the piss again.
We're on the piss again.
We're on the piss again.

Oh the (name) are on the piss again.
We want to wee-wee now.

We want to wee-wee now.
We want to wee-wee now.
Oh the (name) are on the piss again.
We want to wee-wee now.'

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Brían
Date: 24 Jul 01 - 11:36 AM

I'm glad to see this thread is still going strong.

Brían.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,tony jesmond
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 01:38 PM

I am looking for the words of a song for children that goes something like:

You cant throw your granny off the bus
because she's your mommy's mammy
etc etc etc
you could throw your other granny off the bus
because she's your daddy's mammy
etc

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: *Laura*
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 04:23 PM

10 Green Bottles! To really torture the bus drivers!
And in the little village school I went to between the ages of 4 and 7 we had a special school song - which I'm sure the teachers loved :-)

"We never behave,
We break every rule,
We're the kids of Odcombe school!"

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again!
But I couldn't describe the tune.

xLx

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 08:19 PM

Oh yeah, bottles of beer on the wall.

But how about --

I was cruising down the highway
Going ninety miles an hour
When the chain on my bicycle broke.
I was thrown in the ditch
While listening to Mitch [dates this to US, c. 1950s-60s -- "Sing Along with Mitch Miller]
With my teeth playing "Dixie" on the spokes.

Linn

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: LadyJean
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 10:30 PM

Every school trip I was ever on at Ellis ended with the following ditty:
             Three cheers for our bus driver
             Our Bus driver
             Our Bus driver
             Three cheers for our bus driver

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: LadyJean
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 10:34 PM

Who's with us today!
God bless him HE NEED IT!
God Bless him! HE NEEDS IT!
Three cheers for our bus drive who's with us today.

Ellis was a girl's prep school, Annie Dillard was our best known alumna, and wrote some very nasty things about some very fine women in her book, "An American Childhood". I don't know if she ever sang the song.

We wore box pleated jumpers, what the English call gym slips. Two girls in uniform were riding on the bus, when they heard two smaller girls behind them talking and whispering. Finally one of the smaller girls asked, "Excuse me, are you Girl Scouts?"
"No," said the Ellis girl, we aren't Girl Scouts"
"See," the smaller girl told her friend, "I Told you they were nuns."

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Joe_F
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 11:29 PM

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,Mike Connell
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 04:30 PM

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Rasener
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 04:42 PM

My mother in law looked like the back of a bus sooooooooo......


Mother In Law by Ernie K Doe

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Folkiedave
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 06:49 PM

A you're adorable, B, you're adorable C you're adorable too......

Julie Andrew's Dirty Song Book......

" I could have bleeped all night I could have bleeped all night and still have begged for more........"

" I do like to be beside the Sea Side"..........when passing any stretch of water.......

Dave

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 07:05 PM

"Ye cannae shove yer granny" was sung by Billy Connolly (and many others) to the tune of "She'll be coming round the mountain" . Apart from the usual verses, it's one of those where you can keep making up verses as you go along.

I'm late coming in on this thread, and surprised not to see -

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All day long.

The people on the bus go up and down, etc

The ladies on the bus go chitter, chitter, chatter, etc

The horn on the bus goes beep beep beep, etc

And again you can continue ad infinitum by making up your own verses about assembled company.

It's a popular nursery/playgroup song in Scotland at least.
TB

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 07:20 PM

There's a hole in my bucket...

The five constipated men of the bible.

I like the flowers.

The frog song.

It's a long long way to this IVFDF (tipperary)

Half of the above posts, and anything else we can corrupt.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 08:41 PM

Tattie Bogle,

IMO, no history of contemporary songs in the USA could be complete without "The Wheels On The Bus'.

But based on my experiences working in after-school programs with elementary school aged children 5-12 years},"The Wheels On The Bus" isn't usually sung as a "back of the bus song" because it is viewed as being a "song for babies" {pre-school aged & younger}.

As I undestand the term, "back of the bus songs" are sung by school aged children who are taking school/camp/church etc sponsored extra-curricular 'field' trips.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Fliss
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 02:25 PM

As a child the family went on the annual SUnday School trip for years. We went in Vaggs Coaches or Midland Red busses. There were about 3coach loads at times and we headed in turn for Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Barmouth and even SOuthport and Blackpool.

The Vaggs coach over heated going up the Horseshoe Pass the one year.

The older kids had the back seats for the wonderful pastime of 'snogging' much frowned on by the church elders!

The rest of us sang raucously and craned our necks to watch the snogging.

Green grow the rushes o
Ten green bottles
Quartermasters store
One man went to mow
She ll be coming round the mountain
On top of old Smokey
Underneath the spreading chestnut tree
Found a peanut
John Browns Baby has a pimple on its tum


Sunday school chorus:

Wide wide as the ocean
The wise man built his house upon the rock
Im H A P P Y
Dives and Lazarus - The poor man died and he went up to heavenium
skiddly winky doodlum hi romny ro

Its interesting how songs get altered! I think the original words were:
I love to go awandering along the mountain track
And as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back
First made popular by the VIenna BOys choir in the 50s

On the way back there was the usual stop for those who had over eaten to be sick! Usually my sister. Then we would stop for fish and chips in Welshpool, or Wrexham.

Those were the days. No smoking, no alcohol, just good fun.

fxx

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 05:37 PM

Fiss,

Would you please post the words to "The Wise Man Built His House Upon
The Rock"?

When I read that title I got this vague memory of a song we sang at Sunday school in New Jersey, USA in the 1950s with hand motions..something like:

Oh the- wise man built his house upon the rock
house upon the rock house upon the rock
the wise man built his house upon the rock
{but the foolish man built on the sand}???

Then the -water came and sweep away the sand
swep away the sand
swep away the sand
the water came up and swep away the sand
built the rock house it still stands...


The song went something like that..because I lived in Atlantic City, New Jersey near the ocean I could really imagine that happening...though we didn't have any mountains or rocks big enough to build a house on..but that was a minor point in my mind...

What I focused on was the water sweeping away houses...maybe unconsciously that's why I moved to the Allegheny mountains of Pittsburgh...

Naw...

And my prayers for all who are still suffering the tragedy of the tsunami...{which this innocent little song also made me think of}...

Anyway, I'd appreciate knowing if the song you mentioned is the same or similar to the one that I thought of when I read your list.

Thanks,
Ms Azizi {I'm adding Ms. sometimecause I understand some people thought I am a Mr ;o)

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 05:39 PM

sorry-the last line to that song I vaguely remember is "but the rock house it still stands".

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Flash Company
Date: 23 Jan 05 - 10:41 AM

I recall we had a song describing what we would do to all the teachers 'When the Red Revolution comes' . It went to the tune of 'Glory , glory Hallelujah ' from Battle Hymn of the Republic.
We had a Religious Knowledge teacher called Alice Davy, who, how can I put it kindly, was built rather near to the ground. Known to all as 'Ducker'
On the particular occasion I had the misfortune to find myself sittin next to our Deputy Head, Tom Sanderson 'Tasso', who had just been consigned to a coalmine by the back row. As they started on the next verse he turned to me and said 'Who or what is Ducker?' I said 'Miss Davy, Sir.'
He thought about it and then said 'Ah yes, something to do with the way she walks , perhaps!'
Pure reality for ever,
Pure reality for ever
Pure reality for ever
Till the Red Revolution comes!

FC

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Neighmond
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 01:08 AM

Reuben, Reuben, I been thinking-What a fine world this would be!
If all the teaches were deported, far beyond the southern sea!
Rachel, Rachel I been thingking, If they went beyond the sea,
Every boy would get an "A" and every girl would get a "D".

chaz

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Crystal
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 12:19 PM

Well "You'll never get to heaven" and "What shall we do with a Drunken Sailor" are popular, as is "You Cannae Shove your Grannie"

I like the verse;
My Grannies gone away on holiday
My Grannies gone away on holiday
She's gone away with Saga
for sun, sea, sex and Larger
My Grannies gone away on holiday

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Fliss
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 06:39 PM

Hi Azizi

The words we sang are

The foolish man built his house upon the sand (x3)
And the rain came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up (x3)
And the house on the sand fell flat

The wise man built his house upon the rock (x3)
And the rain came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up (x3)
And the house on the rock stood firm.

We also did actions to the song.
cheers
f

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,Rod
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 06:59 PM

Grandma's in the cellar.
Lordy can't you smell her?
cooking biscuits on her dirty stove.
In her eye there's matter,
drippin' in the batter
and she whistles while the (sniff)
runs down her nose.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 10:56 PM

Thanks,Fliss!

The words to those two song are very similar...

As you said "Its interesting how songs get altered!"

The two songs probably came from the same source though I'm not sure if it will ever be known what that source is, who wrote it, or when.

In your post you mentioned names of towns that are unfamiliar to me..Sorry for my ignorance, but are these towns in England?

I learned this "The wise man built his house upon a rock" in a Baptist Sunday School in New Jersey {USA}. May I ask what denomination was your Sunday School?

I appreciate your posting these words.

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 07:45 PM

Ms Azizi
I have certainly heard "Wheels on the bus2 sung by "kids" much older than pre-school, e.g 50+!!
There were also loads i used to know in the Girl Guides, but there's a separate thread somewhere on that subject!

Subject: ADD: Ye Cannae Push Yer Granny Off a Bus
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:27 PM

I learned "Ye Cannae Push Yer Granny Off a Bus" years ago, from I forget who. It went to the tune of "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago."

YE CANNAE PUSH YER GRANNY OFF A BUS

Oh, ye cannae push yer granny off a bus (2)
Ye cannae push yer granny,
For she is yer mammy's mammy,
Oh ye cannae push yer granny off a bus.

Oh my Granny wears an awfu' scratchy vest [scratch, scratch]    (2)
Oh my Granny wears a scratchy
All ripped aroon an' patchy,
Oh my Granny wears an awfu' scratchy vest.

Oh my Granny ears her porridge wi' a fork   [slurp, slurp]    (2)
Oh, my Granny eats her porride
An' her bowl is ower larridge,
Oh, my Granny ears her porridge w;' a fork.

Oh, we'll all go roon' tae Granny's for our tea [Hello, Granny, slurp, slurp,
                  scratch, scratch]       (2)
We'll all go roon' tae Granny's
An' we'll sit our little fannies,
An' have tea with Granny solemnly.

Ye can shove yer other granny off a bus,    [scream]    (2)
Ye can shove yer other granny
'Cos she's yer daddy's mammy,
Ye can shove yer other granny off a bus.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:45 PM

to the tune of john browns body

when the red revolution comes along

oh we'll make lady docker wear a marks and spencer dress x3
when the red revolution comes along

oh we'll make winston churchill smoke a woodbine every day

oh we'll make fanny Craddock eat a bag of fish and chips

plus other verses featuring celebrities of the day

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,Rod
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 07:12 PM

(To the tune of John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Road")


Almost Heaven, Oklahoma
Big Red River,
Lots of Dust and Tumbleweeds.
Country Music
Leon Russell too.
Then there's Conway Twitty,
in Oklahoma City.

Country Roads,
Take me there.
I need a change
of Underwear.            
Oklahoma
Welfare for all.
Take me home, Country Roads.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Chris Green
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 07:24 PM

To the tune of the Coco Pops advert (mid 80's)

My name's Coco and I live in a tree
I sell condoms for twenty-five pee
Some are fifty, some are a bob
It all depends on the size of your .... and I'll leave the rest to your imagination!

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Fliss
Date: 29 Jan 05 - 03:19 PM

Hi Ms. Azizi

Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Barmouth are seaside towns in Wales. SOuthport and Blackpool are on the English northwest coast. They are all in easy reaching distance of my home town - Shrewsbury.

The sunday school was run by the FIEC - Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. We used the CSSM Chorus book.

fliss

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Jan 05 - 04:18 PM

Thanks, Fliss.

I appreciate the information. I may never get to see those places but at least I'm hearing about them through other's experiences and memories.

The Internet can be a wondeful thing!

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 29 Jan 05 - 04:26 PM

Tattie Bogle -

If children and adults are having fun or being nostalgic they are liable to sing songs that they otherwise might refer to as 'baby songs'.

Based on my experiences in a very small neck of the woods {and mountains & three rivers}of Greater Pittsburgh, PA area with a specific subset of children & youth from a specific population [African Americans]"The Wheels on The Bus" is considered a 'baby song'.

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Fliss
Date: 30 Jan 05 - 12:02 PM

I agree Azzi. I taught infants years ago and we learned "The Wheels on the Bus", its an action song and fun. I also taught it to my own children. However I now work with adults with learning difficulties and wouldnt include it in the songs we sing as we are supposed to stick to songs that are age related! Mind you there are some requests for the song.

As you say the internet is a wonderful thing, its a great place for finding out the bizarre and also to look for info on where people come from.

f

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Mar 05 - 12:01 PM

Here's a unison song that my daughter, an elementary school teacher, told me that kids from her school sang on their school trip yesterday:
It's sung to the tune of John Brown's Baby has a cold upon his chest":

I got a song that
no one ever likes.
no one ever likes {Hey!}
no one ever likes.
I got a song that
no one ever likes.
And it goes some thing like this.

[repeat the same words but ever time you do so slightly
changing the last line..for example
"And the song goes like this"; "And we sing it like this"
"And the words go like this"

I guess the reason why "no one" {no bus drivers?} likes this song because it could very easily get on their nerves...

But not being a bus driver, this songs sounds like a keeper to me!

Azizi

Subject: ADD: Ye Cannae Shove Yer Grannie Aff the Bus
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 10:16 AM

YE CANNAE SHOVE YER GRANNIE AFF THE BUS

Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus,
Oh ye cannae shove yer grannie aff the bus,
Ye cannae shove yer grannie
For she's yer mammie's mammie,
Ye canna shove yer grannie aff the bus.

Ye can shove yer ither Granny aff a bus.
Ye can shove yer ither Granny aff a bus.
Ye can shove yer ither Granny
'Cos she's yer Faither's Mammy
Ye can shove yer ither Granny aff a bus.

Ye can shove yer Uncle Wullie aff a bus.
Ye can shove yer Uncle Wullie affa bus.
Uncle Wullie's like yer Faither
A harum-scarum blether,
Ye can shove yer Uncle Wullie aff a bus.

Ye can shove yer Auntie Maggie aff a bus.
Ye can shove Auntie Maggie aff a bus.
Auntie Meg's yer Faither's sister,
She's naethin' but a twister,
Ye can shove yer Auntie Maggie aff a bus.

But ye canna shove yer Granny aff a bus.
O ye canna shove yer Granny aff a bus.
O ye canna shove yer Granny,
'Cos she's yer Mammy's Mammy,
O ye canna shove yer Granny aff a bus.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Bagpuss
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 10:27 AM

Geordie had a pigeon, a pigeon, a pigeon.
Geordie had a pigeon, a pigeon he had.
He flew it by day and he flew it by night,
And when it came back it was covered in shhhhh.....Geordie had a pigeon etc

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Purple Foxx
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 10:31 AM

Ten sticks of Dynamite hangin' on the wall
Ten sticks of Dynamite hangin' on the wall
& if one stick of dynamite should accidently fall
there'll be no sticks of Dynamite & no bloody wall!

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Scotus
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 06:01 PM

Ye can shove yir ither uncle aff a bus
Ye can shove yir ither uncle aff a bus
Ye can shove yir ither uncle, he's got a big carbuncle
Ye can - - - -

Jack

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,Cathy
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 05:07 AM

The words to The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock is based on a parable that Jesus told   - you can read it in the Bible, in Matthew chapter 7 verses 24-29.

The words of the chorus are as follows:

The wise man built his house upon the rock x 3
And the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up x 3
And the house upon the rock stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sands x 3
And the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up x 3
And the house upon the sands fell flat.

So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ x 3
And the blessings come tumbling down.
The prayers go up and the blessings come down x 3
So build your life on Christ.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Folkiedave
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 06:15 AM

I remembered

Be kind to you web-footed friends
For that duck may be somebody's mother,
it may live in the cold and the swamp,
Where the weather is exceedingly damp,(domp)
Now you may think that's the end of this song,
and it is
but I can prove that I am a liar,
We'll sing the song once again,
Only this time a bit louder and much higher.

Repeat - higher key and louder.....

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 12:15 PM

Stop the bus I want a WEE wee
Stop the bus I wanna wee wee
Stop the bus I want a WEE wee
And the people at the front can't sw-i-im.

and does anyone outside of the Upper Ards peninsula know the song "the boat was leaving Belfast/the sky was a colour of blue"? Or is it limited to my generation and immediate childhood locality?

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: melodeonboy
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 05:22 PM

Most of the songs in Fliss's list were commonly sung on trips when I was a schoolboy/boy scout.

Of particular merit was "The Quartermaster's Store", because whoever decided to lead the song, or even a particular verse, could invent the first line, which everyone else would then follow. For example, one of our teachers was called Danny; this led to the leading line "There was Danny, Danny, playing with her f***y".

Oooooh, how we laughed!!!!!!

If anyone wants the words to it, please let me know.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,lambchop
Date: 01 Mar 07 - 05:29 PM

mercy on you if your kids ever get started on this one
on a road trip:

    this is the song that never ends
    it just goes on and on my friend
    somebody started singing it
    not knowing what it was
    and they'll continue singing it
    forever, just because..

    this is the song that never ends... (etc. till your teeth melt)

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,Shotzie
Date: 02 Apr 07 - 04:44 PM

I know a song that gets on everybodys nerves,
everybodys nerves, everybodys nerves.
I know a song that gets on every bodys nerves
and this is how it goes:
I know a song that gets on everybodys nerves...etc etc.


Repeat as many times as needed.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Darowyn
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 04:41 AM

I used to run a Youth Centre in the seventies, and I felt really sorry for a group of lads I took on a trip to another centre about thirty miles away.
You see, they were all Punk Rockers. They had a go at "Pretty Vacant", but apart from that they had nothing to sing on the back of the bus.
Sad isn'it?
Imagine how much worse it is for the poor souls who are into Drum and Bass......
"Altogether now! 1,2,3,4
Boboom, chish,badabadaba,ka-chish"
or Gangsta Rap...
"M******* f****** h****"
I lament the lost innocence of harmless vulgarity.

Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: GUEST,Ross
Date: 06 Jun 07 - 04:39 AM

The wheels on the bus go round and round. round and round. round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round all day long.
lol

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 12:20 PM

Here's two [more?] example of songs for the bus driver:

HOORAY FOR THE BUSDRIVER
hooray for the busdriver,the busdriver,the busdriver hooray for the busdriver the busdriver hooray he drinks and he cusses he wrecks all our busses horray for the busdriver the busdriver hooray
-Anonymous; http://www.cocojams.com/teacher_taunts.htm ; 3/17/2007

**

HAIL 2 THE BUS DRIVER
Hail to the busdriver, busdriver, busdriver
Hail to the busdriver, busdriver man.
He drinks and he cusses,
And smokes on the busses,
All hail the busdriver, busdriver, busdriver
All hail the busdriver, busdriver man.
-Source: Cassi ; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php ; April 17, 2004

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Celtaddict
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 10:47 AM

'The Wheels on the Bus' is ubiquitous as a children's song (though I just checked the DT and did not find it), but a friend often starts it up at his gigs in pubs and it invariably goes over big with the college-through-retiree gang.
Some other verses:
The babies on the bus go wah-wah-wah
The mommies on the bus go shh-shh-shh
The wipers on the bus go swish-swish-swish (I like the hand movements to this one)
And I think he originated
The driver on the bus goes 'Move on back!'

And Rosa Parks said 'Not for me!'

Now the people on the bus sit where they want,
Left or right, back or front,
Now the people on the bus sit where they want,
All through the town.
Actually, that is the school kid version (he does lots of schools too). In the pub it is usually
Rosa Parks said 'Kiss my ass!' which gets applause every time.
For our friends across the pond: Rosa Parks (1915-2005) is called the 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement' in the U.S. She was involved with youth and civil rights causes through her adult life. In the 1950's 'coloreds' were routinely made to sit in the back of public buses. On December 1, 1955, Ms. Parks was riding a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and declined to give up her seat to a white male.
Social history in a preschoolers' song performed in a pub. Who knew.

Subject: RE: Back of Bus Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 04:21 PM

I was thinking, along with Leland up above, that this was a thread about "freedom riders" from the 1960's. I have vivid memories of a SNCC group leading "If You don't see me in the back of the bus" at some special event in NYC in the early 1960's.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble