Lyr Req: a worm song

Subject: lyrics: a worm song
From: dani
Date: 22 May 97 - 04:17 PM

I am spending some front porch time teaching icky songs to children today, and I'm stumped. Remember the song: NOBODY LIKES ME, EVERYBODY HATES ME, GUESS I'LL GO EAT WORMS - LONG SLIM SLIMY ONES, SHORT FAT JUICY ONES, GOOEY GOOEY WORMS...? Well, I know there's more to it. Anyone remember more verses or know where I can find them? Sensitive to the recent acrimony, I have searched the DT, but to no avail. Lots of icky worm songs, but not this one! Contributions to this community project would be appreciated!

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Kevin
Date: 22 May 97 - 04:33 PM

...Oh, how they wiggle and squirm.

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 22 May 97 - 05:33 PM

This is one my mother taught me - she has a little painting of it (with the words) in her home. It's my recollection that it comes from a well-known nursery rhyme writer, e.g., James Whitcomb Riley, but I'm not sure.......Tiger

Nobody Likes Me

Nobody likes me; ev'rybody hates me.
Going to the garden to eat worms.
Long thin slimy ones, short, fat, fuzzy ones.
Ooey, gooey, gooey, gooey worms.

The long, thin, slimy ones slip down easily;
The short, fat, fuzzy ones stick.
When the short, fat, fuzzy ones stick to your teeth,
Your blood goes ick!

So you bite off the heads, and spit out the tails,
And throw the skins away;
And nobody knows how I can survive
On a hundred worms a day.

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: rich r
Date: 22 May 97 - 07:43 PM

More worms. Is walleye season open yet?

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me
Guess I'll eat some worms
Long slim slimy ones, short fat juicy ones
Itsy bitsy fuzzy wuzzy worms

First you cut the heads off, then you suck the guts out
Oh how they wiggle and squirm,
Long slim...

Wiggle goes the first one, goosh goes the second one
Sure don't wanna eat these worms
Long...

Down goes the first one, down goes the second one
Sure hate the taste of these worms
Long...

Nobody hates me, everybody likes me
Never shoulda eaten those worms
Long...

Up come the first one, up comes the second one
Oh how they wiggle and squirm
Long...

How's we gonna put annelid on this?

rich r

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Gene Graham
Date: 22 May 97 - 07:59 PM

GREAT! Now let's mix in some Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy, Gopher Guts!

I only found the CHORUS in D/T! So am posting entire song(?) in separate post. C'mon, ever'body join it!

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: dani
Date: 22 May 97 - 09:56 PM

What fun! Hearing this group of children singing this faster and FASTER (anxious to go home and gross somebody out) the same way I heard it when I was a kid... that's folk music to me.

Thanks for the other forgotten tune! Once you start thinking about this stuff, scary things come back to you from WAY BACK... (pink and pink a bottle of ink the cork fell out and YOU STINK!)

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Bert Hansell
Date: 23 May 97 - 09:00 AM

And of course you serve "dirt cake" while they are singing it.

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: dani
Date: 23 May 97 - 09:17 AM

Well, it all started while we were eating 'gummy worms' which are fun to chew from the middle while they hang out the sides of your mouth. That's what brought back memories of the song!

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Anne Cormack
Date: 19 Jun 98 - 05:11 AM

A Poem.....

Gooey Gooey was a worm,

A mighty worm was he,

He lived upon a railroad track,

A train he did not see,

Euuuugghhhhh.......GOOEY GOOEY!!!!!

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Philip Hudson
Date: 19 Jun 98 - 10:34 AM

I was writing to this thread about worms last night when AOL decided to do a download of new software so I got side tracked. This was probably fate trying to keep me from writing. But I believe in free will so I am trying again. What about the song about worms in the grave? "The worms come in the worms come out, they eat your eyes and they eat your snout, they eat your ears they eat your nose and they eat the jelly between your toes." Not guaranteed to be the correct original version but enough to gross one out. - I don't know whether to post this or just be sick - Philip Hudson

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From:
Date: 19 Jun 98 - 01:49 PM

Or what about the verse to Rosin the Bow (Beau?)

And when I am dead and I'm buried,
Small voices you'll hear from below
Tis the worms all saying DEE LISH EYE USS
We're feasting on Rosin the Bow.

(Hope the end of lines worked)

Frank Phillips

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: leprechaun
Date: 19 Jun 98 - 01:56 PM

I remember that one as:

The worms go in, the worms go out, The worms play pinochle in your snout...

And for us the other worm song went:

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, Guess I'll go and eat some worms. Big fat juicy ones, long thin slimy ones, Pinch them, watch them squirm. Bite their heads off, Suck their guts out, Throw their skins away. Nobody knows how good we can live on Worms three times a day!

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Cuilionn
Date: 19 Jun 98 - 10:40 PM

Philip,

Is this what ye were wantin'?

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out / The worms play pinochle on yer snout...

The ones that go in are lean and thin / The ones that go out are fat and stout...

Your eyes fall in and your teeth fall out / The worms come tumbling out of your snout...

If I'm nae mistaken, this sang appearit at th' end o' ane o' th' Pogues' recordings, sung wi' a voice straicht oot o' th' sepulcher. The singer was jynit by a wheezin' squeezebox an' a mournfu' chorus which said summat like "Be merry my friends, be merry...Ooooooh" (a ghastly groan). I've alsae haird it dane by Baby Gramps wi' a mair upbeat style an' a chorus o' Popeye-esque "la-la-las." I usit tae ken mair wairds tae it, but I'll hae tae dig deeper tae find 'em...aboot six feet ocht tae dae't!

Gabh spòrs,

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: GUEST,mon
Date: 10 Oct 03 - 08:26 PM

Wow! These are a lot of interesting stories and feedback! Nobody has the worm song that I remember. Hmmm...the one about the worms playing pinochle on your snout is also from one of those Scary Stories book. There's a 3 book series by some author, the name of whom I don't remember, and they're called Scary Stories 1,2,& 3. The song is called The Hearse Song. Here's the lyrics for anyone who's interested. They're kinda gross, but I think it's a good song!

The Hearse Song:
      
Don't you ever laugh as a hearse goes by,
or you may be the next to die.

They'll wrap you up in a big white sheet,
and put you down about 6 foot deep.

Then all goes well for about a week,
until your coffin begins to leak.

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
the worms play pinochle in your snout.

They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
they eat the jelly between your toes!

Then your stomach turns a slimy green,
and pus pours out like whipping cream.

You spread it on a slice of bread,
and that's what you eat when you are dead!

Anyway...that's that song. The only part of that other worm song I remember is this:
   Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms.
   Big ones, fat ones, skinny ones, long ones, golly how they squirm.

That's all I remember of the version that my family always sang. If anyone knows that version and knows the rest of the lyrics...please e-mail me at [e-mail]
Thanks!

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Joybell
Date: 10 Oct 03 - 08:40 PM

Maybe not for very little kids but "Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogine" by Matthew Gregory Lewis c1790. (adapted, I believe, by the great Sam Cowell in the mid 19th century) Has the immortal lines:

....The worms they crept in and the worms they crept out
And sported his eyes and his temples about.....

The whole song takes about 10 minutes to sing but around a camp fire with friends with long attention spans it's a beauty.

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Joybell
Date: 10 Oct 03 - 09:28 PM

Then there's "The Worm Song" from the 1960s. Don't know who wrote it. Seems to have gone away. It's fun to do with a pair of sock puppets on your hands. Male and female worms. Yes I know that's not possible biologically speaking. It does have a tune but it's pretty basic and I don't have a midi of it.

The Worm Song

The earth it was damp with the dew of the dawn
And fresh scented air spread over the lawn
When a handsome young worm crept up from the ground
Gazing up from his hole he gazed all around

Just then as he stared at the sun in the sky
Another little worm popped up quite nearby
Said the first with a squiggle, "you're a trim little worm
Why not wiggle out here and we'll go for a squirm.

If you'd only agree to a brief rendezvous
I would love to surrender my heart just for you.
I'd build you a home and treat you with care
And happy we'd be as the birds in the air."

But the trim little worm gave a shake of its head
As she sadly replied, "I would love to be wed
But I fear we can't marry, though I know you'd be true
For you see Mr Worm -- I'm the other end of you!"

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 10 Oct 03 - 09:42 PM

Any computer-worm versions?

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 03:32 AM

What a thread! It really does illustrate the continuation of the oral tradition. It is a humble, but truly great song in that people sing it and love it. I learned it from some scouts in Derbyshire around 1962 and passed it on to Camp Greylock, Becket, Mass. in the Summer of 1970. Does anybody know Camp Greylock?

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 10:46 AM

The Worm Song - joybell just above - seems to me something like a song that Shari Lewis used to do with sock puppets. She was around long before Sesame Street, but may have made some appearances there in its early days. This was in the 1960's.

Shari Lewis was responsible for "Lambchop" and "Harry the Horse" - I think she was also honoured by the United Nations for her work with children. She passed away some years ago.

Robin

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Joybell
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 07:24 PM

Yes Robin I remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop well. I learned "The Worm Song" from a recording of Nina and Frederik --I'm almost sure. I do know it was before I saw Shari Lewis perform it.   They did it as a duet. Remember Nina and Frederik? I learned a lot of great songs from them even though their style was a bit strange - pre Eurovision sort of.
I think Franciscus Henri (Mr Whiskers) still performs "The Worm Song" here sometimes.

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 07:33 PM

Sang versions of at least 2 of the above songs when I was in the Girl Guides - the one about the churchyard and the worms crawling in and out(oo oo ah ah, ooh ooh aah aah) and

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me
Think I'll go and eat worms
Long thin slimy ones
Short fat fuzzy ones

Gooey, gooey, gooey, gooey worms.

Long thin slimy ones slide down easily
Short fat fuzzy ones don't.
Short fat fuzzy ones get stuck between your teeth
And the juice goes slurp, slurp slurp.......

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: GUEST,franceselp
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 02:30 AM

the version I remember hearing from my mother when I was feeling sorry for myself started:

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me
Going to the garden eat worms
First one went down easy
Second one tasted greasy
Third one stuck in my throat . . . .

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 10:48 AM

for a real treasure of a worm song, look here

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 01:32 PM

my fave worm song is the wurram and the sparra.. about a fight in glasgow green .. excellent !

Subject: RE: lyrics: a worm song
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Nov 03 - 02:26 PM

Another version of the one quoted by Anne Cormack:

Icky Wicky was a worm,
But Icky Wicky couldn't squirm
Sat upon the railway line,
Didn't see the train in time
...ICKY WICKY!

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
But Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
So Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy,
Was he?

I wish I were a catterpiller
Life would be a farce
Sliding down the cabbage leaves
and landing on my...hands and knees

Nigel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Glenn and Callum
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 01:31 PM

Its,

Nobody Love me, everybody hates me
Just cuz I eat worms
Big fat slimy ones, little tiny squirmy ones
see how the big ones squirm

Bite their heads off...suck all the juice out
throw the empty skins away
No body loves me everybody hates me
I think I'll eat a worm today..

Yeah...delicious !!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Feb 04 - 10:50 PM

this is the version of the "worm song" that my grandmother taught me.

No body loves me,
Everybody hates me,
I'm going out in the graden and eat some worms.

First one's greasy, goes down easy
Second one sticks to your tounge
Third one's busted
Fourth one's busted
Fifth one tries to run

Nobody loves me
Everybody hates me
I'm going out in the garden and eat some worms

If it's not what you are looking for, at least it is diffferent!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Penny Black
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 06:16 AM

JoyBell - the song was "Unrequited Love"

We got it from Ian Russell - who also recorded it on an LP "Sing Something Sinful"



ps it was on one of our CD's "Two in a Bar" - plug plug :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Compton
Date: 16 Feb 04 - 06:33 PM

...Leslie Sarony song that the words used to come from the ceiling during pantomimes.(audience participation time)
"There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
and his name is wiggely woo"
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
and he wiggles the whole day through.
He wiggles all night, and he wiggles all day
He is wiggling his life away.
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
and his name is wiggley woo"
.....now let's have the audience on this side sing on their own !!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,^-^ û•Miles•û
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 06:19 AM

Well, My freind use to sing the song like this;

Nobody likes me,
Everybody hates me,
lets go and eat some worms,
Big ones, Fat ones
Skinny ones, small ones,
Lets see how the little one sperms!
Wee!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 09:46 AM

Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
I guess I'll eat some worms

Big ones, fat ones,
skinny ones, short ones
ones that squirm and squirm

First ones greasy goes down easy
Second one sticks to me tounge
Third ones chewy
fourth ones gooey
Fifth one starts to run

So I chop off their heads
and suck out the juices
throw their skins away

Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
I guess I'll eat some worms

You'd be suprised just
how many worms
you could eat three times a day

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: topical tom
Date: 22 Mar 08 - 10:10 AM

Some more songs about worms

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,BP
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 08:24 PM

Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
I'm gonna eat some worms

Big ones, fat ones,
Skinny ones, short ones
Ones that wiggle and squirm

First one's greasy goes down easy
Second one's stuck to my tongue
Third one's rusted
Fourth one's busted
Fifth one's starting to run

Bite off their heads
Suck out the juice
Throw the rest away

Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
I'm gonna eat some worms

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Joe_F
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 08:32 PM

I once wrote a song -- possibly the only blues to be inspired by statistical mechanics -- that contained the stanza

Ropes knot and snarl
If you just let them be.
No river runs
Straight down to the sea.
Crooked ways are billions,
Straight ways, ones and twos,
All the worms are singing those
Degree-of-freedom blues.

When I put that up in my commune, someone drew on it a cartoon of a worm singing "Mammy!"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: DG&D Dave
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 03:59 AM

Yet another slight variation, from the singing of Big Tim Burkinshaw (Derby UK).

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, think I'll go and eat worms.
Big fat juicy ones, little thin skinny ones, see how they wiggles and squirms.
Bite their heads off, Ooo! They're juicy, throw their skins away.
Nobody knows how big I grows on worms three times a day.
Oi!

Dave.
And we both jogged on t'gether me boys...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: breezy
Date: 06 Mar 09 - 04:04 PM

Sung to the tune of Glory glory allelujah

how about the song that begins with

'When one warm worm wriggled up the wall

The other warm worm wriggled down'

x 4


glory glory most peculiar x 3

When one warm worm etc

then there are other fascinating verses too

heard at a camp fire singaround sung by a tr'fic brown owl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Paul Merrion
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 11:00 AM

Does anyone have anymore of one that i remember my father scaring us with as kids. Again it refered to the buried body and was about worms and it had a line about worms which was 'And they have friends and they friends too, and they'll make a terrible mess out of you'?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: semi-submersible
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 01:48 PM

Joe F, where can we see the rest of your song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Little Robyn
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 02:01 PM

They bring their friends and their friends friends too,
And they make a terrible mess of you.

The version we knew started:

Have you ever thought as the hearse goes by
That some day it will be you and I
We all must follow the same old track
With never a thought of turning back
Old Mrs ___? she died last week
Now the worms are eating her damask cheek
And every time she wobbles her chin
A worm crawls out and a worm crawls in.

I can't remember what comes next but there are other threads on this - at the top of this page, try the one called The worms crawl in.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Little Robyn
Date: 23 Jan 10 - 05:20 AM

I contacted my sister and she thinks it was 'Old Mrs Jones'.
She thinks the next bit is:

They bring their friends and their friends friends too

And when they're finished there's not much left of you.

The moral of this story related is,

"Don't be buried, be cremated."

I think we learnt it from Mum, about 55 years ago.
She must have believed in it - she was cremated!
Robyn and Dianne

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Peter McLaren
Date: 24 Nov 11 - 10:39 PM

Here's a version that my mother sang as a young girl in the late 1920's or thereabouts in Queensland (Australia). It's obviously related to the one cited by Little Robyn and goes to a tune similar to the old Laurel & Hardy theme:

Oh, poor Miss Brown, she died last week
The worms are eating her tender cheek
And ev'ry time she wriggles about
The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out!

Peter McLaren

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Joe_F
Date: 25 Nov 11 - 07:16 PM

In my elementary school we had:

The ants go scouting through the grass.
They hunt about as on they pass.
If they should march across a worm,
They tickle him and make him squirm.

semi-submersible: In case you're still around: Degree-of-Freedom Blues

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 06:22 AM

The following are the words from the cast songsheet for a Scout & Guide 'Gang Show' in Cardiff in the 1970's (Amazing what junk I keep!)

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
Going down the garden to eat worms.
Long thin slimy ones, short fat fuzzy ones,
Oozy, oozy, oozy oozy worms.
Long thin slimy ones slip down easily
Short fat fuzzy ones stick
Short fat fuzzy ones stick in your teeth
and the juice goes slu – rp.
We bite off their heads and suck out the juice
and throw their skins away
Nobody knows how I survive
On 100 worms a day, Yum Yum.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Chris Murray
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 06:44 AM

I can think of two other worm songs:

"Where 'as tha been since I saw thee? I saw thee?"
"On Ilkley Moor baht 'at"
"Where 'as tha been since I saw thee?....etc"

"Tha's going to catch thee death of cold.
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at...etc"

"Then we shall have to bury thee.
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at...etc"

"Then worms 'll come and ate thee up.
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at...etc"

"Then ducks'll come and ate up worms
On Ilkley Moor...etc"

"Then we shall come and ate up ducks
On Ilkley Moor...etc"

"Then we shall all have aten thee
On Ilkley Moor...etc"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Chris Murray
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 06:45 AM

Also - does anyone else remember "Big Jim were a Worm" by the Fivepenny Piece?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Ged Fox
Date: 11 Apr 12 - 01:46 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: zozimus
Date: 11 Apr 12 - 02:45 PM

The "everybody hates me" version is often preceded by this verse:
Will you tell to me, said the thousand legged worm
Have you seen that other leg of mine?
If it can't be found, I shall have to hop around
On the other nine hundred and ninety nine
Ninety nine Hop Hop
Ninety nine Hop Hop
On the other nine hundred and ninety nine
If it can't be found, I shall have to hop around
On the other nine hundred and ninety nine

Everybody hates me etc.
Its sung to the tune of "Golden Slippers"
There ya go, I was in the Scouts once

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Ged Fox
Date: 11 Apr 12 - 07:11 PM

2nd try:

"The Indiarubber Man drifted disconsolately
about in the crush, finally coming to a momen-
tary anchorage in a corner beside his Brides-
maid.

"Miss Betty, no one loves me, and I'm
going into the garden " — he dropped his voice
to a confidential undertone — " to eat worms.""

From 'Naval Occasions' by 'Bartimeus' before 1915

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: and e
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 08:36 PM

The Simplicity Company have constructed a companion piece to the famous picture
"Nobody Loves Me, I am Going Into the Garden and Eat Worms. Yesterday I Ate Two Smoth Ones and One Wooly One,"...

Walden's Stationer & PRinter, New York, August 25 1906.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Walden_s_Stationer_and_Printer/U_NYAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nobody+loves+me%22+%22eat+worms%22&pg=RA19-PA14&printsec=frontcover

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: and e
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 08:39 PM

[[Picture of a dejected looking boy on a step]]
Copyright, 1905,
By Charles Scribner's Sons

NOBODY LOVES ME
"Nobody loves me. I'm
going into the garden to
eat worms. Yesterday I
ate two smooth ones and
one woolly one."

Nobody Loves Me

On account of the numerous requests for
proofs of this picture we have published
it in photogravure in a popular size. The
quaintness of the text accompanying the
picture combined with the woe-begone ex-
pression of the little boy appeals irresist-
ibly to all.

Size, 4 3/4 x 8 3/4. Price, 25 cents.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Scribner_s_Magazine/C6U6AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nobody+loves+me%22+%22eat+worms%22&pg=PT22&printsec=frontcover

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: and e
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 08:40 PM

"Nobody loves me and I don't love nobody and I'm goin' out
in the back garden to eat worms." This is the modern fashion
of definition of the idea which used to be expressed as "biting
off one's nose to spite one's face." Every one knows what it is
like to feel that "nobody loves man and I don't love nobody."

March, 1904. The Smith College Monthly,Vol XI, No. 6. pg 375

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Smith_College_Monthly/rwEhAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nobody+loves+me%22+%22eat+worms%22&pg=PA375&printsec=frontcover

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: and e
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 08:41 PM

The little maiden had a nurse of whom she
was very fond, and who supplied her with most of
her amusement. One day this nurse departed,
and her small charge didn't know what to do with
herself. She wandered about the house, upstairs
and down, into the garden and back again, and
finally hung about her mother, who was busy just
then with the baby. Receiving no attention, she
turned away, saying dejectedly: "Nobody loves
me. I guess I'l go down in the garden and eat worms. I ate free yes'day--two smoove ones and one woolly one."

1898. The Windsor Magazine. Pg 279.


https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Windsor_Magazine/7adFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nobody+loves+me%22+%22eat+worms%22&pg=PA279&printsec=frontcover

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 08:56 AM

Fascinating thread. I hope some budding folklorist is putting this and other similar threads together for a provenance history or thesis.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: and e
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 02:46 PM

The little maiden had a French nurse, of whom she
was very fond. One day the nurse departed, and her
small charge wandered about the house, upstairs and
down, into the garden and back again, and finally hung
about her mother, who was busy just then with the
baby. Receiving no attention, she turned away, saying
dejectedly: "Nobody loves me. I guess I'll go down
in the garden and eat bugs. I ate free yes'day -- two
smoove ones and one woolly one." -- Argonaut.

June 17, 1897, Life, Vol XXIX. Number 756. [Pg. 516]

See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Life/eqFAAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nobody+loves+me%22+copyright&pg=PA516&printsec=frontcover



There are lots of reprinted copies of this "eat bugs" version all dated from 1897.

See this search:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22nobody+loves+me%22+%22eat+bugs%22&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=596246760&biw=1536&bih=704&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_max%3A1898&tbm=bks&ei=h6uZZdOdJ5mq5NoPxcqsyAc&ved=0ahUKEwiT_dmMwcmDAxUZFVkFHUUlC3kQ4dUDCAk&uact=5&oq=%22nobody+loves+me%22+%22eat+bugs%22&gs_lp=Eg1nd3Mtd2l6LWJvb2tzIhwibm9ib2R5IGxvdmVzIG1lIiAiZWF0IGJ1Z3MiMgUQIRirAkiJPFC9KlieOnAAeACQAQCYAXOgAZUGqgEDOS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBiAYB&sclient=gws-wiz-books

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: and e
Date: 12 Dec 24 - 01:21 AM

THE NEOPHYTE SONG

They always, always pick on me
They never, never let me be;
I'm so sad and lonesome, awful sad,
It's been a long, long time since I've been glad.
Oh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I know what I'll do by and by,
I'll eat some worms and then I'll die;
And when I'm gone you wait and see
They'll all be sorry that they picked on me.

ca 1973. Theta Epsilon Omicron Iota Fraternity Pledge Manual.

See here: https://www.horntip.com/html/books_&_MSS/1970s/1973ca_theta_epsilon_omicron_iota_fraternity_pledge_manual/1973ca_theta_epsilon_omicron_iota_fraternity_pledge_manual.pdf

Subject: They Always Pick On Me [ Eat Some Worms ]
From: and e
Date: 12 Dec 24 - 01:34 AM

They Always Pick On Me
Music by Harry Von Tilzer
Words by Stanley Murphy
Published 1911 by Harry Von Tilzer Music Pub. Co.


[Verse 1]
When I was born my Pa and ma
They looked at me and said oh pshaw,
The doctor said It's a girl I think
And Pa went out and got a drink,

Then Ma said I looked just like Pa
and Pa said I took after Ma,
Aunt Jane said I looked like a quince,
And I've been a step child ever since.

[Chorus]
They always, always pick on me
They never, never let me be
I'm so very lonesome, awfully sad
It's a long time since I've been glad,

But,I know what I'll do bye and bye,
I'll eat some worms and then I'll die,
And when I'm gone you wait and see,
They'll all be sorry that they picked on me.

[Verse 2]
My Ma put me to bed and said
The Angels watched me in the bed,
They wouldn't let things frighten me,
Then the Angels started biting me;

When my Ma sends me to the store,
I lose the change then she gets sore,
I lost my cat and my bow-wow,
I think I'm losing something now.

[Repeat Chorus]

[Verse 3]
One morning just at four oclock
Somebody tried to pick our lock
I knew t'was papa sure as sin
And opened the door and let him in,

My Ma said what time is it Pa,
It's twelve oclock my Pa told Ma,
Just then the Cuckoo Cuckooed four
and Pa made me Cuckoo eight times more.

[Repeat Chorus]

1911.

Listen online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEFAuZ4kxfI

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 12 Dec 24 - 10:48 AM

Ooey Gooey was a worm,
and what worm was he
He crawled along the railroad track,
the train he did not see.
Ooey gooey !

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Cujimmy
Date: 13 Dec 24 - 10:32 AM

This is from a thread in 2007, its a song Ive heard a few times over in Whitby and the North East of England.

Tony Leonard sings this song great and is the organiser of this week-ends Staithes Singaround.

Teaching Me Worm How To Swim………………Bill Newton

Dm
I was sat by the river with me rod and line
C                        Dm
Nice and comfortable feeling fine
            C                        Dm
When this bailiff feller said , what are you doin
C                   Dm
If you don't own up I'll have to run you in

            C                               Dm      Am                               Dm
I said I'm teaching me worm, how to swim,         Teaching me worm how to swim
          F                C                   Am                           Dm
He's looking fit, he's looking trim He's trained for hours down in the gym
       C                               Dm                      Am                                 Dm
The rod and line's just to steady him, I'm teaching me worm how to swim

Dm
He said the sign up there says the fishing's private
             C                            Dm
And the only conclusion that I can arrive at
          C                   Dm
Is that far from animal aquatic coaching
C                      Dm
What your doin is bloody poaching                        

Chorus
Then he said what are all these worms in a tin
Your surely not going to throw them all in
I said their skills are highly prized
Coz they do swimming what's synchronised

Chorus
Just then me worm was grabbed by a trout
And in trying to rescue I pulled the fish out
Then I shouted what are you going to do,
Your fish eat me worm, now I'm going to sue

Chorus

Dm
Now I know your Honour you judge on merit
       C                               Dm
Just like last week with me cave rescue ferret
       C               Dm
My interest is in animal coaching
       C                         Dm
You surely can't think I was poaching

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 13 Dec 24 - 11:05 AM

To the tune of "There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding"

There's a long long worm a-crawling
Across the roof of my tent
I can the bugle calling
So it's time I went
There's the cold cold water waiting
For me to have my morning dip
When I returned
I found that worm
Upon my pillow sip

That worm it kept on crawling
Throughout the heat of the day
Round and round the tent pole
And it would not go away
There's the warm warm water waiting
For me to have my evening wash
As I lay my head
Down on my pillow
That worm it went SQUISH SQUASH

DC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 18 Dec 24 - 06:55 PM

Used to sing that last song in Guide camp many moons ago, Doug!
(Think it’s “pillow SLIP” in the first verse?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 18 Dec 24 - 07:07 PM

Think it’s “pillow SLIP” in the first verse?

Yes! That's what I thought I had typed. Just a SLIP of the fingers. ;-)

DC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Rob Mad Jock Wright
Date: 23 Dec 24 - 11:41 AM

I know that it is really a song about a cat called ‘Wilbur’ but if you listen to it you will see the link.
The song is by singer songwriter Angie Wright and it is on her C D ‘Heroes and Demons’ which is available on Spotify and other platforms.

20% of all sales and performance fees go to support the Scottish Mental Health Charity SAMH.

Listen and enjoy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: a worm song
From: GUEST,Rob Mad Jock wright
Date: 25 Dec 24 - 12:30 AM

Oh Ishould mention the song about Wilbur is a true story.