Saturday, May 21, 2011

"G" is for Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts

 Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,

Mutilated monkey meat, itty bitty birdie feet.

Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts,

And me without a spoon...
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Do you remember that song?  I used to sing the chorus at top of my lungs.  It was especially funny to me when the adults in my world looked horrified by what I was singing.  I'm not sure where I learned this silly tune; probably not from my teachers at school or in church.  I may have learned it at camp, though.  I doubt it was one of the songs we sang around the campfire. Most likely we sang it on our own in the cabin or walking along a trail.  I think we kids felt tougher than the wimpy adults when we sang it. They always scrunched up their faces when we came to the mutilated monkey meat part.
 
 In general a lot of singing as a kid.  My parents sure were good sports about it.  Those long car rides clapping with camp song after camp song...
 
 
"The (Greasy Grimy Gopher Gut) song derives its power to amuse children through alliterative description of disgusting foodstuffs, usually parts of human or animal bodies not customarily eaten in the areas in which it is sung. The song appears on the Smithsonian Folkways collection A Fish That's a Song, a collection of traditional children's songs from the United States, where it is performed by Mika Seeger.[1] The Smithsonian recording came from an earlier recording called The Sounds of Camp, originally released in 1959." Wikepedia

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