Happy folk song Friday! I scoured through my collections to find a festive back-to-school folk song to share, and remembered about this fun little song! Have you heard it before? Make sure to grab the free 4x6 song card pdf at the end of this post.
I did change the words in the second line a bit, because the original words involved bullying a little girl, and I don’t want to spread that message! (Originally “brother don’t you pull my sweetheart’s hair as we go marching home!”). And bonus, I think the words I changed it to fit well because the second verse is all about playing games on the way home from school!
What I just mentioned above is an example of a “text variant”, which is a very folk-song thing to do. Changing the words to better serve the “folks” I’m sharing the song with is perfectly acceptable, and I hope you don’t ever feel like you have to present a song in its “pure form” to your child/students, because honestly, the “pure form” probably doesn’t even exist anymore! These songs have changed and evoloved so many times through the years, and we should feel comfortable and empowered to use fit these songs to our needs, so that they can survive for years to come.
The game is also invented, but fit well with the song. After singing the first verse, “Loo” the melody as you pantomime a “game” to play on the way home from school (like throwing and catching a pretend ball). Repeat the first verse again, then think of another game, and so on, taking turns until you run out of ideas!
Have fun!🍎✏️📓