My elementary school friends and I always loved music class. It was a period unlike any other—loud and entertaining rather than solemn and studious. Basically we had fun singing songs under the leadership of Mr. Lyons. Tall, thin, bespeckled, gentlemanly, and personable, he would play the clarinet as we sang along.
My favorite song was one that started “the wind blows cold over Cairo, the sun refuses to shine.” The title was Going to the Shucking of the Corn. Two things drew me to that song. One, the tune had an appealing, plaintive feeling about it. Two, the traveler was going to Cairo. For the longest time I thought it meant Cairo, Egypt. With my passion for ancient history and mythology, anything to do with ancient Mesopotamia or Egypt caught my soul on fire. I remember doubt setting in at some point. While the climate of Cairo, Egypt was that of desert heat, the traveler experienced a cold wind. I remember disappointment at realizing the words did not refer to Cairo, Egypt. Yet, I still loved that song.
Other songs we enjoyed included Oh Susanna, Home on the Range, Shortnin’ Bread, Suwannee River, Clementine, and She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain. We especially rollicked to the latter with its plethora of verses. It took “her” forever to come around that mountain, and we loved it.
Did you have a similar experience with elementary school music education? What were your favorite songs? An interesting 2003 dissertation entitled The Extent to Which American Children’s Folk Songs Are Taught by General Music Teachers Throughout the United States by Marilyn Ward is available on the Internet.
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Fantasy Romance
Your post brought nice memories to me too, Flossie. Childhood years and school years leave a tinge of regret in our souls, and we recall those times as they were – care free and full of joy. Oh Susanna, Clementine, and She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain are songs that I used to teach my pupils and they enjoyed them so much.( It was the English class for them but I liked to offer them a few moments of relaxation singing these nice songs).
As a pupil myself, I had also favorite songs that our teachers taught us( I was even part of a choir), but as they are in Romanian their titles will ring no bell for you.
http://shadowspastmystery.blogspot.ro/
Carmen, thank you for sharing your memories. You described perfectly the nostalgic feelings accompanying images of childhood. I am going to see if I can find some Romanian folk songs on you tube. Is there a particular title that was your favorite?
I just wanted to add something more, I’m sure you agree, the lines of Mary Hopkins’s famous song:
“Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end…….”
Absolutely, Carmen. Oh my goodness, we used to love that song, and it still brings back a bittersweet emotion.
i have wonderful memories of music class too and singing all those old Stephen Foster songs. I particularly loved Oh, Susanna and Swanee River. Not that long ago I bought a CD with old Americana songs. Even now, I still enjoy listening to them.
Thank you for your comment, Mae. It’s funny the common shared cultural experience a lot of us had, like a webbing connecting us, even through different decades and even though we didn’t know it back then.
I could really get in to this, Flossie!
Thank you for stopping by, Betty!
I love those songs we sang in elementary school! I still play them for public performances and a great many other people seem to enjoy them, too. Thanks for good memories!
Betty, where do you play those songs? I really think they are special too, as people over the world tend to remember the words and tunes.
Here comes a list with some songs we used to play in school, as you wanted to hear them. I searched them and found the YouTube version. In number 4 you can see how I and my daughters were dressed in gymnasium. Number 3 and 4 are patriotic songs. These were sung at all festivities. It was compulsory in those years, before ’89
1 Infloresc gradinile/ Gardens burst into bloom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45WLFRzl12w
2 Spring is coming .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6u-_3EBU0o
3 Am cravata mea/ I have my red scarf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnoe3zBtnQ
4 Salut voios de pionier/ Cheerful slaute of a pioneer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldwp5DwuYL0
5 In padurea cu alune/ In the nuts forest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxbfR-4X3Hs
Carmen, I listened to these songs this morning and enjoyed them very much. Thank you for taking the trouble to find and share them. I see the uniforms and red scarves. What memories you must have. Isn’t it marvelous too how well the animation is done for number two and five especially?