Childhood Songs Like "The Cannibal King"

Steviewren was talking about all the songs we used to learn as children and wondering whether anyone still taught them to the new generation of children. That got me thinking about the songs I loved (and learned from) when I was young.

Songs are such a wonderful way to teach things, all kinds of things. I was taught the books of the Bible with a song, and I still sing it when I am looking for chapter and verse. I learned scripture to song, like 1 John 7 & 8, and I learned Bible stories too. Teaching phonics to my youngest son was so easy once I found "Sing, Spell, Read and Write" by Sue Dickson. I can't recommend it highly enough, even if you only use it to teach the sounds of the letters to your child. My older sons loved the Rappin Rabbit's Safety Habits tape, and learned ways to handle scary situations.

But some songs are just for fun. Did anyone else sing "Kookaburra" or the one about the "little green frog, doing what he oughter"? My sister always liked the Prune song ("No matter how young a prune may be, they're always full of wrinkles..."). Two of my favorites were
"The Cannibal King" and "The Crocodile Song." For your amusement, the lyrics are below. Now,Steviewren, what's this about the Abba Dabba Monkey?


The Cannibal King
With the Brass Nose Ring
Fell in love with the dusky da-a-ame
And every night
By the pale moonlight
Across the lake he ca-a-ame
He hugged and kissed
His pretty little Miss
By the shade of the bamboo tre-e-ee
And every night
By the pale moonlight
It sounded like this to me-e-ee
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)*
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)
Harrumph Diddily I E A A A**
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)
Harrumph, (smooch, smooch)
Harrumph Diddily I E A
Bump Diddily A A
(SMOOCH, SMOOCH)

*make smoochy, kissing noises
** pronounce each letter separately

The second song is called "The Crocodile Song"


One fine summer day
A lady sailed away
On the back of a crocodile
"You see," said she, "he's as tame as tame can be,
I'll ride him down the Nile."
The croc winked his eye
As she bade them all goodbye
Wearing a happy smile
By the end of the ride
The lady was inside
And the smile on the crocodile!

What songs do you remember?

Hymns of Special Meaning

Ruth asked me to post five hymns that have meant something significant in my life, and I really tried to follow the rules. I went through the hymn book and I was strict with myself. "Only the really important ones," I told myself firmly. I ended up with a list of 43. This wasn't going to be easy! Back to the drawing board. I thought hard about what was really important to me, why hymns touch me so much.

I realized that for me, it is all about a relationship with the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). There is a song called "Happiness Is the Lord" that has the line, "Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start, I've found the secret, it's Jesus in my heart," that kind of sums up my religious philosophy. I know a lot of people are Christians because they want to go to heaven some day, but I gotta tell you, even if we just lived and died here with no hope of anything after that, I would still be a Christian. When I was a child, I discovered that Jesus loves me and and I made a choice to put my hand in His. My life hasn't always been easy, far from it at times; but it HAS always been joyful! I believe what God says in His Word, because Jesus is the Word, and I trust Him completely; plus He sent the Comforter to help me understand it.

Hymns have always helped me remember the gospel, exhorted me to live it, given me a way to praise Him, comforted me when I was scared, and given me HOPE! I have narrowed it down to 12 choices, and I'm afraid that's the best I can do! I will not attempt to put the words to the hymns here, but I have linked to the lyrics.

"Jesus Loves Me" was the first song I learned as a tiny Christian. It gave me the gospel in a nutshell, and taught me to trust Jesus and believe the Bible.

I learned "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" first at church, then to a different tune at church camp. It was very comforting to know I had a Friend I could depend on, that was always there for me even when others had let me down badly.

"Trust and Obey"and "Count Your Blessings" are songs that taught me how to live as a Christian, and shaped my reaction to things that happened in my life. The only thing that puzzled me is the part in "Trust and Obey" where it says "I will walk by His side in the way." I always wondered if I shouldn't get out of the way!

My mother called "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul" my song. She'd play it for me on the piano, my sister would sing harmony, and it is the one song I would belt out confidently!

"He Lives" resonates with me because my heart is so full of the love and presence of Jesus in my life and heart. He is a very real Person to me, Friend and Savior.

"Love Lifted Me" is all about salvation, and though I felt the presence of God from a very young age, I still made a conscious choice to accept Him in to my heart. I was very aware of how lost I was without Him, and trusted Him completely to save me.

Once I was saved, I loved the praise songs, such as "Praise Him! Praise Him!" and "He Keeps Me Singing." Great is His Name and Greatly to be praised!

We had an amazing piano player in our church, a lady by the name of Alice Mayhew. A beautiful, godly woman, and a professional piano player that could make you feel like you were already in heaven! I loved when she played "Wonderful Grace of Jesus," and then everyone would begin singing, and it was so rolling and majestic, the men and women singing different parts that gave it a richness that made me feel like my heart was going to come out of my chest and float up to heaven on its own!

"It Is Well With My Soul" is a beautiful song that always makes me cry, and that's before I had even heard the story behind it! It is a sad, beautiful, soul-stirring story of the trust a bereaved father had in his Lord and Savior even after his children had been drowned while coming by ship to join him. The story is here.

"Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," besides being stunningly beautiful all on its own, also has a great deal of meaning to me, because this is one of the early songs my youngest son learned to play on the piano, and it's one we share a fondness for.

You can click on the names of the hymns to go to a page with lyrics and/or tunes. I pray God has richly blessed the writers of the hymns that give testimony, admonition, guidance, hope and praise to His Holy Name! They have been a rich source of blessings, teachings and strength to me in my Christian walk. And now I hope they will be a blessing to you!

Cute Award for Embarrassing Songs!

Here's a cool little award from Charli and Me, whose site I think you would all really enjoy, to all her readers who will post about 5 songs they are embarrassed that they sing! Well, I'm not much of a singer. I do sing solo - so low nobody can hear me, that is! When I was growing up, my mother sang a lot. In fact, I used to think she could come up with a song for any and every occasion! No matter what happened, especially if I was embarrassed, she'd start singing some song about it! A real, existing song, not one she made up. Sometimes it was hilarious - for instance, when she was doing it to embarrass my sister - but sometimes it was just plain adding insult to injury! But although I always enjoyed singing in the church choir, and I like singing hymns around the house, I am not apt to burst in to song along with the radio. So my songs aren't so much embarrassing for me to sing, as they are embarrassing that I like to hear them sung!

1. I have always liked the song "Build Me Up, Buttercup," I don't know why, and I don't even know who sings it. If I ever have an albino python for a pet, which I won't because I'd rather have my husband and I can't have both, I would name it Buttercup.

2. Whenever we wanted to run off our teenage children and their friends, we would put Zydeco on, especially their classic song entitled "Don't Mess With My Toot Toot!"

3. My mom taught me a song when I was young called "The Cannibal King." I sometimes sang it at family gatherings with my cousin. We were obnoxious. Now I'm embarrassed about it.

4. There's a certain song by Rod Stewart... but I'm too embarrassed to tell you about it.

5. A long time ago a friend taught me a ridiculous version of "We Three Kings" that involved exploding cigars. In a moment of silliness, I taught it to my kids. Now I am embarrassed that every Christmas when that beautiful song is sung, we are all snickering like fools.

How 'bout it? Are you willing to embarrass yourself in order to acquire this adorable award? Hmmmm????