The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

A MAN COMMITS SUICIDE AND THEREFORE CAN'T BE BURIED IN CHURCH.
THE BODY IS LEFT OUTSIDE IN THE SUN ON A WARM JULY AFTERNOON,
WHILE THE FAMILY SEEKS BURIAL APPROVAL FROM THE BISHOP.
THE BODY SITS OUTSIDE FOR HOURS, YET NO DECOMPOSER TAKES PLACE.
WAS HE BURIED ALIVE?

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WHITMORE LAKE

James Callow Keyword(s): DECOMPOSITION

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(sung to a funeral dirge)
The worms crawl in
The worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
(spoken in a hushed and fearful tone)
When you see a hearse go by
You may be the next to die.
They wrap you up in a big white sheet
And drop you down a couple of feet.
(sung)
They eat out your eyes
They eat out your nose
They eat out the dirt that's between your toes.

Submitter comment: When I hummed the melody of the dirge in this song and
asked Elinor if she had learned a children's song with
this same tune, she knew exactly the one I was referring
to, and repeated the one that I had learned, word for word.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; FRASER

Keyword(s): Death, Burial, Decomposition, Gore

Date learned: 00001950S

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Pictures of counselors, dead on the floor,
Killed by the campers, one and all.
Blood on their shoulders,
Blood on their shirts,
Great big globs of blood on the dirt. MM
When counselors die
When counselors die
Don't bury their bones
Don't bury their bones
Just leave them lie
Just leave them lie
Among the stones
Among the stones
And paint a sign
And paint a sign
In letters green
In letters green
Here lie the bones of the losing team!
Here lie the bones of the losing team!

Submitter comment: The repeating lines in the second stanza are sung
by two groups who alternate singing. Maryann states
that she was taught this song by her counselors while
attending Maskokie Day Camp in 1967.

Where learned: ILLINOIS ; SKOKIE

Keyword(s): death, decomposition, humor

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