If you went to public elementary school in the early 1980’s and had music class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what songs did you sing in class? I attended an immigrant heavy public school (relatively small in size grades 1-6 two classes per grade with one class dedicated to ESOL students) We would occasionally have music class where we sang songs. The majority of the songs we sang in music class were anthem songs for the US (America) military songs (Balled of the Green Beret) and occasionally “Somewhere over the rainbow,” “This Land” and “Country Roads” It’s comical thinking back to the heavily accented renditions and wondering if my fellow classmates even understood what they were singing about. Admittedly, at times I did not. What was your experience? What songs did you sing?

Weird that you think immigrants wouldn't understand songs about the US...likely they understand the patriotic messages more than a US-born citizen would. They had accents because they were ESOL, not because they were stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else sing Jimmy Crack Corn?

I can’t believe I typed that.

Yes. In New Jersey. We also sang Dixieland ("I wish I was in the land of cotton." And a lot of the patriotic songs: It's a Grand Old Flag, My Country Tis of Thee. Pretty weird selection now that I think about it.

We sang Dixie in a northern state in high school in the early 90s. WTF?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I miss those songs. Now my kids’ elementary school music class doesn’t even sing songs in English.

Why is that bad? Do you not have enough songs in your own family to teach 99
Percent of them in English?

Feliz Navidad

Frere Jacques, Dormez Vous?

La Bamba

I enjoyed growing up with Spanish as a 2nd language … thank you PBS

[Anonymous]

Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow
The Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful
Our school's song
Don't remember what else

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hot Cross Buns and Three Blind Mice on the recorder.

I still think that the 70s series Taxi brought the Recorder back

I had to learn the recorder in elementary school with a music teacher who was a super fan of Chicago, she had the whole fold out of liner notes decorating the classroom.

I just remember thinking, “there are way too many people in that group”

[Anonymous]

I was early 90s but I remember a Beetles concert, a Doo Wop concert and a Jackson 5 one. This was a mostly white, Christian school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what songs did you sing in class? I attended an immigrant heavy public school (relatively small in size grades 1-6 two classes per grade with one class dedicated to ESOL students) We would occasionally have music class where we sang songs. The majority of the songs we sang in music class were anthem songs for the US (America) military songs (Balled of the Green Beret) and occasionally “Somewhere over the rainbow,” “This Land” and “Country Roads” It’s comical thinking back to the heavily accented renditions and wondering if my fellow classmates even understood what they were singing about. Admittedly, at times I did not. What was your experience? What songs did you sing?

Weird that you think immigrants wouldn't understand songs about the US...likely they understand the patriotic messages more than a US-born citizen would. They had accents because they were ESOL, not because they were stupid.

Who says they were stupid?

[Anonymous]

In middle school, we sang Jethro Tull’s Aqualung. I’m not kidding. We had a teacher who was into being very modern.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea. Here's what I remember about music class in elementary school -
1. Teaacher's name was Dr. Pepper
2. She wore Birkenstocks and shuffled her feet in them. I have forever hated those sandals
3. We spent a lot of time getting yelled at and not a lot of time singing
4. A girl named Gara threw a temper tantrum and stood in the trash bin on purpose

Funnily, I do recall we would put on a holiday show each year and sing holiday-related songs, but that was teacher-led, not music-led. Frosty the Snowman, Dreidel song, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re a Grand Old Flag

I forget which grade -4th? 5th? 6th - but during music class when we had to sing that song, my classmates started singing “you’re a grand old f*g”

[Anonymous]

I remember singing a lot of Beach Boys. I think it was whatever the teachers liked from
Their youth and wanted to hear.

[Anonymous]

Omg senior don gatto unlocked a core memory! I went to an all white school in rural Midwest in the early 80s. We also sang fifty nifty United States, on top of spaghetti, oh Susanah, I’ve been working on the railroads, she’ll be coming round the mountain. Another song about “pickin pickin pickin berries, huckleberry strawberry cherry”…Lots of American folk songs. I remember our music teacher made us sing a song about being warm and fuzzy and we changed the lyrics and made it inappropriate in 5th grade. We thought we were so cool.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t do any of this. We did Peter and the wolf, though. Prokofiev.

[Anonymous]

In elementary school in the 70’s we sang:
—I am Woman
—songs from the musical Oliver!
—some songs about native Americans that are stereotyping: Many moons ago, Two little moccasins
—raindrops keep falling on my head

[Anonymous]

We had a music book:
Senor Don Gato
Zum Gali Gali Gali
Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill
Sakura, Sakura

CT, 1980s