Waynewood Elementary, late 70s, early 80s, would be interesting to find out what song book we were using and see how many songs I remember.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone else sing Jimmy Crack Corn?

I can’t believe I typed that.

This thread sent me down a rabbit hole trying to figure out what textbooks my school may have used. The Blue Tail Fly not appears on page 100, with somewhat sanitized lyrics. The descriptive paragraph claims that it was one of Abe Lincoln's favorite songs, but three is no mention whatsoever about the narrator being a slave.

https://archive.org/details/makingmusicyouro03land/page/100/mode/2up

Anonymous wrote:There were only a handful of school song books marketed to the US market in those decades. Most of your generation will have been exposed to an identical elementary music program.

My elementary music program was run by parent volunteers in elementary school, so we probably sang whatever music they liked there was no curriculum, it was whatever the grade level mom could play on the piano.

There were only a handful of school song books marketed to the US market in those decades. Most of your generation will have been exposed to an identical elementary music program.

This is more circa 1978-80 for me, but I distinctly remember having to sing songs from The Music Man---76 Trombones and Well Fargo Wagon.
Also this song, which is about clamming in Puget Sound . . . I lived in Pennsylvania and remember wondering why we had to sing this dud every week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc_Tm_1vbuc

There was some pioneer-folk-settler theme happening there, I guess. It felt dorky and dated.

Did anyone else sing Jimmy Crack Corn?

I can’t believe I typed that.

We sang the Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden” pretty regularly in early elementary school.

Okay I cannot remember the song but you put your elbow in your hand and make a movement with your hand that is standing upright (not holding the elbow). And then you switch hands. Maybe it has something to do with a bird??

Hot Cross Buns, Don Gato the Cat and similar Americana that others have referred to

Hot Cross Buns and Three Blind Mice on the recorder.

MoCo here. Starting elementary school in 1978. Lots of the songs already mentioned, but also We Shall Overcome, the Dreidel Song and Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah. DH is the same age and grew up in Prince William County VA and looked at me like I had three heads when I started singing these songs and said I learned them in elementary school.

Lean on me.

Went to school in MoCo and we sang a lot of slave songs but didn't say that: Jimmy crack corn, swing low sweet chariot, nobody knows the trouble I've seen, my old Kentucky home

You’re a Grand Old Flag