The Littlest Worm
"The Littlest Worm" is an echo song where the "leader" sings each line and then the "group" repeats each line. Then at the end of each verse the whole group sings the whole verse together.
This is the same tune and exactly the same type of song as Sippin Cider. Given that they both involve sipping from a straw, I'd imagine one is based on the other.
The Littlest Worm
Children's Song
The Littlest Worm
I ever saw
Was stuck inside
My soda straw!
(Repeat whole verse)
He said to me
Don't take a sip
For it you do
I'll surely flip!
(Repeat whole verse)
I took a sip
And he went down
Right down my pipe
He must have drowned!
(Repeat whole verse)
He was my pal
He was my friend
But now he's gone
And that's the end!
(Repeat whole verse)
That is the end
There is no more
Until I meet
That worm once more!
(Repeat whole verse)
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Joyce Webster wrote, "When I was 13 (60 years ago) at Camp Wanabee in New Jersey, I was a junior counselor and often called upon to lead singing since most of the adults were self-conscious about singing with an audience. I could never remember the lyrics to 'Sippin' Cider' so wrote 'The Littlest Worm' (except for the last verse which I like very much). Looking back, it amazes me that I made my only major contribution to our culture then."
The NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) wrote on its page for this song, "Lyrics by Joyce "Tex" Dixon Webster, who wrote these lyrics as a parody of the tune "Sipping Cider" when she was a teenage counselor at Camp Wannabe, Metuchen, New Jersey, in approximately 1959. The last verse was added by an unknown poet at a later time. Copyright: Lyrics not copyrighted."
Thanks so much!
