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Contents
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The Hearse Song Animation for Halloween
Saturday, October 18th, 2008I’ve talked in the past about how all the kids in my neighborhood loved The Hearse Song when I was growing up. (We called the song The Worms Crawl In the Worms Crawl Out.) Evidently, we weren’t the only ones who loved this song. I’ve gotten many people writing in about the different versions of The Hearse Song they sang as kids.
Here’s an animation of a vampire singing the song from YouTube, for you to enjoy for Halloween. It’s followed by the lyrics to read along with while watching…
The Hearse Song
Didn’t you ever think, as a hearse goes by,
That you may be the next to die?They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And bury you down in the 6 feet deep.They put you in a big black box,
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.And all goes well for about a week,
And then the coffin begins to leak.The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout.They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.A great big worm with rolling eyes,
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And puss pours out like whipping cream.You spread it on a slice of bread,
And that’s what the worms eat, when you are dead.Have a spooky Halloween!
Mama Lisa
“There Was a Woman All Skin and Bone” Song with MP3
Sunday, October 29th, 2006I’ve been discussing the origin of the phrase “The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out”.
Yesterday, I posted the old nursery rhyme “There Was a Woman All Skin and Bone”, which contains the phrase.
Here’s another version of There Was a Woman All Skin and Bone, this one a song, (sung by me!). In this case the phrase is “The grubs crawled in, the grubs crawled out”. How and when it changed is a bit of a mystery.
MP3 of There Was a Woman All Skin and Bone
There Was a Woman All Skin and Bone
There was a woman all skin and bone
Oo-oo-oo!
Who lived in a cottage all on her own,
Oo-oo-oo!She thought she’d go to church one day
Oo-oo-oo!
To hear the parson preach and pray,
Oo-oo-oo!When she got to the wooden stile
Oo-oo-oo!
She thought she’d stay and rest a while
Oo-oo-oo!When she reached the old church door
Oo-oo-oo!
A ghastly ghost lay on the floor,
Oo-oo-oo!The grubs crawled in, the grubs crawled out,
Oo-oo-oo!
Of its ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.
Oo-oo-oo!Oh you ghastly ghost, she said,
Oo-oo-oo!
Shall I be like you when I am dead ?
YES!If anyone out there sings it differently, and would like to send other lyrics or a different rendition, I’d be happy to post it.
Happy Halloween Everybody!
Lisa
Old Nursery Rhyme with “The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in”
Saturday, October 28th, 2006Since it’s the Halloween time of year, and I know that a lot of people out there are interested in the line, “The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out”, I’m going to talk a little more about the earliest sightings of this line in print.
In my last blog entry, I mentioned that a similar line was seen in print in 1796, in a ballad called Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogine, in a novel called The Monk, by Matthew Gregory Lewis.
There was also a nursery rhyme, which can be found in Gammer Gurton’s Garland’s 1810 edition, that has a similar line. It’s hard to tell if the nursery rhyme came before The Monk, and that Lewis took the line from a rhyme he already knew, or vice versa.
Here’s the nursery rhyme…
There Was a Lady All Skin and Bone
There was a lady all skin and bone,
Sure such a lady was never known:
It happened upon a certain day,
This lady went to church to pray.When she came to the church stile,
There she did rest a little while;
When she came to the church yard,
There the bells so loud she heard.When she came to the church door,
She stopped to rest a little more;
When she came to the church within,
The parson prayed ‘gainst pride and sin.On looking up, on looking down,
She saw a dead man on the ground;
And from his nose unto his chin,
The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in.*Then she unto the parson said,
Shall I be so when I am dead?
O yes! O yes! the parson said,
You will be so when you are dead.*The Annotated Mother Goose quotes Gammer Gurton’s Garland, “This line has been adopted in the modern ballad of Alonzo and Fair Imogene.” Which implies that the nursery rhyme came first. Yet, from what I can tell, The Monk has the earliest use of the line in print.
If anyone knows of any earlier sightings of this line, please let us know in the comments below.
***
Here you’ll find other versions of The Hearse Song or The Worms Crawled In, The Worms Crawled Out. Feel free to add the version you know in the comments.Next: The Old Women All Skin and Bones Song
The Origin of The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out
Thursday, October 26th, 2006Last year I posted a version of The Hearse Song that I sang as a kid. Many other people also remember this song. If you’re interested, you can read all the versions of The Worms Crawl in, The Worms Crawl Out that people sent me over the past year.
Meanwhile, I found one of the earliest places the line, “The worms, they crept in, and the worms, they crept out” was seen in print. It was in a ballad called Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogine. The ballad is from a gothic romance novel published in 1796. The novel is called The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis. (At the time it was published, The Monk was banned for its explicit nature.)
The ballad of Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogine tells the story of a young maiden who vows to love a warrior who’s going into battle. Even if he should die, she promises never to love another. To find out what happens when he does indeed die, read below! Here’s the ballad…
ALONZO THE BRAVE, AND FAIR IMOGINE
A Warrior so bold, and a Virgin so bright
Conversed, as They sat on the green:
They gazed on each other with tender delight;
Alonzo the Brave was the name of the Knight,
The Maid’s was the Fair Imogine.‘And Oh!’ said the Youth, ’since to-morrow I go
To fight in a far distant land,
Your tears for my absence soon leaving to flow,
Some Other will court you, and you will bestow
On a wealthier Suitor your hand.’‘Oh! hush these suspicions,’ Fair Imogine said,
‘Offensive to Love and to me!
For if ye be living, or if ye be dead,
I swear by the Virgin, that none in your stead
Shall Husband of Imogine be.‘If e’er I by lust or by wealth led aside
Forget my Alonzo the Brave,
God grant, that to punish my falsehood and pride
Your Ghost at the Marriage may sit by my side,
May tax me with perjury, claim me as Bride,
And bear me away to the Grave!’To Palestine hastened the Hero so bold;
His Love, She lamented him sore:
But scarce had a twelve-month elapsed, when behold,
A Baron all covered with jewels and gold
Arrived at Fair Imogine’s door.His treasure, his presents, his spacious domain
Soon made her untrue to her vows:
He dazzled her eyes; He bewildered her brain;
He caught her affections so light and so vain,
And carried her home as his Spouse.And now had the Marriage been blest by the Priest;
The revelry now was begun:
The Tables, they groaned with the weight of the Feast;
Nor yet had the laughter and merriment ceased,
When the Bell of the Castle told,–’One!’Then first with amazement Fair Imogine found
That a Stranger was placed by her side: His air was terrific;
He uttered no sound; He spoke not, He moved not,
He looked not around,
But earnestly gazed on the Bride.His vizor was closed, and gigantic his height;
His armour was sable to view:
All pleasure and laughter were hushed at his sight;
The Dogs as They eyed him drew back in affright,
The Lights in the chamber burned blue!His presence all bosoms appeared to dismay;
The Guests sat in silence and fear.
At length spoke the Bride, while She trembled;
‘I pray, Sir Knight, that your Helmet aside you would lay,
And deign to partake of our chear.’The Lady is silent: The Stranger complies.
His vizor lie slowly unclosed:
Oh! God! what a sight met Fair Imogine’s eyes!
What words can express her dismay and surprize,
When a Skeleton’s head was exposed.All present then uttered a terrified shout;
All turned with disgust from the scene.
The worms, They crept in, and the worms, They crept out,
And sported his eyes and his temples about,
While the Spectre addressed Imogine.‘Behold me, Thou false one! Behold me!’ He cried;
‘Remember Alonzo the Brave!
God grants, that to punish thy falsehood and pride
My Ghost at thy marriage should sit by thy side,
Should tax thee with perjury, claim thee as Bride
And bear thee away to the Grave!’Thus saying, his arms round the Lady He wound,
While loudly She shrieked in dismay;
Then sank with his prey through the wide-yawning ground:
Nor ever again was Fair Imogine found,
Or the Spectre who bore her away.Not long lived the Baron; and none since that time
To inhabit the Castle presume:
For Chronicles tell, that by order sublime
There Imogine suffers the pain of her crime,
And mourns her deplorable doom.At midnight four times in each year does her Spright
When Mortals in slumber are bound,
Arrayed in her bridal apparel of white,
Appear in the Hall with the Skeleton-Knight,
And shriek, as He whirls her around.While They drink out of skulls newly torn from the grave,
Dancing round them the Spectres are seen:
Their liquor is blood, and this horrible Stave
They howl.–’To the health of Alonzo the Brave,
And his Consort, the False Imogine!’The whole novel The Monk is available online at Project Gutenberg.
If you’re looking for different versions of The Worms Crawled In check out the links at the top of the page above. Once you’re at those links, look for the Comments. That’s where people submit other versions.
-Lisa
NEXT: I’ll post an old nursery rhyme called There Was a Lady All Skin and Bone that was printed in 1810. It also contains the line “The worms crawl’d out, the worms crawl’d in.”
“The Hearse Song” as Sung in North Carolina
Thursday, June 29th, 2006Vicki Winston sent me the following version of The Hearse Song. Although it’s a gruesome song, many people seem to have fond memories of singing it during childhood (including me!).
Vicki wrote:
Here’s the version we sang in North Carolina in the 50’s and 60’s:
Don’t ever laugh when a hearse goes by,
Or you may be the next to die.They wrap you up in a bloody sheet,
And bury you under about six feet.All goes well for a couple of weeks,
But then your coffin begins to leak.The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, The worms play pinochle on your snout.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And puss comes out of you like whipped cream.You lap it up with a piece of bread,
And that’s what you eat when you are dead.Thanks Vicki!
Here you’ll find other versions of The Hearse Song. Feel free to add the version you know in the comments.
Lisa
***
Come read about The Origin of The Worms Crawl in the Worms Crawl Out a.k.a. The Hearse Song.
Another Version of “The Hearse Song” (”The Worms Crawl In the Worms Crawl Out”)
Sunday, October 30th, 2005Today we went to a Halloween party and when we got home I happily found this email in my inbox from Tanya…
I bought my kids a dancing skeleton this year and it sings this song and I never knew what it was called but the words go like this:
Did you ever see a hearse go by, who will be the next to die?
They’ll wrap him in a big white sheet;
And bury him down 6 feet deep
The worms crawled in the worms crawled out
the worms play pinochle on your snoutHa, Ha, Ha, Ha!
-Another version of The Hearse Song!
Thanks Tanya!
-Lisa
Here you’ll find other versions of The Hearse Song. Feel free to add the version you know in the comments.
***
Come read about The Origin of The Worms Crawl in the Worms Crawl Out a.k.a. The Hearse Song.
A British Version of The Hearse Song (”The Worms Crawl in, The Worms Crawl Out”)
Saturday, October 29th, 2005Robin Colbourne wrote me…
Hello Mama Lisa,
Whilst trying to find ‘the worms went in and the worms went out’ for a Halloween party tomorrow, I came across your site. I was trying to find the lyrics of the song as we used to sing them at Scout Camp.
The Scout Camp was situated in a clearing, in a wood in Tilford, Surrey, England, behind the 1860’s village church and its churchyard (full of gravestones, of course). You can imagine the effect that this song had on the cubs and scouts there for their first camp, having to walk back to their tents in the dark…
Flying Pigs has the words more or less as I remember them:
A woman stood by the churchyard wall
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
The woman she was gaunt and tall
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
A corpse was being carried in
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
The corpse was very pale and thin
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
The worms crawled in and the worms crawled out
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
In at the nose and out of the snout
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
The woman to the corpse said:
Ooh__________ Ahh__________
“Shall I be like that when I am dead?”
Ooh__________ Ahh__________The corpse answered with a groan: SHRIEK!
(at which point all the scouts who know the song scream their lungs out…)Best wishes
Robin Colbourne
Thanks Robin. Enjoy your party!
- Lisa
Here you’ll find other versions of The Hearse Song. Feel free to add the version you know in the comments.
***
Come read about The Origin of The Worms Crawl in the Worms Crawl Out a.k.a. The Hearse Song.
“The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out” or “The Hearse Song”
Wednesday, October 26th, 2005When I was about 3 to about 5 years old there was a large group of neighborhood kids who played together in the field behind my house. I was one of the kids that was always there, with my two big sisters and my older brother.
One of the songs we sang was The Worms Crawl in, The Worms Crawl Out.
We would all hold hands to make a long chain. The person at one end would put their free arm stretched out against a tree. The person at the other end of the chain would arc around and go under the “tree” person’s arm and the whole chain would follow. We would sing, “The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out” while we were doing this.
I’ve been trying to remember the rest of the lyrics we sang, so I could post it as a Halloween song. It seems so fitting! But, try as I might, I couldn’t quite get it all.
Finally, I spoke to my “big” sister Dawn. She’s one of the experts I consult about the songs I sang in my childhood. She recalls them better, since I was so young during that time period (she’s five years older then me). Here’s what she remembers…
The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out
The Worms Crawl In,
The Worms Crawl Out,
Into your stomach,
And out your mouth.They eat your intestines,
They scramble your heart.
Now you feel like
You’re all apart.This is how
It is to die
You end up looking
Like apple pie!I’ve since found out that this song is often called The Hearse Song.
Here’s how we sang The Hearse Song (MP3).
There seem to be many other versions. Here’s a link for alternate versions to The Hearse Song.
It seems like this song has been around at least since 1923. Here’s some info on publication of The Hearse Song for anyone who’s interested.
I’d be happy if anyone would like to send me their version of The Hearse Song to post, please write me. I also welcome alternate recordings or midis of the tune!
-Lisa
UPDATE: Here you’ll find other versions of The Hearse Song. Feel free to add the version you know in the comments.
Also, Come read about The Origin of The Worms Crawl in the Worms Crawl Out a.k.a. The Hearse Song.
________
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