Children's American Folk Songs

Revolutionary War to Early 1800s

• Capturing the plucky spirit of the rebel soldiers, ̶0;Yankee Doodle̶1; began as a British song poking fun at the backward Yankee soldiers. The rebel soldiers soon adopted the song and turned the satire around on the British with new verses. By the time the Revolutionary War concluded, ̶0;Yankee Doodle̶1; had become the unofficial national anthem of the infant country. Decades later, in a more light-hearted period of history, the minstrel John Hodges, known as Cool White, penned ̶0;Lubly Fan.̶1; On his singing tour of the country, the lyrics changed to cater to each city, but the song title finally stuck as ̶0;Buffalo Gals.̶1;

Civil War Songs

• The churning emotions and causes of the Civil War led to the creation of many songs sung by children today. ̶0;She̵7;ll Be Comin̵7; Round the Mountain̶1; began as a spiritual by black slaves. The original version, called ̶0;When the Chariot Comes,̶1; refers to the chariot carrying Jesus as ̶0;she,̶1; which eventually translated to the final light-hearted version. In the same era, musician Thomas Brigham Bishop penned ̶0;Shoo Fly, Don̵7;t Bother Me,̶1; ̶0;Glory, Glory Halelujah̶1; and ̶0;John Brown̵7;s Body,̶1; which has morphed to the ̶0;John Brown̵7;s Baby̶1; lyrics some children sing today. Perhaps the most memorable Civil War songs are ̶0;Shenandoah̶1; and ̶0;Dixie,̶1; conjuring images of the rolling hills of plantations.

Late 1800s to Early 1900s

• ̶0;Rueben and Rachel,̶1; first published in Boston in 1871, captures the rivalry of young children during the short-lived years when the opposite gender has ̶0;coodies.̶1; The 1905 ̶0;Low Bridge, Everybody Down̶1; barge song by Thomas Allen has endured as a beloved children̵7;s classic under the title ̶0;Erie Canal.̶1; A little more than a decade later, ̶0;Crawdad Song̶1; originated in the South, possibly as a new variation on an African-American melody, ̶0;Sweet Thing.̶1; The invitation to ̶0;go fishing at the crawdad hole̶1; still rolls off tongues today as an homage to a slower time in history.

Modern Nonsense Songs

• Playground songs fill the recess periods of children across the nation. "A Sailor Went to Sea" accompanies the clapping games of elementary-age school children while "Do Your Ears Hang Low" elicits giggles at music classes and Girl Scout meetings. "I Like To Eat Apples and Bananas" provides a modern tongue twister as the fruit take on new vowel sounds with each verse, until children are singing about "ooples and boonoonoos" and "iples and bininis."