Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts
The song "Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts" is a children's public domain playground song popular throughout the United States. Dating back to at least the mid-20th century, the song is sung to the tune of "The Old Gray Mare".[1] The song, especially popular in school lunchrooms and at summer camps, presents macabre horrors through cheerful comedy while allowing children to explore taboo images and words especially as they relate to standards of cleanliness and dining.[2][3] Many local and regional variations of the lyrics exist, but whatever variant, they always entail extensive use of the literary phonetic device known as an alliteration which helps to provide an amusing description of animal body parts and fluids not normally consumed by Americans.
Song versions
Smithsonian Folkways version
The song appears on the Smithsonian Folkways compilation release entitled A Fish That's A Song, a collection of traditional public domain children's songs from the United States performed by Mika Seeger. The Smithsonian release appears to be derived from an earlier 1959 release entitled The Sounds Of Camp.
The lyrics performed by Mika Seeger are as follows:
Canadian version
Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
Mutilated Monkey meat
Concentrated birdie feet
Pig Snot Camel Rot
Turn It Into Wonder Bread
But I Forgot My Spoon
But I brought a Straaaaaaaaaaw
Indiana Version
Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Very dirty birdie feet
Pale, pink, piles of petrified pelican puke
And me without my spoon
California Version
Great, green gobs of greasy, grimey gopher guts
Marinated monkey meat
French fried parakeet
All wrapped up in fuzzy wuzzy beetle brain
Pass the eyeball soup
And the gravy please!
Another variation from Burbank, California, mid-1960's...
Gobs and gobs of greasy, grimy gopher's guts
Mutilated monkey's meat.
Itty-bitty birdie's feet.
Miles and miles of French fried eyeballs
swimming in a pool of blood.
I forgot my spoon!
Texas Version
Great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey's meat.
Bitty Baby Birdy feet
French fried eyeballs soaking in a pool of blood,
And me without a spoon
(But there's a straw.....)
We are smarter than you think (well, some)
Michigan Version
Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey feet
Chopped-up baby parakeet
Great, big eyeballs swimming in a pool of blood
Gee! I forgot my spoon!
West Michigan Version
Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
Mutilated monkey butts
Little tiny birdy feet
Horses eyeballs all in a pool of blood
And I forgot my spoon
Massachusetts Version
Big green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Little birdy's bloody (var. dirty) feet
All wrapped up in all-purpose porpoise pus
Floating in my pink lemonade
Without a straw
Western Massachusetts Version
Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Little birdy's dirty feet
A one pound jar of all purpose porpoise pus
Swimming in Pink Lemonade
(Bum Bum Bum) Scab Sandwich, Pus on Top
(ma ma ma) Monkey Vomit, Camel Snot
Eagle eyeballs rolled in glue
I brought a big ole spoon for you.
St.Louis Version
Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Chopped up parrot feet.
French fried eye balls,
Swimmin' in a pool of blood,
Eat it with out a spoon.
Burp.
Connecticut Version
Great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Chopped up monkey meat,
Isolated dirty feet,
French fried eyeballs,
And I forgot my spoon.
New York Version
Lyrics of a more extensive version from New York City was in use during the 1990s as follows:
Yankee Doodle went to town a-ridin’ on a gopher
Bumped into a garbage can and this is what fell over:
Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat, chopped up baby parakeet.
French-fried eyeballs rolling down the street.
Oops, I forgot my spoon!
So they gave me a split-splat, pus-on-top,
Monkey vomit and camel snot,
All wrapped up in birdie poo,
So eat it, (name), it’s good for you!
With vitamin C, and protein too
And don’t forget the doggie doo![5]
Upstate New York Version
Recalled from the 1970s is another verse including "quarts and quarts of all purpose porpoise pus"
Western New York Girl Scout Version
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Itty bitty birdy feet
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
And I forgot my spoon.
But luckily I have my straw!
Eastern Pennsylvania Version
Great big globs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
All mixed in with All-Purpose Porpoise Pus
And me without a spoon
(add on line) But with a straw!
Western Pennsylvania Version
Great big gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Little dirty birdy feet
French-fried eyeballs swimming in a pool of blood
And I forgot my spoon
(But not my straw...)
Alternate Suburban Philadelphia Version
This version was popular in the western suburbs of Philadelphia (Delaware and Chester counties and probably beyond) in the 1970s and 1980s at least:
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Chopped-up baby parakeet
French fried eyeballs rolling down the dirty street
That's what I had for lunch
Without a straw!
Pittsburgh version
The following version was sung in the mid-1950s in the Shadyside and East Liberty neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
dirty little birdy feet,
Great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
And me without my spoon.
This alternate Pittsburgh version was sung in the 1980s in the Shadyside and East Liberty neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as the eastern suburbs.
Great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
little dirty birdy feet,
Those are the things that I really like to eat,
And I forgot my spoon.
Another suburban Pittsburgh variant of the song dated near c.2005
Great green globs of gooey, gooey gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Little birdy's dirty feet,
All wrapped up in pickle-pepper porpoise pus,
Sitting in pink lemonade (without a straw).
Washington version
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
constipated camel feet,
mutilated monkey meat,
all bunched up with french fried eyeballs,
and I forgot my spoon!
Seattle Version
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Little dirty birdie feet,
French fried eyeballs in a pool of blood,
And I forgot my spoon!
North Seattle Version
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Chopped up chicken feet,
Mealworm vomit rolling down the street,
And I forgot my fork!
Georgia version
As made popular by local Atlanta comedian Daniel Weinstein in 1970s
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Chopped up parakeet.
French fried eyeballs,
Rolling down the dirty street,
Oops I forgot my spoon!
Florida Version
Sung in southern Florida circa 1990:
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Chopped up dirty birdy feet,
French fried eyeballs,
Rollin' in a bowl of blood,
*Slurp*
Oops I forgot my spoon!
South Florida Version
Sung in South Florida in the 1970s.
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Little birdies turdy feet,
All wrapped up in pretty purple porpoise pus,
And me without a straw,
Got a straw? ya
*Slurp*
Blah!
New Jersey version
This version was sung in the 1960s and 1970s, in the Livingston area.
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
French fried parakeet,
All mixed together with fuzzy wuzz[6] y beetle brains
That's what we had for lunch.
Northern New Jersey version (circa 1970s)
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Little birdy's dirty feet,
French fried eyeballs floating in a frying pan.
I forgot my spoon,
so give me a scab sandwich with pus on top,
Monkey vomit and camel snot,
elephant eyeballs cut in two,
eat it <name>, it's good for you.
Bizarre Foods America rap version
Bizarre Foods America, a cooking show which began airing in 2012 on cable television's Travel Channel, uses a hip-hop version for its theme song. The rapped lyrics are backed by keyboards and electronically produced drum beats.
Northeast Ohio version circa 1970s-1980s
Great big gobs of greasy, grimey gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Little birdies dirty feet,
French fried eyeballs sitting in butterscotch.
And I forgot my spoon. All gone.
Northeast Ohio version circa 1990s
Great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
Chewed-up little birdie feet,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Chopped-up eyeballs frying in a frying pan,
And I forgot my spoon.
North Central Illinois version circa 1970s
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat,
Little birdies dirty feet,
French fried eyeballs rolling in a hot pan,
That's what I had for lunch today!
Northern Illinois Version
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Chopped up baby parakeet
Mutilated monkeys feet
French fried eyeballs
Swimming in a pool of blood
I forgot my spoon!
But remembered my straw.....
Chicago Area Version circa 1950
Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Amputated birdie feet
One full pint of all-purpose porpoise pus
And me without my spoon!
Ren and Stimpy Version
This version was sung by Stimpy in the Ren and Stimpy episode “Jiminy Lummox” while using Ren’s false teeth to cook food
Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
Teeny weeny birdies feet
French fried eyeballs
Smothered in a pool of blood
And me without a spoon....
See also
References
- ↑ Lansky, Bruce and Stephen Carpenter, I've Been Burping in the Classroom, p 10. Meadowbrook, 2007.
- ↑ Westfahl, Gary, et al, Foods of the Gods: Eating and the Eaten in Fantasy and Science Fiction, p 79. University of Georgia Press, 1996.
- ↑ Bronner, Simon J., American Children's Folklore, pp 81-82. August House, 2006.
- ↑ "Booklet notes to the Smithsonian Folkways recording" (PDF). Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
- ↑ Tucker, Elizabeth. Children's Folklore: A Handbook, p 66. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008.
- ↑ Statement from Livingston, NJ Resident
Further reading
- Josepha Sherman and T.K.F. Weisskopf, Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood (August House, 1995).
- Pifer, Lynn."Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood." review of book by Sherman and Weisskopf). Journal of American Folklore. Washington: Winter 1997.Vol.110, Iss. 435; pg. 105
- del Negro, Janice. "Professional reading—Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood by Josepha Sherman and T. K. F. Weiskopt." book review in The Booklist. Chicago: April 15, 1996.Vol.92, Iss. 16; pg. 1448
- Ian Turner, June Factor, Wendy Lowenstein, Cinderella Dressed in Yella, 2nd Edition (Heinemann, 1978).