The Hearse Song
"The Hearse Song" is a song about burial and human decomposition, of unknown origin. It was popular as a World War I song, and was popular in the 20th century as an American and British children's song, continuing to the present. It has many variant titles, lyrics, and melodies,[1] but generally features the line "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out", and thus is also known as "The Worms Crawl In".[2]
History
While there are reports of the song dating back to British soldiers in the Crimean War (1853–1856),[3] it certainly dates to at least World War I (1914–1918), when it was sung by American and British soldiers,[4] and was collected in various World War I songbooks of the 1920s.[5] The key line "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out" appears in some versions of the otherwise unrelated song "There was a lady all skin and bone", and may date to 1810 or earlier.[3][5]
References
- Dennis, Dixie (2008). Living, Dying, Grieving. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-7637-4326-0.
- Pen, Ronald; Rick Kogan (2010). I wonder as I wander: the life of John Jacob Niles. University Press of Kentucky. p. 100.
- Pankake & Pankake 1988.
- Schwartz, Alvin (1986). Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. HarperCollins. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-06-440170-8.
- Doyle 1976.
Sources
- Abernethy, Francis Edward, ed. (1976). What's Going On? (In Modern Texas Folklore). Publications of the Texas Folklore Society. 40. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-058-7.
- Doyle, Charles Clay (1976). "'As the Hearse Goes By': The Modern Child's Memento Mori". What's Going On? (In Modern Texas Folklore). pp. 175–190.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Pankake, Marcia; Pankake, Jon (1988). A Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book: More Than 300 Fresh, Funny, and Irreverent American Folk Songs. Viking Adult. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-670-82159-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Waltz, Robert B.; Engle, David G. (2013). "Worms Crawl In, The". The Ballad Index. Retrieved 7 December 2013.