“She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” also knowns as “Round the Mountain” was published for the first time in Carl Sandburg’s “The American Songbag” in 1927. It appeared among railway workers in the late 19th century, probably about a new railroad line. The song, a cumulative tale is usually sung with each verse as an answer to the previous one.

Some verses like “pink pajamas” were probably incorporated later when it developed as a sing-along rhyme and it became later campfire song.

“She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” Lyrics

She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes, when she comes
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain,
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain
She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes.

She’ll be huffin’ and a-puffin’…

Oh, we’ll all come out to meet her …

We will kill the old red rooster…

She’ll be wearing pink pajamas…

(plus some bawdy ones)

Everybody asks her, did she come.
Everybody asks her, did she come.
They wouldn’t have to mention
If they only paid attention.
Everybody asks her, did she come.

She’s got a lovely titillating smile.
She’s got a lovely titillating smile.
She’s got a lovely titi-,
She’s got a lovely titi-,
She’s got a lovely titillating smile.

She’s got a lovely bottom set of teeth.
She’s got a lovely bottom set of teeth.
She’s got a lovely bottom.
She’s got a lovely bottom.
She’s got a lovely bottom set of teeth.

The song is an echo song, meaning that the main singer sings each verse that is later repeated by the rest of the group one by one. At the end of the verse, the leader will sing the whole verse alone, uninterrupted.

“The Other Day I Met a Bear” Lyrics

The other day
I met a bear
A great big bear
A way out there.

He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him.

He said to me
Why don’t you run
I see you don’t
Have any gun.

And so I ran
Away from there
And right behind
Me was that bear.

Ahead of me
I saw a tree
A great, big tree
Oh, golly gee!

The lowest branch
Was ten feet up
I’d had to jump
And trust my luck!

And so I jumped
Into the air
And missed that branch
A way up there.

Now don’t you fret
And don’t you frown
I caught that branch
On the way back down.

That’s all there is
There is no more
Until I meet
That bear once more.

The end, the end,
The end, the end,
The end, the end,
The end, the end.

Alternate lyrics

Sometimes the last stanza is replaced with this

And so I met
That bear once more,
Now he’s a rug
On my bedroom floor.

The tune of the song is similar to the tune of On Top of Old Smokey, in fact that song was likely the inspiration for “On Top of Spaghetti”.

The lyrics of On Top of Spaghetti are more fun and catchy, a particularity that made them one of the most popular campfire songs in the USA for decades.

“On Top Of Spaghetti” Lyrics

Om top of spaghetti all covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed

It rolled off the table, it rolled on the floor
And then my poor meatball rolled out of the door

It rolled in the garden and under a bush
And then my poor meatball was nothing but mush.

The mush was as tasty as tasty could be,
And early next summer it grew to a tree.

The tree was all covered with beautiful moss
It grew great big meatballs and tomato sauce.

So if you eat spaghetti all covered with cheese,
Hold on to your meatball and don’t ever sneeze.

It is likely that the song has its origin in vaudeville. A similar nursery rhyme “Yon Yonson” about a Swedish immigrant was popular around that era but has faded into obscurity by now. Similarly it is believed “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidy” was about a German immigrant especially that some early versions of the song was called John Jacob Guggenheimer Schmidt, another Germanic name.

While the first written occurence dates back to 1926, it is believed it was already used in theatrical plays in the second half of the 19th century.

” John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” Lyrics

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
His name is my name too.
Whenever we go out
The people always shout,
“There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.”
Da da da da da da da.

It has a short version to which several lyrics have been added over time and it is at all times open for improvisations.

“Down by the Bay” Lyrics

Short version

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:

“Down by the Bay” Long Version

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a goose,
Kissing a moose?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a llama,
Eating his pajamas?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a bear,
Combing his hair?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a whale,
With a polka dot tail?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a fly,
Wearing a tie?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a bee,
With a sunburned knee?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever see a pig,
Wearing a wig?
Down by the bay!

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go,
For if I do,
My mother will say:
Did you ever have a time,
When you couldn’t make a rhyme?
Down by the bay!