It’s almost Halloween, and that means it’s time to share something of a more macabre nature this Poetry Friday. Reader beware – though I remember hearing this poem as a child, and recently rediscovered it in a children’s book, this is a bit of a gruesome tale, so if you are of a more squeamish nature, this week’s poem may not be for you!
The poem The Hearse Song is, to quote Wikipedia, “a song about burial and human decomposition, of unknown origin.” It was popular in World War I, and there are reports that it dates all the way back to the Crimean war. This line in the Wikipedia page particularly tickled my dark funny bone “[the song] was popular in the 20th century as an American and British children’s song, continuing to the present.’ Now, I grew up in the 1980s, when it was socially acceptable to scare the living daylights out of children (have you seen an ’80s kids movie recently?), but I can’t imagine parents being too thrilled if I shared it in a children’s program today!
The Hearse Song gained a new wave of popularity thanks to the book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Alvin Schwartz, 1981), a classic book that many of you might remember from your childhood.
Without further ado, here is that classic song of burial and human decomposition that is also a popular children’s song, The Hearse Song.
“Don’t you ever laugh as the hearse goes by,
For you may be the next one to die.
They wrap you up in big white sheets
and cover you from head to feet.
They put you in a big black box
And cover you with dirt and rocks.
All goes well for about a week,
Until your 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 big green worm with rolling eyes
Crawls in your stomach and out your sides.
Your stomach turns a slimy green,
And pus pours out like whipping cream.
You’ll spread it on a slice of bread,
And that’s what you eat when you are dead.”[4]
To get the full experience, I highly, highly recommend listening to this version of the song, performed by Harley Poe. It is atmospheric, and spooky, and folky, and so, so perfect for Halloween.
Happy Halloween, boils and ghouls!
Silly me for reading this post right before bed, Jane! I guess I should have taken your warning to heart. LOL The poem wasn’t at all familiar until I got to these lines:
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play pinochle on your snout,
Who knew that they were just one couplet of nine?!!!
I’ll have to return tomorrow to listen to the song. Reading was enough for tonight. As it is, I’m singing those two lines over and over in my head… an earworm, one might say!
This is a great poem. You are right about 80s kids, we grew up with Freddie Kruger and Chuckie.
People still ask if we have a copy of the Alvin Schwartz book at the bookstore & sometimes we do & it flies off the shelf. I remember this, and it is gruesome, but many kids loved it before & would again. Happy Halloween!
Oohhhh….there’s nothing better some macabre humor. How did I ever miss this one? It’s fabulous. It reminds me of one of my favorite soliloquies from Shakespeare–Hamlet’s speech (when he’s pretending to be crazy) about how the worms eat our bodies and then nourish the soil that grows our food.
Thanks for sharing this video and the lyrics to “The Hearse Song.” I never knew all the words — I always thought it began with “the worms crawl in . . . ” Boy, I’ve been missing half the song all this time. Happy Halloween!
I used to sing this one to my kids all the time! And I think we had a copy of that Scary Stories to Tell book.
oooooooh, I love these books! They are so, so, so popular with my middle school kids. My library partner just made up a lesson with scary stories. I’m going to send her the link to this post so she has a poem too.
Definitely macabre take on Halloween. I was familiar with the poem but not all the words and the song makes it that much more ghouly–Happy Halloween Jane!
I was thinking about what I want done with my body after I die. I would really much prefer to be buried in a hole in the ground naked. Sounds macabre I know, but if it’s gonna happen why fight it? Embalming fluid, clothes, an expensive box? Somehow they just seem to forestall the obvious. Bury me in a forest somewhere and plant a tree on top so I can provide it with sustenance. My final contribution to a green planet. I was thinking about this today when some lyrics that I remember my older brother and sister singing, “..the worms crawl in the worms crawl out…” I can never remember the rest of the words so obviously I googled it, but I couldn’t find the right version untill I found Poetry Friday and you. Thanks! The audio is chilling.
Oh, I absolutely agree! All the hullabaloo of a funeral feels wasteful – if it makes my relatives feel better, then by all means, but where my body ends up will be the least of my worries at that point! A simple hole in the ground, surrounded by trees, giving back to the earth and becoming part of nature – really, it sounds so beautiful! And isn’t it just the most haunting recording? Perfect as we ease into spooky season.
The version of the song that I learned was different. It also ended with “Pray for the dead and the dead will pray for you!” which gave the song a point and set of instructions as to what we should be doing when we see a hearse go by! I still remember every line told to me by my mother in fact! Gen X kid! I guess this is part of the reason we don’t scare so easily. Happy Halloween everyone!
This song popped up in my head a while back and it bothered me that I knew a bunch of the words but couldn’t remember if it was just something my friends and I made up back in like 91 or 92. Finally googled it and I’m so glad it brought me here 😅
Now maybe I can get it out of my head lol
I recall this from grade school in the late 60s–with minor differences.