Songs At School
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I only went to school for a few years in the 1980s and 1990s, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just me who had to sing at least one song while they were at school!
Here I’m not talking about school songs – only posh schools have them, sometimes in latin, and never in tune – and I’m not even talking about the hymns we had to sing in assembly at primary school (that’s for an entirely different piece!). No, I’m here to remind you all of those songs we had to sing on occassion at primary school from little song books.
You must remember these? Those cheery little numbers from dog eared old books when we ‘did singing’ about “my brother Jim, he’s a fisherman” or Jim McSprocket, who, stunningly and quite brilliantly, built a rocket.
Not every song was about someone by the name of Jim, though, but each book had a theme, and we must have ‘did singing’ for a good few years, as we cracked through quite a number of these books in my time. I remember such delights as “Bath Time (sic)” which was replete with songs about the benefits of personal hygiene, “Tudors & Stuarts” (I’m ‘Enry the Eight I am I am) even stretching to “The Blues” where we would, with our shrill prepubescent voices, warble out about the struggles and strife of pre and post-abolishment blacks in the Deep South ’til our little hearts were content. Oh how we loved that shortnin.
I still remember the often insipid words to many of these tunes, and couldn’t point to a more poignant warning about the effectiveness of brainwashing on young impressionable minds. At least they only used this to fill ours with useless piffle about how you can’t fly to mars with a spaceship made out of old dustbin lids.
Please please please, if you can recall this phenomenon, let me know of the songs you sang, and that it wasn’t just me, in my quaint little country bumpkin school who did this. I’ve still not got over the embarrassment of the old “Who remembers country dancing lessons at school?” No-one did, it would seem.
Those books were called Ahmen apparently. I also remembered a song about “If I was a wiggly worm”.
I remember books very similar – and have been trying to find info about them for ages. I was at school earlier than you – born in the 70s – but I’m sure it’s the same thing.
I remember two ‘song books’. One was about a little tribal village and life there… one memorable tune was in descending scale to the words “tinkle tinkle, water for our crops…”
And one was a football team story with their highs and lows, of which I can remember much more of one song..
“When you have fallen,
Down from the ladder,
That you were scaling up high to success…
You lose your appetite
And nothing goes quite right
You find your life in a mess.
There’s nothing sadder
Than a team in distress.”
Amazing really… about 28 years ago and I still remember the tune. Wish I could find more to tweak the nostalgia button a bit more…
I remember the song books Andy Pilkington talks of.
They were called ‘Time and Tune’
The whole class listened to tapes of the songs and stories and played along with tambourines,drums and various percussion instruments etc,it was good fun!
I think the ‘little tribal village’ one had the famous song “La Cucaracha”.
Amazingly the football song is the one I remember as well from the football team story.
I often have the song in my head for some strange reason,infact thats why I done a websearch just this second and found this page!!!
for some reason I have been getting jim mcsprocket in my head. Annoyingly, what i recall is rather hazy:
jim mcsprocket
built a rocket
To go (?) to outer space
but all he did (?) was use a dustbin lid (?) in the back of his garden shed.
The interwebz does not have this song. How can that be? Surely someone has the lyrics?
Jim McSprocket built a rocket,
went to conquer space,
but as he whizzed past all the stars,
he crash landed on Mars.
Or something like that, is how I remember one section.
I just learned the actual truth about this… It was a program called “Time and tune” and the Jim McSocket song (not McSprocket) has the following details (it came from the 1988 “Over The Moon” series, by the way):
Jim McSocket
Words and music by Stephen Chadwick.
Jim McSocket built a rocket, went to conquer space.
And as he whizzed past all the stars, he crash landed on Mars.
By the wqy, whatever age you are, if you did these songs at school, here is the info you’re looking for: http://www.broadcastforschools.co.uk/site/Time_and_Tune#Episode_Guide
Thanks so much for posting this! There was one lovely set we did at school and I often hear snatches of in my head, but never could remember anything more about it. I finally tracked them down! So happy — thank you!
I too came across this site because I found myself singing the Jim McSocket (I’m convinced it was Sprocket at the time though) song in my head and decided to do a search.
I remember there was also a kind of sad part that went something like..
All through the hot days,
and all through the cold nights
(forget this line)
The food stocks depleted,
the water tanks were bone dry,
Jim McSocket fell in a heap on the ground.
We also went through loads of these books at our school but it’s mostly a hazy mess in my mind now, though I do remember the “Time Flies” book after looking at that website, but the song I’ve been looking for for years is a quite impressive little ditty that goes..
Oh Marshall Nim, please will you save us.
From frightful foe, keen to engage us.
Anyone remember that?
I have been trying to remember whether this song has another verse as this is all I remember and it seems a tragic end for a children’s song. In my mind, this is the song…
Jim mcsocket built a rocket
Went to conquer space
But as he whisked past all the stars
He crash landed on mars
His rocket bent his fuel spent and stranded all alone
Communication system broke poor jim had last all hope
All through the long days and all through the dark nights
In search of help jim he wandered far
Food stocks depleted, he water tanks were bone dry
Jim mcsocket fell in a heap on the ground…….
But what happened next…..I NEED TO KNOW….
Ps – apologies for the lack of capitals etc, I’m typing with a broken hand!
Bit late replying but just found this page… If I remember right, what happened next was tragic stuff!
Jim McSocket fell to a heap on the ground
And where he lay, he passed away, In desolate surroundings
Bagpipes, deflated flat, did whine a fine lament
(Or something along those lines!)