Synchronicitous But Not Serious

[poliphilo]

Aria has taught all her dear grandparents a song about a bear going over the mountain. It goes to the tune of "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" or "Malbrook s'en-va-t-en Guerre" if you're French or a bit of a pseud (like me) and is one of those songs that need never end if you don't want it to because the lyrics go round in a circle. She treated Ailz and me to it- and encouraged us to join in- while we were driving over the Pennines, in the dark, on a narrow, twisty road.

It cropped up at a gathering of Aria's family yesterday- Aria herself not being present- and of course we ended up singing it because how could we help ourselves? Becky even inserted a stray line of it into the singing of Happy Birthday To You.

Is it something all primary school children in the UK know? I expect they do.

Anyway, I'm reading Spring by Ali Smith- and last night I got to a bit where four of her characters pile into the front seat of a van and drive to Inverness:

Guess what they sing on the way...

Comments

[basefinder]

Oh yes, I remember that song from my childhood.

[poliphilo]

It seems- from the responses I've been getting- that its been a part of every American childhood for as long as anyone can remember.

[razorbladeromance]

Yeah! I know that song! Oh yeah...

The bear goes over the mountain
The bear goes over the mountain
The bear goes over the mountain, to see what he could see...

Forget the rest.. LOL

[poliphilo]

The lyrics vary. The ones Ali Smith prints in her book are a little different from those Aria taught us. But that's what happens in oral tradition.