Did you ever make up your own words to primary songs?

You know, like:

In my pretty garden the flowers are naughty.

Or:

Saturday is the special day.

It’s the day we get ready for Sunday

We clean the house and we wash our hair

It’s “no fun till the work is all done” day!

Or in the chorus of “The Spirit of God,”

We’ll sing and we’ll SHOUT!

always included a real shout whenever the primary kids in my ward sang it!

 

Any fun alternate lyrics or ward memes from your memories?

Leah

Writer. Poet. Teacher. Journeyer. Living in North Carolina @leahiellio www.leahielliott.com

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26 Responses

  1. Megan says:

    I have two little hands
    folded snugly and tight.
    They are tiny and weak,
    but they know how to FIGHT

  2. Leah says:

    Haha! Love it!

  3. Seth R. says:

    This wasn’t my idea, someone on one of the big bloggernacle blogs came up with an additional verse for the song “Follow the Prophet”:

    Jonah was a prophet
    Swallowed by a whale
    When he was on board
    The ship just wouldn’t saaail

    So they tossed him over
    Next thing that we knew
    Ninevah repented
    Jonah had to too

    Swallow the prophet
    Swallow the prophet
    Swallow the prophet
    Won’t get awaaaay

    Swallow the prophet
    Swallow the prophet
    Swallow the prophet
    He’ll find the way

  4. Leah says:

    Oh, that’s very clever!

  5. Seth R. says:

    And until I was 8 years of age, I was under the mistaken assumption that the song “Give Said the Little Stream” actually went “Give Seth the little stream.”

    I know that I was disabused of this notion at age 8, because they printed the lyrics on the program for my baptism and I remember a twinge of disappointment when I read the lyrics and made the discovery.

    Also, there was a spider floating in the baptismal font. And I refused to go in until it was removed. One of the Priesthood scooped it out for me.

  6. John says:

    We would make up verses for “Follow the Prophet”:

    Abinadi was a prophet who didn’t choose to run,
    King Noah was a good man who rule hadn’t just begun,
    He listened to the prophet and this is what he’d say,
    “Burn Abinadi, don’t let him get away!”

    Kill the prophet, kill the prophet,
    Slay the prophet, don’t listen to his words,
    Kill the prophet, Kill the prophet,
    Slay the prophet, leave him for the birds.

    …did I mention I’m a little dark… *evil grin*

  7. Donna Banta says:

    I like “in my pretty garden the flowers are naughty.” tee hee

  8. Cognitive Dissenter says:

    Wait. I thought the flowers *were* naughty. … You mean, they’re not naughty flowers?

  9. Leah says:

    Nodding, CD. Nodding.

  10. Ms. Jack says:

    In the youth group that I attended in high school, whenever we caught someone lying (usually jokingly), we would sing them this song (to the tune of “Frere Jacques”):

    Revelation, Revelation
    Twenty-one eight, Twenty-one eight
    Liars go to hell, Liars go to hell
    Burn burn burn, Burn burn burn

    When I got to BYU, I realized that the Revelation 21:8 song works just as well with 2 Nephi 9:34. Same number of syllables and the “lie and go to hell” message is even more clearly stated there.

    Last Sunday, I was visiting my husband’s church and I was in the nursery trying to keep my daughter entertained during Sacrament meeting, so I taught her the 2 Nephi 9:34 song. She didn’t completely get the lyrics right, though.

    She was soon skipping off to Primary singing, “Hell hell hell, Hell hell hell.”

    Yes, my parenting is that awesome.

  11. Leah says:

    Ms. Jack, I love it!

  12. belaja says:

    Part of Lord Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing (I think that’s what it’s called) has the same tune as “Go Tell Aunt Rhodie.” So we used to like to just sing the whole thing with the Aunt Rhodie words. With a big finish on “.. THE OLD GRAY GOOSE IS DEAD!”

    Also, I was really upset when the changed the words in How Firm a Foundation from “you who unto Jesus for refuge hath fled” because we loved to sort of yodel out “Yoohoo, Jesus!”

  13. kuri says:

    You can have a lot of fun by strategically changing most of the nouns in a hymn to “pants.”

    For example:
    Oh how lovely were the pants
    Radiant beamed the pants above
    Pants were humming, sweet pants singing
    Music ringing through the pants
    When within the shady woodland
    Joseph sought the pants of love

  14. stef says:

    Our primary was banned from singing the hello song because instead of “Hello, Hello!” we sang “Yellow Jellow!”

  15. stef says:

    Oops, I mean “Yellow, Jell-O.”

  16. Steve EM says:

    “Mardi Gras Colors” and “I will go I wil do — anything I want”

  17. Daniel says:

    When can you sing ‘penis’ in a hymn? In the last verse of “We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet,” of course.

    But only sing the bolded part.

    “While they who reject this glad message
    Shall never such happiness know.”

    No need to change any lyrics. It’s hanging right out there in plain sight. So to speak.

  18. chanson says:

    “Yellow Jell-o” — too funny! I’d forgotten about that song. It’s too bad they wouldn’t let you sing it that way. It’s an amusing improvement to a rather bland song.

  19. laura says:

    We sang, 1st and 2nd books of nephi, jacob, enos, jarom, omni, words of mormon and mosiah singing this is so DUMB.

    we have our children sing Follow the prophet as if they are zombies and they put their arms out in front of them and walk and sing in a monotone zombie voice. then we all laugh and laugh.

  20. Diana says:

    The kids in my Primary always sang “Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me — EEE! EEE! EEE!” Until I moved to another ward at age 9, I thought that every line had guttural EEE EEE EEEs tacked onto the ends, and that was just how the song went.

  21. leftofcentre says:

    “Little purple panties touched with yellow gold,
    In the corner of my room growing mold
    We are very stinky but must try, try, try…”

    *I never made up any other lyrics beyond that point. I don’t think I’ll give up my day job to try and become a lyricist.

  22. Debra says:

    I belong to the church of Jesus Chris of Latter Day Saints. I know who I am I know God’s plan. I’ll follow him in SPACE!

  23. Debra says:

    make that Christ, not Chris. We weren’t THAT sacrilege, lol!

  24. Michael says:

    Memes aren’t just inside jokes! Old people need to learn what a meme actually is. It shows one’s age or cluelessness to call a joke or any image macro or something considered funny a “meme.” You’re ruining the Internet for everyone!

  25. Leah says:

    Michael, get a life. And allow me (an “old” person) to introduce you to something called Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

    Silly alternate lyrics passing from one person to another within a community qualifies as a meme.

  26. Jens says:

    Here’s an alternate view of Brother Brigham:

    I don’t claim to be a prophet, so said Brigham Young,
    I’m just a Yankee guesser, on a lower rung.
    Brigham fathered many, was a mogul fine.
    He built a dandy mansion, serving beer and wine.
    Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet he knows the way!

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