The Diarrhea Song

The Diarrhea Song or Diarrhoea Song (see spelling differences) is a children's song popularized by, although predating, the 1989 Steve Martin film "Parenthood", in which it was featured. The song is a folk song, with variants to the lyrics and to the tune used for the song (a common tune is that of "Mamma Mia" by ABBA). The earliest report of this song is from the mid-1960s (See Sherman & Weisskopf).

Lyrics

As with all folksongs, there are often wide variants to the verses known to individuals but some of the most common verses for "The Diarrhea Song" are sometimes sports, automobile or travel related and can include a "uh uh" or a "cha cha cha" after the "Diarrhea, Diarrhea" part, or sometimes two hand claps, or "cha, cha", at the end of each two-line stanza. All of these are onomatopoetic "Plop, Plop" (Diarrhea, plop, plop, diarrhea.) More recently, especially in written record, it is preferred to use only 'Diarrhea, Diarrhea', allowing the reader to add their own localization based on preference.

Although many different lyrical variations exist, all share the same structure. First, a common activity or scenario is described. Then, the appearance of something soft, runny, smelly, messy, sloppy, squirty, and/or gooey is noted. The terminal lyric confirms that that aforementioned substance is, indeed, diarrhea.

It is very common for the terminal lyric in each of the first two lines (those that come before "diarrhea") to rhyme, making the piece particularly musical.

As an example of the lyrics, the variation made famous by the movie Parenthood is as follows:

"When you're sliding into home and your pants are full of foam, diarrhea."

It should be noted that the character is cut off before the second "diarrhea," but the line otherwise illustrates the basic structure of the song, which can be (and traditionally is) altered in countless ways at the reciter's whim.

Notes

American musical comedy group Da Yoopers also recorded an unrelated song called "Diarrhea" or "Love Song Called Diarrhea", which can be found on their 1988 album "Yoop It Up", as well as their 2005 album "Songs for Fart Lovers".

The characters Beavis & Butthead of the television program of the same name often referred to regular character Daria with the line "Diarrhea! Cha-cha-cha!".

In the Dead Kennedys song "Too Drunk to Fuck", one of singer Jello Biafra's lyrics is "Now I've got diarrhea." Diarrhea is often caused by excessive alcohol consumption.

Dave Chappelle also performed a skit in the first season of his self-titled Comedy Central show where a choir group of choir sang the song while Dave Chappelle acted as a conductor, wildly waving his wand as the singers passed from stanza to stanza.

In his album "Caught in the Act," Victor Borge says about the diva in his "Mozart opera by Victor Borge": "She prepares herself to die, but before she dies she sings an aria. The so-called die-aria."

References

* Official Diarrhea Song Site, "http://diarrheasong.blogspot.com/ - The Authoritative Source on Everything Related to The Diarrhea Song—Maintained By Those Dedicated to Cataloging and Upkeep of The Diarrhea Song In All Its Forms. 2007"

* Josepha Sherman and T.K.F. Weisskopf, "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood" (August House, 1995).