Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts

Infobox Song
Name=Great Green Globs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts


Border=
Caption=
Type=
Artist=Mika Seeger
alt_artist=
Album=A Fish That's a Song
Published=1959
Released=1990
track_no=2
Recorded=1959
Genre=Children's songs, Folk
length=0:27
writer=
composer=
label=Smithsonian Folkways
producer=
tracks=
prev=Sally Ann
prev_no=1 (side 2)
next=How I Hunted the Little Fellows
next_no=3
Misc=http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=28560

"Great Green Globs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts" is an anonymous folk song popular among school children. It is usually sung to the tune of "The Old Gray Mare."

The song

There are many local and regional variants among the lyrics, although most of them feature the phrase "greasy grimy gopher guts" in the opening line. The song derives its power to amuse children through alliterative description of disgusting foodstuffs, usually parts of human or animal bodies not customarily eaten in the areas in which it is sung.

The song appears on the Smithsonian Folkways collection "A Fish That's a Song", a collection of traditional children's songs from the United States, where it is performed by Mika Seeger. ["A Fish That's a Song", [http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/containerdetail.aspx?itemid=2311 Smithsonian Folkways recording no. SFW45037] .] The Smithsonian recording came from an earlier recording called "The Sounds of Camp", originally released in 1959. No author nor copyright in the song is credited on the Smithsonian recording. The lyrics performed by Mika Seeger are: [ [http://media.smithsonianglobalsound.org/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW45037.pdf Booklet notes to the Smithsonian Folkways recording] ]

:Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,:Mutilated monkey meat:Dirty little birdies' feet.:Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,:And me without my spoon!

Additional popular camp-fire lyrics include::Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,:Mutilated monkey meat,:Chopped up horses feet,:Tons and tons of purple porpoise pus,:Sitting in my pink lemonade,:And I forgot my spoon! (sung in the 1980s)

:Great green gobs of grimy, greasy gopher guts,:Marinated monkey meat,:Baby birdies' bloody feet:All four quarts of all purpose porpoise puss,:And me without my spoon.:Does anybody have a straw?

:Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts:Mutilated monkey meat:Dirty little birdie feet:French fried eye balls rollin' up the dirty street:And I forgot my straw!

:"Dirty little pigeon's feet" or "Chopped-up parakeet" (instead of birdies' feet):"All mixed up with a pile of poison possum pus."

Some alternate endings are also popular:"And me without my spoon, but I have a straw.""Don't forget to lick the spoon"

Also a great camp-fire set of lyrics::Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts,:Mutilated monkey meat,:Concentrated birdies' feet,:Four pure pints of all purpose porpoise pus,:Floatin' on my Ballantine Beer____________________________________

:Great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts:Mutilated monkey meat:Tiny dirty birdie feet:Pounds and pounds of prehistoric porpoise pus:And me without my spoon:But i got my straw..slurp slurp

:Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts:Chopped up dirty birdy feet:Beetle's eyes and monkeys feet:Made a sandwich just for you

-------------------------------------Another version that has been heard (albeit a bit ruder) follows::You are made of eewey gooey gopher guts:Chopped up monkey nuts:Urdy birdy turdy feet:French fried eyeballs rolling around the toilet seat, :That's what you are made of!

:Three Great Gobs Of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts:Middle Aged Monkey Meat:Little Ducky's Dirty Feet:French Fried Eyeballs Rolling Down A Dirty Street:And I Forgot my Fork...and spoon....and knife

:Gobs and Gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts:Salamander monkey meat:Chopped up parakeet(OR Vomit running down the street):All wrapped up in itty bitty birdy feet:Don't forget to lick the spoon

:Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts:Chopped up Birds Feet:Immolated Monkey Meat:French Fried Eye-balls dipped in a bowl of blood.:And the spoon comes free.

Or Marmalade and Monkey Meat

My Y Camp Day's Version

:Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Meat,:Mutilated Monkey Meat,:Chopped Up Baby Parakeet,:10 Pints of All Purpose Porpoise Pus,:And I Forgot My Spoon...:Can I Borrow Your Straw?

:Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts,:Mutilated Monkey Meat,:Dilapidated Horses Feet,:French Fried Eyes All Swimming In A Pool Of Blood,:And I Forgot My Spoon.

A Version My Mother Sang Me to sleep with.

:Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts, :Mutilated monkey meat :Little dirty birdies' feet. :Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts, :That’s what I had for Lunch,:Without a spoon!

In New York City, in the seventies, we sang this version in Junior High School::Great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,:Mutilated monkey meat:Perforated birdies' beaks:Cans and cans of all-purpose porpoise pus:And I forgot my spoon:But I... brought... my... fork!

----

The version my aunt sang to me::Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts,:Mutilated Monkeys Feet,:Roasty, Toasty Parakeet,:Luke-warm Vomit Rolling Down the Avenue,:And Me Without My Spoon!

Other references

*Josepha Sherman and T.K.F. Weisskopf, "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood" (August House, 1995).
*Pifer, Lynn."Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood." review of book by Sherman and Weisskopf). Journal of American Folklore. Washington: Winter 1997.Vol.110, Iss. 435; pg. 105
*del Negro, Janice. "Professional reading -- Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood by Josepha Sherman and T. K. F. Weiskopt." book review in The Booklist. Chicago: Apr 15, 1996.Vol.92, Iss. 16; pg. 1448
*Ian Turner, June Factor, Wendy Lowenstein, "Cinderella Dressed in Yella, 2nd Edition" (Heinemann, 1978).

Miscellany

* This song was sung by Bloo in the animated television show "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" to calm down an imaginary friend named Cheese when he was screaming from a previous event. It calmed him down for a moment, but Bloo looked forward to the finish of the song by singing "and I don't got a spoon", Cheese took notice to this part by repeating "No spoon?" and resumed screaming as he did before, with Bloo taking great amusement.

* It appeared in an early episode of Ren and Stimpy; Stimpy sings it in the kitchen while mixing some batter using the line "smothered in a pool of blood".

* It also appeared in the film Caddyshack in which it was sung by Bill Murray's character Carl Spackler.

*Artist Dr. Demento has made a cover of this song, though he replaces the last line with "I made it all for you" instead of "And me without my spoon."

* Penn Jillette - [Great Green Gobs (MP3)] - An all-time favorite at dinner parties, performed by magician, skeptic, and record producer Penn Jillette, the talking half of Penn & Teller. Also shows up on [http://www.GreatGreenGobs.com GreatGreenGobs.com] .

ee also

*Children's street culture
*The Diarrhea Song
*Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road)

Notes