7369 old music 2402 - KET

Program 10
Bob and Susie
Hutchison
Instrument:
dulcimer
She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain
(Traditional)
The arrival of a guest generates so much excitement that this event has been
celebrated in music. This song has a set of response motions and sounds that are
not only fun but may reveal part of its history in the first two verses. Note the “toottoot”
of the train whistle in the first verse while the second speaks of the six white
horses she’ll be driving. These clues indicate that the song may have originated in
a time before railroads, but survived their appearance and incorporated one of their
characteristics.
I learned this song as a child when we went on long drives to visit family. It came
as a welcome break in my mother’s “I’ll count the cows on the left side of the road
and you count the cows on the right and we’ll see who gets the most” routine. It
was an early experience in passing time pleasantly and quickly with music.
She’ll be comin’ around the mountain when she comes (toot-toot),
She’ll be comin’ around the mountain when she comes (toot-toot),
She’ll be comin’ around the mountain,
She’ll be comin’ around the mountain,
She’ll be comin’ around the mountain when she comes (toot-toot).
She’ll be drivin’ six white horses when she comes (whoa-back!),
She’ll be drivin’ six white horses when she comes (whoa-back!),
She’ll be drivin’ six white horses,
She’ll be drivin’ six white horses,
She’ll be drivin’ six white horses when she comes (whoah-back, toot-toot).
We will all go out to meet her when she comes (Hi, Babe!),
etc.
We will all go out to meet her when she comes (Hi, Babe!, whoa-back!, toot-toot).
Oh, we’ll kill the old red rooster when she comes (skkkkk-skkkkk),
etc.
We will all have chicken and dumplin’s when she comes (yum, yum!),
etc.
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes (make snoring sound—
approximates “gonk-whew!”),
etc.
We will wear our woolen long-johns when she comes (scratch, scratch),
etc.
Did You Feed My Cow?
(Ella Jenkins)
This number by Ella Jenkins was one of the first songs I learned when I began
using music with children in the classroom. The piece appealed to me because I
could just see the old cow and I knew that the kids would, too.
KET, The Kentucky Network 39