ID: 311
Date: 1970
Title: When a hearse goes by
Gender: Male and Female 
Classification: Fun tease 
Rhyme: 

Never laugh when a hearse goes by,
You might be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And  bury you down six feet deep.
All goes well for about a week,
But then your coffin begins to leak.
Big green worms with purple eyes,
Crawl up your spine and out your eyes,
Your liver turns a sickly green
And pours out like thick whipped cream.

(Whangarei, 1970s)

--

Did you ever think when a hearse goes by,
That you might be the next to die?
They wrap you up in a big white sheet,
And  bury you down six feet deep.
Well, that goes well for about six weeks, 
Then your coffin begins to leak.
The worms crawl in, 
The worms crawl out,
The worms play pea knuckle up your snout.
And one little worm that isn't so shy,
Crawls in your ear and out your eye.
And then your eyes turn mossy green, 
And puss comes out like whipping cream.
They mop it up and put it on bread.
That's what you eat when you are dead.

(NZ ex USA, 1970s)

--
 
Background Info: Alternative version, Opie, 1967:33:

Whenever you see the hearse go by
And think to yourself that you're gonna die, 
Be merry my friends, be merry.
They put you in a big white shirt,
And cover you over with tons of dirt,
Be merry..
They put you in a long-shaped box,
And cover you over with tons of rocks,
Be merry..
The worms crawl out, the worms crawl in,
The ones that crawl in are lean and thin,
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout,
Be merry..
Your eyes fall in, your hair falls out,
And your brains come tumbling down your snout.
Be merry..

(Croydon, UK, c.1950s)

Whenever you see the hearse go by,
And think to yourself that you're gonna die,
Be merry, my friends, be merry.
They put you in  big white shirt
And cover you over with tons of dirt,
Be merry,  my friends, be merry.
They put you in a long-shaped box,
And cover you over with tons of rocks,
Be merry, my friends, be merry.
The worms crawl out and the worms crawl in,
The ones that crawl in are lean and thin,
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout,
Be merry, my friends, be merry.
Your eyes fall in and your hair falls out,
And your brains come tumbling down your snout,
Be merry, my friends, be merry. (1950s)

==

"Play and Folklore", Issue 15, 1988:11, records a description of a similar rhyme used as part of a mock Irish wake in a University of Melbourne initiation ceremony in the late 1940s.The accompanying rhyme was known as "The Mickey Song".

Did you ever think as the hearse rolled by,
It won't be long before you and I
Are going along that same black track,
And won't be thinking of coming back.
Now poor Miss Brown passed by last week,
The worms are eating her damask cheek,
And where she lifted her dimpled chin
The worms crawl out and the worms crawl in.
Now Mickey has gone the same sad way,
The worms are turning him fast to clay.
Though rotten he be, with putrid smell,
We surely hope he's not in...(Hell - a firm taboo at the time)

ADDITIONAL VERSES are:
We're sore to lose you Mickey dear,
You sure could flick the trisk,
And now you have gone below,
Well things don't seem so brisk.
We hope to meet you Mickey dear,
Upon the other side,
And if you have a flask my lad,
We won't be sad you died.
Now Mickey has come to life again
To live once more in this world of pain,
A touch of the spirit he loved so well,
Has brought him back from the gates of..(Hell)

==
 
Keywords: scatological, death 
Location: Various NZ,  USA 
Group size: 2 
Incidence: 2