ID: 685
Date: 1970s-2000
Title: Come to school
Gender: Male 
Classification: Parody 
Rhyme: 

Come to school, come to school,
For a life of misery,
There's a poster on the school sign,
Saying welcome unto thee!
Don't believe it, don't believe it,
It is all a big fat lie,
If it weren't for Mr [X], 
We could be in paradise.

(Orewa, 2000)

--

Twizel Area, Twizel Area,
It's a place of misery,
With a signpost at the gateway,
Saying welcome to you all.
Don't believe it, don't believe it,
They are always telling lies,
If it weren't for the teachers,
It'd be a paradise.
Make a bonfire, make a bonfire,
Put the teachers on the top,
And burn the bloody lot.

(Twizel, 1970s)

--
 
Background Info: Sung to tune of Clementine, an American western folk ballad. (1884)

Comment in Factor, 1988:159 in association with the rhyme "On top of old Smokey",  and the need for children to use their rhymes as a form of power over those who are seen to have control over them (teachers and schools).

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See also variations beginning: "Build a  bonfire", "On top of Old Smokey".

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Keywords: authority, NZ culture 
Location: Various NZ 
Group size: 5 
Incidence: 2