Perhaps the most reviled camp song, at least in some circles, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is a lively tune that is easy to learn. So why the animosity? Because it involves standing up and, essentially, doing calisthenics for five minutes as you touch each body part every time you sing its name (or hum it).
So any campers or staff who are sitting at the dining table, groggily finishing breakfast, let out a moan when they hear the song leader chirp, "Everybody stand!" They know what's coming. HSKandT.
After singing though the song once, it is repeated at a slightly faster tempo, this time humming the word "head" instead of singing it. Third time through, even faster and also humming the next body part (shoulders). Repeat (one body part at a time) until the entire song is hummed at a frantic pace. Finish by reprising the original tempo and singing all the words.
Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
And eyes and ear and mouth and nose
Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
The song is sung to the tune of "There's a Tavern in the Town," which can be traced back at least as far as the 1883 edition of William H. Hill's Student Songs, a popular songbook at Ivy league colleges. I assume some student revised the words one summer while working at a camp and HSKandT spread from there.
The song was popularized by Rudy Vallee, one of the most popular entertainers in the early days of mass media. He released two versions in 1934 (under the title "The Drunkard Song"), the second of which featured Vallee losing control and laughing away in the middle of the song:
So any campers or staff who are sitting at the dining table, groggily finishing breakfast, let out a moan when they hear the song leader chirp, "Everybody stand!" They know what's coming. HSKandT.
After singing though the song once, it is repeated at a slightly faster tempo, this time humming the word "head" instead of singing it. Third time through, even faster and also humming the next body part (shoulders). Repeat (one body part at a time) until the entire song is hummed at a frantic pace. Finish by reprising the original tempo and singing all the words.
Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
And eyes and ear and mouth and nose
Head, shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
The song is sung to the tune of "There's a Tavern in the Town," which can be traced back at least as far as the 1883 edition of William H. Hill's Student Songs, a popular songbook at Ivy league colleges. I assume some student revised the words one summer while working at a camp and HSKandT spread from there.
The song was popularized by Rudy Vallee, one of the most popular entertainers in the early days of mass media. He released two versions in 1934 (under the title "The Drunkard Song"), the second of which featured Vallee losing control and laughing away in the middle of the song:
This recording reached #6 on the pop charts.
Returning to HSKandT, there are many versions of this on YouTube, but almost all of them are aimed an nursery school kids, with versions from all of the usual suspects: The Wiggles, Sesame Street, Teletubbies, etc. But the song works just as well with a bunch of teenagers who could use a little waking up.
That said, I'll end with a cute version I found, performed by young children learning English in Thailand:
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