The Song That Never Ends
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"The Song That Never Ends" (variantly known as "The Song That Doesn't End") is a self-referential and infinitely recursive children's song written by composer, writer and lyricist Norman Martin. The song is a single verse long, written in an infinite-loop motif in a march style, such that it naturally flows in a cyclical fashion, repeating the same verse over and over. It is very popular with children, typically to sing when doing something repetitive or boring; it's also a favorite of Scouts to sing around campfires.
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[edit] Lyrics
The lyrics are as follows:
- This is the song that never ends,
- Yes, it goes on and on, my friend
- Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,
- And they'll continue singing it forever just because—
The next line is the first line repeated, and the song repeats ad infinitum.
There is some standard variation to the lyrics, as there is with most folk songs.
- Never ends → Doesn't end
- Yes it goes on and on → It just goes on and on → it goes on forever
- My friends → again
- Some people → Somebody
- And they'll continue → But they'll continue → And now they'll keep on → But they'll just keep on
[edit] Notable appearances and recordings
The most notable appearance of the song was as the closing theme of Lamb Chop's Play-Along, a 1992 televised puppet show. At the end of each episode, the puppets and children would sing several verses of the song as hostess Shari Lewis tried in vain to stop them. They eventually leave (as they begin a sixth verse) but Charlie Horse comes back and tries to get the song going again; Shari successfully stops him. The dialogue between those two goes like this:
- Charlie: This Is The Song That...
- Shari: Charlie Horse! No no! Stop! Stop! Stop!
- Charlie Stop! I want you to go away! Go away!
- And don't slam the... [slam] door.
A short rendition of the song appeared on the album Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Q, a comedy album featuring the cast of the TV show Cartoon Planet. Brak sang the first verse and was about to repeat it for the second when Zorak interrupted him by screaming.
The song has been adopted as an unofficial anthem by disparate groups. The Discordian organization (or disorganization) known as POEE has listed the song in their material with claims that it was written by a member, while fans of the rock band Styx adopted a variation, "The Tour That Never Ends", to describe Styx's 400-plus date tour in the early 1990s in support of their album Brave New World.
A series of Canadian Motrin pain killer ads featured kids singing the song in the back of a car, during a traffic jam, while eating chocolate-covered coffee beans.
[edit] Variations
A known variation for scouting camps, in a variety of languages, goes roughly like this (sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" / "John Brown's Body"):
- I know a song that will drive everybody nuts
- Drive everybody nuts
- Drive everybody nuts
- I know a song that will drive everybody nuts
- And this is how it goes:
- I know a song that will get on your nerves
- Get on your nerves
- Get on your nerves
- I know a song that will get on your nerves
- And this is how it goes:
- I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves
- Everybody's nerves
- Everybody's nerves
- I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves
- And this is how it goes:
(Some versions have end line as "get get get on your nerves:")
Again, popular variations include "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!", "I know a song that'll get on your nerves!", "I know a song that gets on people's nerves", and "I know a song that irritates people!" Some of these variations are sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus Go 'Round and 'Round."
[edit] See also
- "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt", which is not recursive.
- "99 Bottles of Beer", which is not endless because the lyrics include a number that decrements each verse.
- "Found a Peanut", which is (potentially) an infinitely recursive song; however, unlike "The Song That Never Ends," "Found a Peanut" is a rather long song, containing a story. It often ends very early in the second recursion, via democratic process, when its singers grasp its potentially infinite nature. In this, it is similar to the song "There's a Hole in My Bucket".
- "My Name is Jan Jansen"
