The Burning of the School

The other day I recalled a popular elementary-school parody of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." It went something like this:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school
We have tortured all the teachers and have broken all the rules
We have barbecued the principal and have killed the PTA
And the janitors are on our side!

Glory, glory hallelujah
Teacher hit me with a ruler
I hid behind the door with a loaded .44
And teacher don't teach no more!

Though bloody and cruel, the song was, as I recall, quite popular and enjoyed many variations (for example, "I met her in the attic with a semiautomatic.")

I've always thought that the poems and songs of childhood are interesting to examine, not the least for their frequently surprising subversiveness and perversity. "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" is a sillier example. Sometimes these songs are even political, as with the "Joy to the world / Saddam Hussein is dead / we barbecued his head / and what about his body? / We flushed it down the potty..." 1991 classic.

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with gruesome children's lore in foreign languages. The Arabic children's rhymes I've mastered are all rather innocuous, such as this one, popular in northern Morocco:

Ash ta ta ta ta ta
Awlaidat al-harrata
Allem m'allem Bouzekri
Tayyeb li khozi bekri
Nakaloo ana w'khtee!

which roughly translates to "Rain (followed by what is an extended onomatapeia in Arabic), O children of the farmers, let's go to the wise Bouzekri, make me bread early, for me and my sister to eat!"

Hardly as impressive as slaughtering teachers and drowning them in their blood. But I wonder, perhaps Mark can contribute a Chinese rhyme that rivals the bloody-mindedness of US schoolchildren.

Also, why is it that such rhymes are tremendously funny for most children, but less funny to adults? (I remember that our teachers always got angry when we sang it; on the other hand, as an adult, I still find the songs funny.)