"The worms they crept in"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 16, 2004, at 3:44 PM, Patti J. Kurtz wrote:

> I remember something like this:
>
> "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the ants play pinochle on
> your
> snout."

nice to see that we agree on the pinochle thing.  when and where did
you grow up, patti?

now that i think about it, it was not just recited in a sing-song way
but had an actual tune.

ahhh...  for the "crawl" version, 1,670 google hits (raw).  one begins
pretty much in accordance with my recollection:

  Did you ever think
  As the hearse rolls by,
  That sooner or later
  You're goin' to die,

most of the rest of this version strikes no chords (except for the
worms).  no pinochle.

but go to
http://www.goblinville.com/pages/writings/lyrics/worms-crawl.htm

this has the tune!  and most of the words i recognize, including the
first lines:

Did you ever think, as a hearse goes by,
That you might be the next to die?

and the pinochle and the wonderfully disgusting:

They eat your eyes, they eat your nose,
They eat the jelly between your toes.

i leave it to someone else to trace the history of this masterpiece.

arnold