Things you memorized as a kid and still remember today.

[Jennasis]

The Bibbi Bobka song from Perfect Strangers.

The kookaburra song from elementary school:
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
merry merry king of the bush is he
laugh kookaburra
laugh kookaburra gay your life must be

The poem "Stopping by WOODS".

 

[dhardawa]

The alphabet backwards. I'm still waiting to get pulled over and have a cop ask me to recite it.

Clif H Bron (diatomic elements)

5,280 feet in a mile

 

[RedAngie]

Not as a kid, but in High School I memorized Kepler's three laws of planetary motion and can still recite them by heart today.

 

[manning]

1) The Lord's Prayer
2) Miranda rights. (Watched too many episodes of Dragnet and Adam 12)


A co-worker:
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution......Thanks to School House Rock.

Ask a kid today to do that and he/she will look at you and say what's that or never heard of it.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Spell: Arithmetic A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream
LOL who uses that word anymore?

 

[mummabear]

That you spell Beautiful by saying Big elephants and ugly toads

 

[mantysk8coach]

Interesting how many versions of the planet memorization thing there are! I learned it as "Mary Very Easily Made John Sell Used News Papers"

Also, Fifty Nifty United States was "retired" at my school the year before it was my grades turn to sing it (it was a 5th grade thing), and replaced with 50 States That Rhyme. Same concept, different song. Can still sing it very fast to this day! By the time my daughter was in 5th grade, they had brought back Fifty Nifty. Everything old is new again...LOL!

 

[AppleDumpling]

I didn't learn Fifty Nifty as a child but wish I had. Heard it as a parent and think it's great. The first graders sing it here, so adorable.

Does anyone remember the Chicken Fat song by Robert Preston? We exercised to that in gym class for several years. I doubt they'd use it in schools today because it wouldn't be PC, but my friends and I sure thought it was fun.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I know there are regional differences in this one, but I still remember a little song we sang jumping rope.

Not last night but the night before,
24 robbers came knocking at my door,
As I ran out, they ran in...
and hit me on the head with a rolling pin.
I asked them what they wanted and this is what they said:
Spanish dancers turn around,
Spanish dancers touch the ground.
Spanish dancers do the splits,
Spanish dancers jump out like this!

This brings back good times. I remember lots of jump rope songs, hand clapping songs (e.g. Miss Mary Mack), and bouncing ball songs (e.g. A, My Name is Alice).

Also, the little ditties we used for choosing sides or who was "It" for a game, like this one:
Inka binka
Bottle of ink
The cork fell out
And you stink
Not because you're dirty
Not because you're clean
Just because you kissed a boy
Behind the magazine
And out goes Y-O-U

 

[Simba's Mom]

The alphabet backwards. I'm still waiting to get pulled over and have a cop ask me to recite it.

Where did you learn the alphabet backwards? I've never met anyone, besides me, who learned that, in the 60 years since I learned it. BTW, I learned it in Nursery School in Central Massachusetts.

 

[Carriemel]

Linus' "true meaning of Christmas" speech

The entire "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - had to have something memorized for an audition when I was about 10. I picked this.

 

[melanielll]

The phone numbers of everyone I was friends with or was related to. I now know only 4 current phone numbers (my house, my cell, the cells of both of my kids). On the plus side - the old phone numbers make great passwords.

 

[nene0182]

There's a ton but theres two that stick out.

The speech from Julius Caesar, I can still recite the entire thing. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar not to praise him" I can thank the lovely Mrs Wolden and sophomore English for that one.

The other one is a silly song we learned in 2nd grade on how to spell Halloween. Anytime I spell it, I sing it.
H
A
Double L
O
W
Double E
N
Spells Halloween!

 

[nene0182]

Just thought of another one I taught my son not that long ago. It's a silly nonsense poem.

One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other. A deaf policeman heard the noise and ran to save those two dead boys. If you don't believe it's true, ask the blind man he saw it too.

 

[FoxC63]

A song we sung in class, teachers name and what she looked like, the smell of her classroom, how her room was decorated and our old address. I remember since 1972 and yes, I'm that old!

 

[CynBeth]

Thirty Days Hath September rhyme........I still use it when I need to know how many days there are in a month! There's also the knuckle trick, but I like the rhyme better.

I do that as well!

 

[powellrj]

My best friend from jr high schools phone number. I haven't seen her for 45 years, not sure I would know her if I saw her, but I do know her phone number. What is sad is I don't know my husbands cell phone or any of my kids numbers.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Girl Scout songs...

Make New Friends
She Wears a G
I've Got Something in My Pocket
Girl Scout Brush and Girl Scout comb (aka Hippo Hoppo)
The Girl Scout Went over the Mountain
etc



Raiders of the Lost Ark. I can recite the whole movie. Drives DH nuts

How to multiply 9s up to 10 the easy way. (add one to the first column, subtract one from the 2nd. and both numbers should add up to 9)

09
18
27
36
45
54
63
72
81
90

 

[Deb & Bill]

Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in old English (first eleven lines)
"Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me true. Romper Mirror tell me today, have all my friends had a good time at play?" Romper Room (also grew up in Chicago area).
Hard Rock, Coco and Joe. Suzy Snowflake. Uncle Ned with the smiley head (before Bozo was even on the air and he became Ringmaster Ned) Uncle Bucky had the notes pinned all over his clothes.
"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack, I don't care if I ever get back. So it's root, root, root for the Cubbies. If they don't win it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game." Seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field.
Our phone number before area codes. Logan 3-8177. Then the LO changed to 56 and it was 563-8177.

 

[Mickeynutty]

ROY G BIV