“Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree,” which a newspaper needs to tell me is a classic Australian song about a bird, has been rewritten for students at Cheltenham’s Lepage Primary in Victoria. The lyrics go like this: “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree / Merry merry king of the bush is he / Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra / Gay your life must be!” But for school kids, the last line is now, “Fun your life must be.” Principal Garry Martin says the new words for first graders says he didn’t want the word “gay” to somehow be twisted into bullying kids. The song “uses gay and I just suggested to kids, ‘Nowadays that can mean different things, so let’s just sing a fun old time.'”
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
Well at least Fred Flintstone and company are still having a “gay old time!”
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Mike in Asheville, nee “in Brooklyn”: ~ LMAO ~ Rim Shot!!
El-Brucio
Ah yes, the “Won’t somebody please think of the CHILDREN” excuse.
Matt Z.
This headline is misleading. As a kindergarten teacher, I’m not sure that this principal did anything wrong.
I’m certainly not opposed to discussing homosexuality with children – hell, one of my students has two moms. We’ve read “And Tango Makes Three” and even “10,000 Dresses” (about a transgendered kid) in class.
Using the word “gay” to mean “happy” is pretty archaic. It’s certainly used less than the phrase “That’s so gay.” Why can’t we take him at his word that he means to prevent bullying or at least confusion?
Latebrosus
What’s more gay:
“Don we now our gay apparel” or “Fa la la la la, la la la la”?
Scott
They did this in my grade school. Granted, it was Texas, and no mention could be made of “The Gays” without being immediately followed with “who are doomed to the fires of perdition for their wicked, wicked ways cracklecracklecrackle.”
James Davis
And here I thought the article was gong to be about Katy Perry’s Peacock.
Flipper
@Matt Z.: As a kindergarten teacher, couldn’t you take the opportunity to teach them about the various uses of the word, rather than just avoiding it altogether? Yes, it’s archaic, but that doesn’t mean they won’t encounter it. It might let them know that there are other uses than “That’s so gay.”
Chris
I think it’s nice that he did that to try and prevent bullying, kids can be kinda cruel.
But I think the more important issue at hand here is who the fuck sings that song anymore?
Syl
@Flipper: Exactly! Children ought to learn about words and their history! It teaches them history and culture, and helps them appreciate the richness and subtlety of language! A word can have more than one meaning-kids understand that, it’s what a lot of humor hinges on!
Jon
I remember singing that in grade school. Sure, we giggled – but that was also the first time a lot of kids learned that “gay” meant “happy.”
mike
So, for the children will now be thinking gay = fun. Works for me.
John Collier
@Latebrosus:
“Fa la la la la, la la la la” is without a doubt more gay.
John Collier
@Scott:
Gay your life must be, and doomed to the fires of perdition for their [your]wicked, wicked ways cracklecracklecrackle.”
Hyhybt
Have you ever been struck like lightning by a realization? This article set off a train of thought in my head that led to one of those.
When I was little, we didn’t have a VCR. (They *existed*, we just didn’t have one.) We did, though, have records for children. One I had, which I don’t know the source of or how old it was when I got it, but that was around 1980, was a bunch of (pretty awful) songs about a trip to the zoo and the various animals you’d find there. But the introduction was a rewriting of “Strolling Through The Park,” and a couple lines went like this:
“While strolling through the zoo today,
I can guarantee you’ll soon be gay.”
And sure enough… well, there have been a lot of (ultimately pointless) arguments over what causes people to be gay, but now it can be known, at least for one person, that it’s caused by listening to songs like “The Porcupine Is Pining For His Pork.”
Queer Supremacist
@Hyhybt: And sure enough… well, there have been a lot of (ultimately pointless) arguments over what causes people to be gay, but now it can be known, at least for one person, that it’s caused by listening to songs like “The Porcupine Is Pining For His Pork.”
And all this time I thought what made me gay was my Mom watching Dynasty when she was pregnant with me.
And here’s that song. Not exactly a candidate for the Great American Songbook:
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=0ICpWJPrtL4
Hyhybt
@Queer Supremacist: No, but it’s easily the best one on that album 🙂