"The Bear Went Over the Mountain" is a campfire song sung to the tune of For He's a Jolly Good Fellow, [1] which, in turn, got its melody from the French tune Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre (Marlborough is going to war).
The public domain lyrics are of unknown origin.
Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his 1961 album 101 Gang Songs .
Deitsch folklorist Don Yoder postulates that the song may have its origins in Germanic traditions similar to Grundsaudaag, or Groundhog Day. In some German-speaking areas, foxes or bears were seen as weather prognosticators instead. The belief was that a bear would come out of his lair to check whether he could see "over the mountain". If the weather was clear, the bear would put an end to hibernation and demolish his lair. If it rained or snowed, however, he would return to his lair for six more weeks. [2]
"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem".
"Nad Tatrou sa blýska" is the national anthem of Slovakia. The origins of it are in the Central European activism of the 19th century. Its main themes are a storm over the Tatra mountains that symbolized danger to the Slovaks, and a desire for a resolution of the threat. It used to be particularly popular during the 1848–1849 insurgencies.
"John Brown's Body", originally known as "John Brown's Song", is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The song arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. According to an 1889 account, the original John Brown lyrics were a collective effort by a group of Union soldiers who were referring both to the famous John Brown and also, humorously, to a Sergeant John Brown of their own battalion. Various other authors have published additional verses or claimed credit for originating the John Brown lyrics and tune.
"Good King Wenceslas" is a Christmas carol that tells a story of a tenth-century king of Bohemia who goes on a journey, braving harsh winter weather, to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen. During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow.
Punxsutawney Phil is a groundhog residing in Young Township near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, United States, who is the central figure in Punxsutawney's annual Groundhog Day celebration.
"The Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody written in 1907 by American composer John Walter Bratton, and lyrics added in 1932 by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy. It remains popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom as a children's song, having been recorded by numerous artists over the decades. Kennedy lived at Staplegrove Elm and is buried in Staplegrove Church, in Taunton, Somerset, England. Local folklore has it that the small wooded area between the church and Staplegrove Scout Hut was the inspiration for his lyrics.
"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is a popular song that is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a promotion, a birthday, a wedding, a retirement, a wedding anniversary, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event. The melody originates from the French song "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre".
"(I'm a) Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is the fight song of the Georgia Institute of Technology, better known as Georgia Tech. The composition is based on "Son of a Gambolier", composed by Charles Ives in 1895, the lyrics of which are based on an old English and Scottish drinking song of the same name. It first appeared in print in the 1908 Blueprint, Georgia Tech's yearbook. The song was later sung by the Georgia Tech Glee Club on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1953, and by Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev during the 1959 Kitchen Debate.
Morgantown is a census-designated place in Caernarvon Township, located in southern Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located partially in Caernarvon Township in Lancaster County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 826 residents.
"Streets of Laredo", also known as "The Dying Cowboy", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying ranger tells his story to another cowboy. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
Jolly Fellows, also translated as Happy-Go-Lucky Guys, Moscow Laughs and Jazz Comedy, is a 1934 Soviet musical film, directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and starring his wife Lyubov Orlova, a gifted singer and the first recognized star of Soviet cinema.
"The Arkansas Traveler" is an American folk song first published by Mose Case, a humorist and guitarist from New York, in 1863. The song was based on the composition "The Arkansas Traveller" by Sandford C. Faulkner and is the Arkansas official historic song.
In vocal music, contrafactum is "the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music". The earliest known examples of this procedure date back to the 9th century used in connection with Gregorian chant.
General Beauregard Lee is a groundhog in the US state of Georgia widely considered to be the Groundhog Day weather prognosticator for the Southern United States.
"Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre", also known as "Mort et convoi de l'invincible Malbrough", is a folk song in French.
Groundhog Day is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow, it will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive early. In 2024, an early spring was predicted.
Groundhog Day is a musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Danny Rubin. It is based on the 1993 film of the same name, which featured a screenplay co-written by Rubin.
Don Yoder was an American folklorist specializing in the study of Pennsylvania Dutch, Quaker, and Amish and other Anabaptist folklife in Pennsylvania who wrote at least 15 books on these subjects. A professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, he specialized in religious folklife and the study of belief. He is known for his teaching, collecting, field trips, recording, lectures, and books. He also co-founded a folk festival in Pennsylvania, which is the USA's oldest continual annual folklife festival, and is credited with "bringing the idea of "folklife" to the United States".
"Freight Train Blues" is an early American hillbilly-style country music song written by John Lair. He wrote it for Red Foley, who recorded the song with the title "I Got the Freight Train Blues" in 1934. The tune was subsequently recorded by several musicians, with popular renditions by Roy Acuff in 1936 and 1947. Bob Dylan later adapted it for his self-titled debut album (1962).
"Pennsylvania Polka" is a polka song written in the United States in 1942.