"The Bear Went Over the Mountain" is a campfire
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
sung to the tune of
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
"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 (or playing a major part in a wedding), a retirement, a wedding anniversary, the birth of a ...
which, in turn, got its melody from the French tune
Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre (Marlborough has left for the war).
The
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
lyrics are of unknown origin.
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
included the song in a
medley on his 1961 album ''
101 Gang Songs
''101 Gang Songs'' is an LP recorded in December 1960 by Bing Crosby for his own company, Project Records and distributed by Warner Bros. (W 2R-1401) and the RCA Victor Record Club in 1961 with lyric sheets to help the listener join in with the si ...
'' and it is from
Kidsongs
''Kidsongs'' is an American children's media franchise that includes Kidsongs Music Video Stories on DVD and video, The Kidsongs TV Show, CDs of favorite children's songs, song books, sheet music, toys and an ecommerce website. It was created by ...
. It is also a piece of background music from
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...
.
Possible origin
Deitsch folklorist Don Yoder postulates that the song may have its origins in Germanic traditions similar to
Grundsaudaag, or Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day is known to have its roots in the behavior of badgers in Germany. In some German-speaking areas, however, the foxes or bears were seen as the weather prognosticators. When the behavior of the bear was considered, the belief was that the 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, the bear would return to his lair for six more weeks.
References
External links
Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bear Went Over the Mountain (song), The
English children's songs
Songs about bears
Songs about mountains