By request, here is the Animaniacs Presidents song. The video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tuBCv3C75Bw And here are the lyrics: Yakko: Heigh ho, do you know The names of the U.S. residents Who then became the presidents And got a view from the White House loo Of Pennsylvania Avenue? Wakko: George Washington was the first, you see He once chopped down a cherry tree Dot : President number two would be John Adams and then number three Yakko: Tom Jefferson stayed up to write The Declaration late at night So he and his wife had a great big fight And she made him sleep on the couch all night Wakko: James Madison never had a son And he fought the War of 1812 Dot : James Monroe's colossal nose Was bigger than Pinocchio's Yakko: John Quincy Adams was number six And it's Andrew Jackson's butt he kicks So Jackson learns to play politics Next time he's the one that the country picks Dot : Martin Van Buren, number eight For a one-term shot as Chief of State Yakko: William Harrison, how do you praise? That guy was dead in thirty days Wakko: John Tyler, he liked country folk Dot : And after him came President Polk Yakko: Zachary Taylor liked to smoke His breath killed friends whenever he spoke Wakko: Eighteen fifty, really nifty Millard Fillmore's in Yakko: Young and fierce was Franklin Pierce The man without a chin Dot : Follows next a period spannin' Four long years with James Buchanan Then the South starts shootin' cannon And we've got a civil war YW+D : A war, a war down south in Dixie Yakko: Up to bat comes old Abe Lincoln Dot : There's a guy who's really thinkin' Wakko: Kept the United States from shrinkin' Saved the ship of state from sinkin' Dot : Andrew Johnson's next He had some slight defects Wakko: Congress each Would impeach Dot : And so the country now elects Yakko: Ulysses Simpson Grant Who would scream and rave and rant Wakko: While drinking whiskey Although risky 'Cause he'd spill it on his pants Yakko: It's eighteen seventy-seven And the Democrats would gloat But they're all amazed when Rutherford Hayes Wins by just one vote Dot : James Garfield, someone really hated 'Cause he was assassinated Wakko: Chester Arthur gets instated Four years later, he was traded Dot : For Grover Cleveland, really fat Elected twice as a Democrat Then Benjamin Harrison; after that It's William McKinley up to bat Yakko: Teddy Roosevelt charged up San Juan Hill Wakko: And President Taft, he got the bill Yakko: In 1913 Woodrow YW+D : Wil... ...son takes us into World War One Yakko: Warren Harding next in line Dot : It's Calvin Coolidge; he does fine Wakko: And then in nineteen twenty-nine The market crashes, and we find Yakko: It's Herbert Hoover's big debut He gets the blame and loses to Dot : Franklin Roosevelt, president who Helped us win in World War Two Wakko: Harry Truman, weird little human Serves two terms and when he's done Yakko: It's Eisenhower who's got the power From fifty-three to sixty-one Dot : John Kennedy had Camelot Then Lyndon Johnson took his spot Yakko: Richard Nixon, he gets caught And Gerald Ford fell down a lot Wakko: Jimmy Carter liked campaign trips Yakko: And Ronald Reagan's speeches' scripts All came from famous movie clips And President Bush said "read my lips" Dot : Now in Washington D.C. Wakko: There's Democrats and the G.O.P. Yakko: But the ones in charge are plain to see Dot : The Clintons, Bill and Hillary Yakko: The next President to lead the way Well, it just might be yourself one day Then the press'll distort everything you say YW+D : So jump in your plane and fly away
My kids love this song. It's kind of funky to hear my 3 and 5 yo singing the US presidents, but it has helped the kids want to learn more about each one (and me, too!). Thanks so much for sharing! We've modified a few parts: - we changed the part about Pres. Grant to: 'while drinking chili/which was silly' (instead of whiskey) - updated the next-to-last verse: "Next in Washington DC The Clintons, Bill and Hillary! George W. Bush was 43 Barak Obama's next, as you can see." and then we left the last verse, which my kids adore.
Thanks for sharing this. I was trying to find a song that my kids can learn the names of the presidents! This is great and fun!
