to think school assembly songs are hilarious now?

[DamFineBeaver]

Infant school assemblies are like Nuremburg rallies, everyone punching the air in unison and going for their Goal.

In the juniors, they sing rousing renditions of songs about Internet Safety.

Now, even as a staunch atheist, I can see the appeal of All things Bright and Beautiful.

So many memories here I feel about 6 again
I had a come and praise book for years, up to around 4 years ago our school still used them.

Cauliflowers fluffy is a tune!

My favourite assembly songs were Kwmbaya, This Little Light of Mine and this welsh number pwy wnaeth

My kids go to a RC school so just holy hymns although they do have some tunes!

SistersOfPercy Ours went

We three kings of Leicester Square
Selling ladies' underwear
No elastic, quite fantastic
Seventy P a pair.

Oooooh pants of wonder
Pants of light
Pants with ribbons red and white
Full of wonder
Good for your under
And the colours are very bright."

According to DH in Liverpool they sing 'We three kings of Marion Square"

They still sing all the traditional songs at our school, yy to the Autumn Days one. Complete with the music teacher thumping the piano. Always make me cry (in a good way)

At DD's school they have a 'Proud' assembly, with Heather Small's proud playing as the kids enter and leave and they all sing along. It's very cute (Reception, KS 1&2).

Each class takes turns to do their 'assembly' usually involving a bit of prompting, an out of tune song, one child needing a hug etc. and the parents of that class come in to watch.

The one about "Far round the world...." is actually quite a lovely song, especially with a piano accompaniment.

The Ink Is Black, though... oh my goodness, I had forgotten all about that one, what a clonker of a song!

hootymctooty you had your own copy?! We had to share them, one between two, and the best bit was holding the book and peeling the plastic off the cover. On very special occasions there was a sequel (was it the same picture but in orange?)

There was a sequel in orange. It was substandard due to its not containing Autumn Days.

DS' school is catholic so has all the old hymns but also write things designed to make parents cry to the tune of whatever's popular that year.

Last years year 6 leavers assembly saw the reception children singing a song to their year 6 buddies written to the tune of do you want to build a snowman, the chorus went 'Thank you for being my buddy, I'm going to miss you and that's the truth, you've always been there for me, helping me settle into school'

DD's uses a lot of hymns too, although DD is good at accidentally 'mishearing' them so sang 'good king wets his pants' at Christmas

They also do 'its great, great, brill, brill, wicked, wicked, skill, skill, to have a friend like Jesus' and Our God is a great big God.

Ahh do you remember that one about silky chestnut shells and "jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled" or something along those lines...

YES!!! Autumn Days, I think?! Was it this one?!
castawaywithdreams.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/songs-we-used-to-sing-at-assembly-in-primary-school/

or a link to the song itself...

We also used to sing "One more step along the world I go", and one that I can't remember the title to but went something like this:
"When God made the garden of creation, he filled it full of his love. There's room for you, there's room for me, there's room for everyone..."

DS 's school occasionally strays into the happy clappy, "Shine on me" being a particular favourite, but they have recently been singing, "I'm a believer" and "You raise me up". One of the teachers is very strict about them singing nicely though, a tad joy sucking.

I can cope with most things to be honest, but "The leavers song" just shreds me.

At my girls secondary school they sing current chart songs!! They love it and it appears the staff do to.

I used to like the end of the day when we would put our chairs up on our desks, and sing the prayer that began "hands together softly so, little eyes shut tight" (struggles to remember the rest it was 40 years ago....) "we are all your children here, this is what we pray. Keep us safe all through the night, until another day, Amen"
Did anyone else sing at the end of the day?

Teacher here. We sing a hellish one about "Freshly laundered sheets" sometimes. Gives me the rage. Heavily in to Fischy music in this area. I adore it and so do the kids.

I work in a school and I think it's quite sad that religious songs and hymns have disappeared from assembly. I'm not at all religious, but I still remember those songs with fondness. Some of the new songs we sing are utter bollocks, there's one about standing in a lunchtime queue with a rumbling belly and another called Please Miss, which appears to be sung from thr perspective of a tell tale tit snitching on the other kids in the class.

Sally:
For God is the father who loves his children
And gives them a place in the sun.

All of these are flooding back now. Anyone sing the not very upbeat at all
Little birds in winter time
Hungry are and poor
Feed them for the Fathers sake
Till the Winter's over

It used to make me really sad

I've still got a copy of Songs of Praise - which was the hymn book we used in school (mid 1960's).

Just looked at it & realised it's someone elses & I even remember her!

Oh, I remember that song about the little birds. We also had one about the fishermen that went something like:

When lamps are lighted in the town
And boats sail out to sea,
The something something when night comes down
They work (?) for you and me.

We little children safe in bed (?)
Before we sleep we pray
That God will help the fishermen
And bring them home today.

I might have got some of the words wrong. I used to find it very sad as it made me think of all those poor children in some lamplit town whose fathers might be drowned at any moment.

I really don't like some of the modern songs posted to this thread. They seem so contrived and somehow lacking in poetry. But maybe the children singing them now will look back on them fondly and nostalgically. I wonder whether any of my contemporaries from the Soviet Union look back on this with affection:

Scary it may be, but nothing like as scary as the 'I will obey the rules' song.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are very few primary school teachers these days who can play the piano so schools rely a lot on backing tracks for their assembly songs. Many schools use SingUp, Out of the Ark and Sing Out songs these days which are pop like.

When I first became a music co-ordinator 25 years ago, there were no less than 5 teachers who could play well enough to accompany in assembly. I have just left that school and there isn't a single member of staff left who can play. Pretty sure the old bag head will use it as an excuse to get rid of it.

In my new school they were
Wildly excited that I can play- their lovely grand piano hadn't been touched for years!

I had 'one more step along the world I go' at my wedding! Happy days

So many memories....I remember 'When a Knight won his Spurs' we would all sing 'through back into storyland' instead of though' and we had a really cool teacher who would get us to sing 'Blowing in the Wind'. We always sniggered at 'I was cold I was naked were you there were you there?'.

I used to like

"Cross over the road my friend,ask the lord his strength to lend
His compassion has no end, cross over the road".

Anyone remember 'there's water, water of life. Jesus gave us the water of life"? Didn't even make any sense!

I do remember our class having to do an interpretive dance to "I am the lord of the dance settee" (as I then believed it to be called), in PE. I was picked to play Jesus and unfortunately, just as the whole class gathered around to lower my dead body from the cross and into my tomb I let rip a MASSIVE fart. I still feel the shame now.

I also frequently get 'milk bottle tops and paper bags' and 'when a night won his spurs' stuck in my head, to this day.

I also remember the anxiety inducing prayer we were made to say before we left school "lord keep us safe this night, secure from all our fears, may angels guard us while we sleep, till morning light appears". Terrifying.

Sing hosana, give me oil in my lamp and hes got the whole world is some of my favourite memories of school in the 90s! :) though our school finished with a moral story....one in particular i still dont understand was about a man on a train who snuck his pet dog onboard, the ticket attendent found out and so he chucked it out of a window. I had nightmares about this poor dog for weeks and to this day i have no clue what the moral to the story was/is?