Make a three-year-old very happy!

February 20, 2013 12:40 PM

Okay, you know that "On Top of Spaghetti" song? Can someone cleverer than me think of a second verse for that song that involves the poor meatball and A TRAIN?

My train-obsessed three-year-old son LOVES that song, but every time he hears it, he spends the next half-hour or so telling me an ever-changing elaborate story about how the meatball rolled outside and onto the train tracks and talked to the train and got smooshed by the train, etc, etc, AND THAT IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE VERRRRY CAREFUL WHEN YOU SNEEZE MAMA! It's all terribly cute, I promise.

Sometimes he tries to sing this story to the same tune, but then he gets frustrated because he "doesn't remember" it. I'd love to come up with some extra verses for him that would make him explode with happiness, but...I can't. I just can't do stuff like that. I'm awful. It's sad.

Can anyone help? My kid will love you forever!

Bonus question: Are there any awesome train-related songs for a preschooler?

posted by logic vs love to grab bag (17 answers total)

It rolled on the train tracks
A big train went WHOOSH!
And then my poor meat ball
Was nothing but moosh.
posted by steinwald at 12:45 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]

It rolled down the sidewalk
and hopped all the cracks,
and then my poor meatball
rolled on the train tracks.

For what happened next, there
can be no excuse:
My meatball was squashed by
a cranky caboose.
posted by notquitemaryann at 12:50 PM on February 20 [2 favorites]

It rolled past some cabins
It rolled past some shacks
And then my poor meatball
Rolled onto the tracks

It saw the train coming
It told the train, "Stop!
'Cause if you roll on me
I'll turn into slop."

The train didn't listen,
The train didn't care,
It just kept on rolling
Though the meatball was there.

The train blew its whistle
The train went on through
It left my poor meatball
In a puddle of goo.



When my Eldest Granddaughter was little, I used to sing her "Bill Grogan's Goat" except that Bill Grogan's goat "was sure to cry" rather than "was doomed to die". Also "Casey Jones" but I forgot how Casey survived in my version.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:51 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]

When I was little, although it was morbid, I loved Somebody Robbed the Glendale Train. I didn't really know what it meant, other than trains. I also loved The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe. Other train songs that come to mind are the Wabash Cannonball and Take the A Train.
posted by ChuraChura at 12:52 PM on February 20

Oh - I wonder if he'd like The Legend of John Henry.
posted by ChuraChura at 12:53 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]

This took a weird direction, but here you go:

It rolled to the station
And into a train
Lucky for my meat ball
It started to rain

It rained on the train tracks
Rained on the caboose
And meantime my meatball
He sat by a moose

The moose he was hungry
Concessions were few
He looked at my meatball
And then took his cue

My meatball was tasty
My meatball was sweet
The train it sped onward
The moose fast asleep
posted by bunderful at 12:58 PM on February 20 [4 favorites]

Dan Zanes has an album called Catch That Train--it's aimed at children, and, if I remember correctly, it has several train-themed songs on it.
posted by MeghanC at 1:02 PM on February 20

I really wish I could find a recording of my all time favorite train song. Back in my long ago years as a nanny in New York City, all the kids enjoyed The Subway Song. My preschooler loves it, too.

The lyrics are here, but I'm not finding a recording anywhere...
posted by waterisfinite at 1:05 PM on February 20

The MTA Song
posted by milk white peacock at 1:27 PM on February 20 [2 favorites]

The Ballad of Casey McPhee
posted by gubo at 1:38 PM on February 20

Chattanooga Choo Choo - tap dancing version
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:30 PM on February 20

Freight Train! (also infinitely customizable.)
posted by dizziest at 5:08 PM on February 20

The meatball kept rolling,
It rolled far and wide
It rolled to the train tracks
And asked for a ride

"I don't have a ticket,"
the meatball explained,
"But I'm so delicious,
You'll be glad I came."

Now as it was speaking,
the train shut its doors
And so very loudly
The engine did roar

The meatball kept rolling
But it was in vain
It became hamburger
Underneath the train

The big locomotive
It ended the chat
Outside of the station
That meatball went SPLAT

Let that be a lesson
For next time you sneeze
Your poor little meatball
Could end up in a squeeze.

(Additional suggestion: Johnny Cash's version of Rock Island Line)
posted by eponym at 5:08 PM on February 20

It rolled on some train tracks
And since it had no brain
It kept on rolling
Right up to a train

"Hey there Conductor,"
The poor meatball said
"Please stop your train now
Or else I'll be dead"

"Sorry dear meatball,
I like you a bunch
But I am quite hungry
And forgot my lunch"

The train smooshed the meatball
And though some think her rude
The conductor was happy
'Cause she had some food

Let this be a lesson
Near Caltrain or BART
Hold onto your meatball
And don't let this start! (or, With all of your heart!)

Alternate last verse:
Anthropomorphism
a three year old's curse
when the hero gets eaten
in the penultimate verse
posted by mikepop at 5:32 AM on February 21 [1 favorite]

See also Cookie Monster and the Ballad of Casey MacPhee.
posted by mikepop at 6:09 AM on February 21

On top of spaghetti
All covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door

When it got to the train tracks
It was 8:59
But he wasn't expecting
To be stuck in a line

The meatball saw red lights
Heard warning bells, too
But the meatball decided
It was time to pass through

It rolled to the train tracks
And under the gate
If the train wasn't there yet
Does it make sense to wait?

Here's a fact about meatballs
They have terrible luck
When it rolled cross the train tracks
The poor meatball got stuck

When it heard the train whistle
It was just 9:03
Then he struggled and struggled
And he tried to get free

But the train kept on coming
No, it couldn't retreat
When it got to the meatball
The poor thing was dead meat

So if you eat spaghetti,
And you don't want to cry
Hold on to your meatballs
When a train passes by.
posted by 23skidoo at 7:49 AM on February 21 [1 favorite]

Late editing my first verse, second line to be "and having no brain"
posted by mikepop at 8:30 AM on February 21