The Wheels on the Bus

[gfish]

Was anybody else confused by this song as a kid? Specifically the "the driver on the bus says 'move on back'" part. I don't know about your grade school bus experience, but at my school the back of the bus was the place to be. What driver would ever need to tell people to move back? It was like the writer of the song hadn't bothered to even do basic research. I remember a similar moment of cognitive dissonance being told about Rosa Parks.

Comments

[tmfkan64.livejournal.com]

No, the back of the bus was certainly the place to be. However, I wasn't confused, because I had one truly anal-retentive bus driver who insisted that everyone had to move *all the way* to the back, and fill in each row, three to a seat.

This man had issues...

[boojum.livejournal.com]

I wasn't confused as a kid because I had enough hearing difficulties that song lyrics never made much sense. Fortunately, I also didn't have much of a sense of reality, so I was fine with this.

It makes a fair amount of sense to me-now who sometimes takes crowded city buses. If the seats are full and people are standing in the aisles, they tend not to move back enough to let more people on, even if there's room to do so, so the driver bugs them to move back.

[tylik.livejournal.com]

Thinking of this, I always had some vague idea that the song had racial connotations.

[koolaidisme.livejournal.com]

I was the black kid in the back! Thats where they seated me or I became hostile.

[cow.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was written by 7/43/73/(insert other standing-room-only route here) rush hour drivers.

[shadowblue.livejournal.com]

In the big city schools you have to take normal city buses to school.
But I think there are some other lines that make no sense, I just can't remember the whole thing right now. Unless I sing it, but I'm just in one of these crazy Korean internet things quickly to get some stuff for school.
And so I don't really think I should be singing The Wheels On The Bus. Well, maybe.. no.