*from STONES HILL SONGS*
This is a favourite action song of mine: it is fun, it is irreverent, it leads to laughter as it makes light nonsense of the status quo. Its delightfully counterintuitive wisdom notices leaders of the day, municipalities, principalities, ministries and governmenties puffing themselves up buffoonishly, only to fall to pieces and tumble down. Like Ozymandias...
It's helpful for children to see, as systems crumble and take a tumble (as they seriously are doing right now in countless ways), what can we do? one approach is to laugh and dance it round and round to find a new way of living. At heart it's quite a revolutionary song: down with the old - bring in the new! 
This song has been borrowed and stolen (musicians are said to be thieves, but openly so) from several sources. Old king glory is originally a traditional African-American song/dance from a treasured book of mine, Down in the Valley - singing games for children, and can be traced back to Meg Lippert who learnt it at the Rudolph Steiner school in NYC, where in turn it had been collected from some children in the streets.... What a tale about a tale! Now it's been further patchworked with the 'thumbs out - tootie ta' bit from a song we sang gloriously, with much hilarity, over and over as children, to another refrain. And further bits are added by me to stitch it all together. As with my much of my other material, this recording is plainly presented for teachers to get a clear idea of tune, moves and sequence. Learn it from the video so that you are comfortable enough to teach it to your classes.
It's a good idea to start the song all solemn and serious: the king in glory and splendour. Keep the sequence of body parts as you add them. Exaggerate the moves. Children love the humour of 'bums out', so have a laugh! You have to be prepared to be a clown yourself, let your hair down and not take yourself seriously to lead this song.
Old king glory on the mountain the mountain was so high
that it nearly touched the sky
(stretch up tall)
till it tumbled to the ground so they danced it round and round
(tumbling down motion and dance your way, round and round!)
and they danced it to the left and they danced it to the right
(it's wonderful to get left and right muddled up - that's the point -
we notice that for most of us it takes a few moments to work out which side is which)
and they danced it through the day and they danced it through the night
and it's one two three follow me... (slow it down here)
Add one by one: thumbs out....elbows out..... knees together.....
toes together...... bums out...
chests out...... chins out...... tongues out
a tootie ta ...... (taking you back to the beginning again)
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/10/old-macdonald_20.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-ant-house_18.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/10/old-king-glory.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/10/we-need-bees.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/10/my-animal-friends.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/08/plastic-bottle-eco-brick_22.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/09/hand-game_17.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/figure-of-8_26.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/so-many-things-my-body-can-do.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/i-was-walking-along_26.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/come-on-and-dance-like-clown.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/i-have-eyes-to-see.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/one-little-thumb.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/good-morning_26.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/08/all-join-hands-and-make-circle_26.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/09/come-on-everybody.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/09/my-little-body_26.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/choosing_1.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/i-have-one_12.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/alphabet-bounce_87.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/11/lift-your-voice-and-sing.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2018/12/farewell-song.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/03/i-went-shopping.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/03/round-garden_48.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/03/creepy-crawly_10.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/05/tree-in-wood_16.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/09/building-up-house_16.html
https://connectsongdance.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-voice-in-cupboard_5.html
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