Happy Birthday jingles . . . Happy Birthday traditions.

[jpcher]

Do you have any special songs or a twist on the regular happy birthday song that you'd like to share?

Today is DD#1's birthday. Yesterday was DD#2's.

I like making up little jingles/twists to the regular Happy Birthday song and singing them randomly throughout the day.

Today I sang to DD#1:

Happy Birthday to you!
You belong in a Zoo.
Oh. yeah. you live here.

DD#1 said: Momma, you sang that song yesterday. Thanks, but you really need new material.

So I sang:

Happy birthday to you
You want to say Moo
You sound like a cow
whenever you do.

DD#1: Really Momma? 


So then I sang:

Happy birthday to you
You know I love you
I know that doesn't rhyme
I'm all out of time.

DD#1: That was really good! Love you! (Gave me a hug, as she walked out the door to pick up a friend for our dinner out tonight.)



So that's my story of Happy Birthday jingles . . . If you can come up with anything else I can use, I'd love to hear your suggestions (I have about an hour before going out to dinner.)

 

What about you? What happy birthday songs do you use? Do you do anything other than the simple Happy Birthday song?

I'm real curious about other cultures . . . Is there a traditional song you sing?

[GratefulMaria]

We just do the regular birthday jingle, but we have a twist on the candles because I'm poorly organized.  One year we didn't have enough for whichever then-teenage DS was having a milestone, so I stuck in the right number of candles to make columns in binary, left the "0" candles off, and lit the "1" candles to make 17.

P.S.  Happy Birthdays to your DDs!   

[Layla Miller]

I don't have a tradition of singing any, but one of my favorites is:

This is your birthday song,
It isn't very long.

 

[MummySweet]

Growing up we always tacked the Casey Jones birthday song on the end of Happy Birthday.   (Casey Jones was a railroad themed kids' show on local TV in Minneapolis/St.Paul  from the mid-50s to the early 70s .  There is an 18 year span among my siblings, but we all equate that show with childhood.)

I've always sung it to my children.  At more than one birthday party I've heard them tell the other kids, "Wait, my mom isn't finished yet."

Happy, happy birthday
to all you girls and boys
we hope this very special day
brings you lots of joy,

Hope the birthday presents
you get from mom and dad
make this very special day
the best you've ever had.

[DollyPond]

Does anyone remember a JC Penny commercial from a few years ago that supposedly featured American Traditions?  One of the scenes was of a girl about 8 or 9 years old standing on a table with a birthday cake and wearing rubber boots. She then proceeded to smash the cake with her booted foot.

How is this a tradition - anywhere???  I have never seen nor heard of that before or since.

Anyone have a clue on that one?

[DollyPond]

From Garfield cartoons a long time ago:

Sung to the tune of Frere Jacques:

Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday
Whoop-dee-do
Whoop-dee-do
Hope your day is pleasant
Open up your presents
Just for you
Just for you

[diesel_darlin]

Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuu

you smell bad peeee youuuuuuuuuuuu


My sister and I sing that to each other on our birthdays. We have since we were kids. 

[CakeEater]

My husband's family claps the age of the birthday boy/girl at the end of the song. Which is fine when you're 8. But at GMIL's 90th birthday, they insisted on clapping 90 times. In a restaurant.

One of my uncles starts singing a few beats behind everyone else and sings loudly, drawing out random syllables, then finishing after everyone else. I find it pretty funny, because 'Happy Birthday' is such a boring song, and I feel pretty all singing along together, but this makes it all a bit more interesting.

[jpcher]

My husband's family claps the age of the birthday boy/girl at the end of the song. Which is fine when you're 8. But at GMIL's 90th birthday, they insisted on clapping 90 times. In a restaurant.

One of my uncles starts singing a few beats behind everyone else and sings loudly, drawing out random syllables, then finishing after everyone else. I find it pretty funny, because 'Happy Birthday' is such a boring song, and I feel pretty all singing along together, but this makes it all a bit more interesting.

Oh. You should hear (or maybe not ) our work group sing happy birthday. I have no clue how this tradition started . . . it's been going on for more years than I dare to remember . . . but the thing is to sing as off-key as possible. Mix up words, throw in a random cha-cha-cha, whatever you can think of to make it the most atrocious awesome serenade ever.

The best part is watching first-timers faces. They don't know whether they should plug their ears or break down laughing!

[jpcher]

I don't have a tradition of singing any, but one of my favorites is:

This is your birthday song,
It isn't very long.

 

LOVE this!