Old Halloween song ID help

[BANE]

I´m probably the youngest ghoul here but anyways, there was a song the teacher used to make her music class sing in elementary school when I was younger.  I am wondering if anyone knows what it is....It has bothered me for years.

^There was an old lady who lived alone.^

Whoo whoo whoo whoo...

It basically describes her going through the house and the last line is....

^She opened the door.....She opened the door.....and....BOOO!^

I know I am being vague but that´s all I remember.

[mike c]

Oh man! I recall singing this one (though I don't exactly recall the tune, oddly enough) when we were just little guys.

There was an old lady all skin and bones, whoooo, oooo, oooo
She lived the old graveyard, all alone, whoooo,ooooo,ooooo
One night she thought she'd take a walk, whooooo,ooooo,oooooo
She walked on down the old graveyard, whoooo,ooooo,oooooo
She saw the bones a laying around, whooooo,ooooo,ooooo
She went to the closet to get a broom, whooooo,ooooo,oooooo
She opened the closet door, she opened the closet door, and... BOO!

Those are the lines I remember at any rate. I know there was more to it than that.
It seems to be a variant of a poem/song printed in a 1956 book of American folk works:

There was a woman all skin and bone
Oo-oo-oo!
Who lived in a cottage all on her own,
Oo-oo-oo!

She thought she'd go to church one day
Oo-oo-oo!
To hear the parson preach and pray,
Oo-oo-oo!

When she got to the wooden stile
Oo-oo-oo!
She thought she'd stay and rest a while
Oo-oo-oo!

When she reached the old church door
Oo-oo-oo!
A ghastly ghost lay on the floor,
Oo-oo-oo!

The grubs crawled in, the grubs crawled out,
Oo-oo-oo!
Of its ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.
Oo-oo-oo!

Oh you ghastly ghost, she said,
Oo-oo-oo!
Shall I be like you when I am dead ?
YES!

Don't know the etymology of the whole thing but I recall those two works. Wonder if anyone ever recorded it?

Mike C.

[aura of foreboding]

I  vaguely remember this song., key word being vaguely. 

I do, however, remember this one more vividly:

THERE WAS AN OLD LADY
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll die.
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll die.
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird.
How absurd! To swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll die.
(Continue verses)
Cat . . . Imagine that! She swallowed a cat.
Dog . . . What a hog! She swallowed a dog.
Goat . . . She opened her throat and in walked a goat.
Cow . . . I don't know how she swallowed that cow.
There was an old lady, she swallowed a horse.
She died of course!

But, more on your song.  Here's a possible variation:

There was a woman all skin and bone
Who lived in a cottage all on her own,
Oo-oo-oo!

She thought she'd go to church one day
To hear the parson preach and pray,
Oo-oo-oo!

When she got to the wooden stile
She thought she'd stay and rest a while
Oo-oo-oo!

When she reached the old church door
A ghastly ghost lay on the floor,
Oo-oo-oo!

The grubs crawled in, the grubs crawled out,
Of its ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.
Oo-oo-oo!

Oh you ghastly ghost, she said,
Shall I be like you when I am dead ?
YES!

-OR-

A woman in a churchyard sat,
Oo-oo-ah-ah!
Very short and very fat,
Oo-oo-ah-ah !
She saw three corpses carri ed in,
Oo-oo-ah-ah!
Very tall and very thin,
Oo-oo-ah-ah !



Woman to the corpses said,
Oo-oo-ah-ah!
Shall I be like you when I am dead ?
Oo-oo-ah-ah! Corpses to the woman said,
Oo-oo-ah-ah !
Yes, you'll be like us when you are dead,
Oo-oo-ah-ah!
Woman to the corpses said
[piercing deathlike scream!]

[aura of foreboding]

Mike, looks like we found the exact same lyrics!    

[mike c]

Mike, looks like we found the exact same lyrics!    

Hahah! I remember singing the former, reading (over and over!) many years ago the latter, and they always struck me as similar, as most folk things are. Interesting thread... I love wordplay, etymology, and of course, anything to do with Hallowe'en, vintage or otherwise!

Mike C.

[Barlow]

A variation of the old folk song (where it originated) appears in Lemora, A Child's Tale of the Supernatural, when the old woman sings it to Lila Lee.

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

I remember playing this record (I'm only 22) in Kindergarten. We would turn out the lights and listen to it while sitting on the story rug. That is until a few kids got "scared" and didn't want to hear it anymore. Babies. I'd like to say I could go find that record in my old class room, but I'm sure it was thrown out years ago.

-Andy

[Monsterama2000]

I couldn't figure out how to embed an MP3 player here, so here is a download of the song --

http://rapidshare.com/files/252240701/Skin_And_Bones.mp3

It's called Skin and Bones by Dean Gitter from the 1957 album Ghost Ballads. I originally got this from the Scar Stuff blog.

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

Wow! I'm suddenly five years old and it's Halloween! That was fantastic! Thank you so much for that Monsterama! Awesome.

-Andy

[Gzilla2000]

A version of the song called "Old Woman All Skin And Bone" is in the book "Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark" by Alvin Schwartz.  There is an audiobook version.  I have the song as an mp3 from the original lp version if you'd like me to send it to you.