The wheels on the bus original lyrics are about a bus ride going over the different passengers on the vehicle. It is known as an American folk song that was written before and around 1939 by Verna Hill. Others believe the song originated in England but the origin is mildly unclear. The song’s tune is based on another popular children’s song “Here we go around the mulberry bush”. Some people also consider it may be to the tune of “Buffalo Gals” as in the version by Raffi Cavoukian a Canadian singer/lyricist that is best known for children’s music. Raffi has been dedicated to children almost all his life and has done much for children and founded The Center for Child Housing. A rumor that the origin of the song is that a 10-year-old boy named Peter Fisk a genius wrote the song and later became a recluse because of mental illness. The theory of Peter Fisk as the composer has no real historical value, but rumors are usually based on truth so this avenue is still open to debate.
Where do people come into contact with the song:
People mainly come into contact with the song on long rides in elementary school. The song has been sung by many children for almost a century. The song is very catchy and has a relation to having a bus ride and singing about one, probably to engage children rather than have any boredom because boredom leads to mischief. Children at a young age can remember the song because of its repetitive nature similar to the song but not as appropriate “99 bottles of beer on the wall”.
Meaning of the song:
Hans Hytel associate professor claims the song to be very Jungian. Carl Jung was the founder of analytical psychology. Hans believes the song is about the futility of existence and the relation of the ego, superego, and the subconscious, which Carl Jung popularized. Hans’s theory is that the vehicle is a metaphor for life taking us from birth to death. The wheels represent the never-ending circle of life as they go round and round, and each character in the song represents something else in symbolism.
Significance of Characters in the song:
There are 3 main characters of the song, the driver, the babies and the mommies. The first character is the driver, symbolic of God himself and represents the ego. The command move on back is the considered to be the karmic consequences of a life half lived. In this life, it tells us that we will always be pushed back. Secondly are the babies saying “wah wah wah”, this being completely inarticulate hints at Jung’s theory of the collective subconscious that we all share. The final character is the mommies. The mommies represent the superego. Mommies are the parental figure that asks the babies to shush 3 times. This is to suppress the signs of the babies suffering as a mother would naturally do.
This song has a mixed history of rumor and truths bit it is hard to tell and verify this information. Overall these years the song is still sung by children in school especially in the midst of transit.