I have talked before about my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Sturgis, and how she emphasized music that school year. All the teachers at my grade-school did this, but most of them handed out the music books and just played an accompanying record that we were supposed to sing along to. Mrs. Sturgis eschewed the record and played the piano to accompany us, which is why I remember her classes more clearly. She did not give lessons in or after class, but she recommended teachers (as a result, I didn’t take lessons until years later).

It’s too bad that those old-timey music books and music lessons aren’t still part of a grade-school curriculum. I learned a ton of history indirectly through those songs. Home on the Range, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, The Green Cathedral … and this one.

As with so many of these days, I’m not sure how this date is associated with the event. But seeing it go by did let me know that I still remember 90 percent of this song which is an extended discussion between Henry and Liza about a busted bucket and what to do about it. (Although I’m pretty sure the version I learned subbed in Willie for Henry. Weird how those things go.) It’s circular logic: To fix the bucket, they need straw, a knife, a whetstone, and water—for which they need a bucket. Probably every kid who ever had to sing this wondered why there wasn’t a spare bucket or a tin cup or some other vessel that would have worked. But as an old married woman, I have had more than my share of conversations than went this exact way. What songs did you sing in your youth that still live rent-free in your head?