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She Sat on a Hillside Song

This Song is meant for Scouts BSA.
Decide for yourself if it is appropriate for your younger scouts or not.

The Tune:

Lyrics:

She sat on a hillside and strummed her guitar,
Strummed her guitar,
Strummed her guitar.
She sat on a hillside and strummed her guitar,
Strummed her guitar.

refrain
Oom plucka plucka
Oom plucka plucka
Oom pluck pluck pluck

He sat down beside her and smoked his cigar,
Smoked his cigar,
Smoked his cigar.
He sat down beside her and smoked his cigar
Smoked his cigar.
refrain

He said that he loved her but, oh, how he lied ...
refrain

They were to be married but somehow she died ...
refrain

He went to her funeral but just for the ride ...

He sat by her tombstone and laughed 'til he cried ...

The tombstone fell over and squish-squash he died ...

She went up to heaven and flittered and flied ...

He went to the other place and sizzled and fried ...

The moral of this song is: don't tell a lie ...

If you want anymore you can sing it yourself ...

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Comments:

Dec 11, 2019 - Eben Wolfe

Incorrect. This is a traditional European folksong that begins

She sat 'neath the lilacs and played her guitar,
Played her guitar, played her guitar.
She sat 'neath the lilacs and played her guitar,
Played her guitar ha-ha-ha.
and the refrain is
Um- chingachinga Um-chingachinga Um-chingchingching

Dec 11, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@Eben - I've seen different versions with her sitting on a hillside, in a hammock, on a veranda, beneath the lilacs, on her lilo, there beside him. The oldest reference I've seen is 1963.

If you've got some documentation to share with the origins of the song, that would be very interesting to see. Otherwise, with songs being orally passed down through generations, words tend to get replaced over time and the fun of singing a song is the important thing.

Jan 08, 2021 - MR M K FOSTER

I am 74 and this tune and words just popped into my head from my childhood in Liverpool. Searched to find this and happy to discover it is on record as used further afield in other times - scout related it seems. We left Liverpool when about 9 so would have been used there by kids around 1955. I just remember the words used as "The tombstone fell on her and that's how she died, that's how she died, that's how she died.(Repeat). "That's how she di-i-i-ied". Happy days, better than now, even though poor then.

May 08, 2021 - CAMD

I am about to turn 80. I learned this song at JV camp in Westchester County, NY, in the summer of 1950. (The version of the words that I learned were just a little different.)

Jun 19, 2021 - howard

My earliest memory of this song is from the mid-60's. Slightly different lyrics, slight variation of melody. I'm amazed that it was so easy to find with a websearch (DuckDuckGo) after all this time.

Jun 28, 2022 - Anonymous

My experience is of a song my family has sung to their children for several generations at least that says she sat in the window. She sat in the window and strummed her guitar, etc etc. Some of the lyrics are slightly different, too. There was also no oom plucka plucka. That's completely new to me

Aug 17, 2022 - TPS

I learned this, with slight variation to tune, words, and with no refrain at day camp in Burlington County, NJ in 1953. It was a favorite every time we took a bus trip which was several times a week. So glad I found this! A snippet popped into my head this morning, and I needed to find the rest.

Feb 06, 2023 - suzanne

My cousins and I sang this in the 1930s. I was born in 1923. I have no idea how we learned it.

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