Behind the History of the Classic Kids’ Song, “The Wheels on the Bus”

Hello, all you back-to-schoolers out there.

We hope you have your apples polished, your pencils sharpened and your backpacks full, because as September sets in soon, that can only mean one thing. It’s time to get back on the big yellow school bus and head to class.

And what better way to mark that occasion than taking a look at the meaning and the history behind everyone’s favorite bus-themed song? Oh, and what does Madonna have to do with it? See below.

Without further ado, let’s drive—er, dive—right in!

Origins

Written by Verna Hills (who, herself, lived to be in her nineties), the earliest known publishing of “The Wheels on the Bus” is from December 1937. Lyrics for the song were published in the outlet, American Childhood.

Originally just called “The Bus,” the verse begins: The wheels of the bus… (“of” not “on”).

The Song Today

Today, the song is popular amongst children in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Italy, and Denmark. As one would expect, the song is often sung by school kids while on bus trips or while heading to school.

It’s an amusing song with parts that change and parts that stay the same (see lyrics below). The rhythm is repetitive, making it easy for people to both sing and remember. Another song that follows a similar format is “99 Bottles of Beer.” Though the song of course has a much different meaning.

The Contemporary Lyrics

Each stanza in the song begins with a different part of the bus, from the wheels to the windshield wipers to the driver, the people on the bus, and more. The meaning, obviously, is to highlight all the fun, noise-making elements of the vehicle.

Another fun aspect is for children (and parents or teachers) to act out the parts. The wipers go swish, swish, swish, and singers can move their extended arms, pointed up, back and forth like actual wipers. Or the horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep, and the singers can extend their arm as if honking a real horn on the steering wheel.

Then each stanza continues with how each of those elements on the bus moves or behaves, with each verse concluding with all through the town, before another stanza begins.

For example:

The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round
Round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town

The wipers on the bus go, Swish, swish, swish
Swish, swish, swish
Swish, swish, swish
The wipers on the bus go, Swish, swish, swish
All through the town

The driver on the bus goes, ‘Move on back’
‘Move on back’
‘Move on back’
The driver on the bus goes, ‘Move on back’
All through the town

The people on the bus go up and down
Up and down
Up and down
The people on the bus go up and down
All through the town

The horn on the bus goes, Beep, beep, beep
Beep, beep, beep
Beep, beep, beep
The horn on the bus goes, Beep, beep, beep
All through the town

The baby on the bus goes, ‘Wah, Wah, Wah’
‘Wah, wah, wah’
‘Wah, Wah, Wah’
The baby on the bus goes, ‘Wah, 
Wah, Wah’
All through the town

The mommies on the bus go, ‘Shh, shh, shh’
‘Shh, shh, shh’
‘Shh, shh, shh’
The daddies on the bus go, ‘Shh, shh, shh’
All through the town

Alternative Original Lyrics

The lyrics for the original rhyme, published in December of 1937, in an issue of American Childhood, are written in three stanzas as follows (note the different ending of each section of verse and different actions, though the general meaning is the same):

The wheels of the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round;
The wheels of the bus go round and round,
Over the city streets.

The horn of the bus goes Too-to-too,
“Too-to-too, too-to-too,
the horn of the bus goes Too-to-too
At the other busses, it meets.

The people in the bus go up and down,
Up and down,
up and down;
The people in the bus go up and down,
Bouncing off their seats.

At the time, no reference was made in the original publication as to the formal melody for the rhyme. That was likely figured out later in the verse’s lifespan.

What Does Madonna Have To Do With This, Exactly?

Well, nothing formally.

But in 2002, a Madonna impersonator named Michelle Chappel, using her stage made “Mad Donna,” released a single that sampled the nursery rhyme that also featured a version of Madonna’s 1998 song, “Ray of Light,” upon which “The Wheels on the Bus” was sung.

That single reached No. 17 in the United Kingdom and made the pop charts in other European countries.

(Check out a live version of that song here. Boy, is it weird.)

Final Thoughts

Driving can be monotonous. Children can have short attention spans. Music is the universal language.

For all these reasons, a song like “The Wheels on the Bus” was born, honed, and perfected over the years, so that children sitting on the big yellow school bus could be entertained while their trip is traveled.

The song teaches observation, communal singing and has a meaning that’s both fun and even a little educational to children. What they took for granted—a silly ol’ bus—has lots of elements to it that have their own little sonic lives.

(Photo by Ron Adar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)