The Wheels on the Bus

First recorded: 1937

Origin: USA

Lyrics

You can replace 'All through the town' with 'All day long' - typically the former preferred in the US and the later in the UK

The wheels on the bus go round and roundRound and roundRound and roundThe wheels on the bus go round and roundAll through the town

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swishSwish, swish, swishSwish, swish, swishThe wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swishAll through the town

The doors on the bus go open and shutOpen and shutOpen and shutThe doors on the bus go open and shutAll through the town

The signals on the bus go blink, blink, blinkBlink, blink, blinkBlink, blink, blinkThe signals on the bus go blink, blink, blinkAll through the town

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beepBeep, beep, beepBeep, beep, beepThe horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beepAll through the town

The babies on the bus go "Wah, wah, wah!""Wah, wah, wah!""Wah, wah, wah!" The babies on the bus go "Wah, wah, wah!"All through the town

The mommies on the bus go "Shh, shh, shh!""Shh, shh, shh!""Shh, shh, shh!"The mommies on the bus go "Shh, shh, shh!"All through the town

The daddies on the bus go "I love you!""I love you!""I love you!"The daddies on the bus go "I love you!"All through the town

The motor on the bus goes vroom, vroom vroomVroom, vroom, vroomVroom, vroom, vroomThe motor on the bus goes vroom, vroom, vroomAll through the town

The people on the bus go up and downUp and downUp and downThe people on the bus go up and downAll through the town

"The Wheels on the Bus" turns a bus ride into a string of actions: wheels round and round, wipers swish, doors open and shut, babies wah. It feels ancient, but it has a named author, a Boston writer called Verna Hills, who published it as a poem in 1937 and set it to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush."

Origins

The song was written by Verna Hills, a writer from Boston, Massachusetts. She first published the lyrics in the December 1937 issue of the magazine American Childhood as a poem titled "The Bus." The original poem featured slightly different wording, beginning with "The wheels of the bus" rather than "on the bus."

Hills set the rhythm of her poem to the melody of the traditional British nursery rhyme "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush." The song quickly spread through schools and nurseries, gaining massive popularity across the United States and the United Kingdom by 1939. Over the decades, it evolved into an oral folk classic, with generations of parents and teachers adding new verses and sound effects.

Meaning & Interpretation

The lyrics describe a bustling bus ride, detailing the actions of various components like the wheels going round, the wipers going swish, the doors opening and shutting, and the reactions of the passengers. The song has minor regional variations; for instance, the final line of each verse is commonly sung as "all through the town" in North America, while "all day long" is often preferred in the United Kingdom.

The song's primary appeal is its interactive nature. Children perform physical actions matching the lyrics, such as rolling their hands for the wheels, waving their arms for the wipers, or bouncing up and down for the passengers. This physical engagement makes the song an effective tool for group play and developmental coordination.

Who wrote The Wheels on the Bus?

The lyrics were originally written by Verna Hills, who lived from 1898 to 1990. She published the text as a children's poem titled "The Bus" in late 1937.