I've been seeing ads lately for Burton Cummings' new album, Above the Ground. The featured song is entitled "We Just Came From the U.S.A." and it's super catchy. It ought to be catchy as its chorus is an old school yard chant I remember well.
My first three years of school were spent at St. Cecelia's on Annette Street and in the yard during lunch and recess it was fairly common to see a group of kids holding hands and repeating the following chant over and over and over again.
Hey hey, get out of our way,
We just came from the U.S.A.
When I changed schools after grade one, I never heard that chant again, so I've always assumed it was exclusive to St. Cecelia's in the late 70s. Then, when I heard Burton Cummings singing the same song, I realized it had reached all the way to Winnipeg.
Does anyone else remember this old schoolyard chant? What's the origin?
For more playground nostalgia, visit Games We Played in the Schoolyard.
