When I found this, I braced myself for the worst, but I managed to listen to the whole thing. This song contains a children's chorus, which usually means a whole lot of cringe, but the children in this song aren't trying to be cute or adorable - they're just singing along to a fun song. And one of the things that I love about doing this project is that songs such as this could receive airplay and reach the charts - music is much more carefully programmed these days.
Tom Glazer (1914-2003) was from Philadelphia and knew tragedy very early in his life - his father died in the 1918 influenza pandemic. He was a folk singer from the same generation as Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger, and wrote topical songs such as "The Ballad Of FDR" and "Talking Inflation Blues", the latter of which was recorded by Bob Dylan. Starting in the late 1940s, Glazer began recording songs for children; by the 1960s, he was hosting a show for children on a New York radio station.
"On Top Of Spaghetti" (a parody of "On Top Of Old Smokey") reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's been recorded and played many times since, including on Sesame Street. In later life, Glazer became uncomfortable with the idea of being best-known for this song. He was quoted as saying, "I'm standing in line before the Pearly Gates in the musicians' line, in which I stand last. When I'm asked what have I done in music and I say I wrote 'On Top of Spaghetti', I'm told, 'Sorry, buster, you can't enter.'"
Created January 10, 2026.