New video looks at the hard science of The Simpsons' impact on the "jingle bells, Batman smells" rhyme
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The Simpsons has had an immeasurable impact on our culture, but, not content to leave it at that, there are people out there eager to apply science to its influence in order to better understand it. Take, for example, a video from Tom Scott that looks to figure out exactly how much our dumb childhood variations of “Jingle Bells” were informed by that Simpsons episode where Robert Goulet stops by Bart’s tree house to perform.
Scott’s idea was to see how many of our impressionable young minds latched onto the folk holiday parody where, as Goulet sings it, “Jingle Bells” includes a verse that goes, “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg/Batmobile lost its wheel, Joker got away.” Scott remembers how his childhood version ended with “Batman smells, Robin flew away” and, knowing that other variations existed for decades prior to the 1993 Simpsons episode, tried to figure out how much of an impact cartoon Goulet has had on us all.
He collected data from 64, 182 people by providing a survey asking for which version respondents sang when they were kids (along with their country). Scott shows off the results by recruiting a musician to play the different parodies he received, highlighting the most popular regional variations. Though there are significant numbers of other versions, the most prevalent is The Simpsons’ “laid an egg” in the United States and the non-Simpsonsfied “flew away” in the United Kingdom, though birth dates show that British ‘90s kids definitely used the American TV version. In short, as you might have guessed, The Simpsons had a huge influence on what children annoyed their parents with during the holidays.
For a complete look at Scott’s process and findings, check out the entire video. Next, let’s hope he gets to work seeing how many kids learned Planet Of The Apes’ twist ending from Troy McClure before they’d even heard of the original movie.
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51 Comments
The only difference in our local version was that “The Batmobile had a broken wheel” instead of losing its wheel.
Having never seen The Simpsons version, that’s the one I know because my dad used to jokingly sing it.
Yeah, I’m having trouble understanding the “proof” that the “laid an egg” version never existed before The Simpsons other than one person saying “it used to be Robin flew away.” Like…it’s a schoolyard rhyme, there are endless variations.
I first heard it as “laid an egg” – a couple of years before the Simpsons. Those lyrics were gifted tonus by some forgotten schoolyard saint. I remember singing them loudly in music appreciation class, and snickering with my friends like we’d pulled off the ultimate prank as our teacher shook his head in what was likely admiration – though we interpreted it as disappointment.
The Simpsons did not create this version. Christ almighty. The Simpsons had a huge cultural impact on people who are huge fans of The Simpsons and that’s about it.
The video doesn’t say that the “laid an egg” version never existed before the Simpsons. It only shows that there’s evidence that the Simpsons helped popularize the “laid an egg” variation in the UK specifically, among youth who would be watching the Simpsons at the time. The video demonstrates that the “laid an egg” version is basically the only version that American youths knew before, during, and after the Simpsons episode.
Ours was:Jingle bellsBatman’s bellsRobin flew awayBatman lost his knickerson the M1 motorway
Maybe they cover this in the video, but in order to properly gauge this, you have to look at the ages of the people you’re questioning. I learned the Simpsons version growing up, but that was well before that episode aired.
As a 52 year old Chicagoan, it was always “laid an egg.”
As a 48 year old Chicagoan (south side), it was “laid an egg” coupled with “The Joker lost his wig”.
I my version, it was laid an egg, and after the batmobile lost a wheel, the Joker took ballet. That was Ohio, early 90s
Agreed. Another pre-Simpsons Midwestern singer here, and it was always “laid an egg.”
Maybe actually watch the video.
Meh…
I mean, it’s up to you, but the video made your comment pretty pointless.
I always heard “the batmobile got a broken wheel,” rather than “lost its wheel,” but maybe that was just some local weirdness for me.
When you’re a seven-year-old learning things from other seven-year-olds, there’s definitely going to be some lyric shifts.
I suppose using the “Batmobile broke it’s wheel” variation from “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” would have confounded the results?
Tom Scott, I don’t use the word ‘hero’ lightly, but you are the greatest hero in American history.
My version (wouldn’t surprise me if it was school specific) I grew up with: “The Batmobile lost a wheel and the Joker played ballet”
He collected data from 64, 182 people by providing a survey…The space after the comma threw me considerably. Was it 64 people? 182? 246 people, in two groups? Why such a small sample size?Anyway, might want to make a small edit there.
I have an uneasy feeling that ours was somehow racist…..
It way always “laid an egg”. “Flew away”? Who rhymes “away” with itself?Also, that Santa Claus one is a totally different song:Jingle Bells, jingle Bells
Santa Claus is dead
Rudolph got a .44
And shot him in the head
I’d like to see Rudolph pull that off of those hooves!
If Maggie Simpson can do it, so can Rudolph!
Barbie doll, Barbie doll
Tried to save his life
GI Joe was on the go
And stabbed her with his knife
I remember a ton of these….
I suspect a multitude of people who have watched that video remember many of the songs quoted in it.
That reminds me of how the Barney “I Love You” song (using the melody from “This Old Man”) was getting the same treatment:I hate you You hate me Let’s go out and kill BarneyWith a big shotgunBarney’s on the floorNo more purple dinosaur
FTR my kids say it as “The Joker did ballet”… weird ass kids
That’s covered in the video.
I’ll take your word for it
I mean, not your kids specifically, but that verse.
Yes I realize that, I’m thanking you for saving me from watching that video. looks stupid
Summary: in the US it’s almost always “laid an egg”. It’s only in the UK that he really argues the Simpsons affected it. His evidence is the percentage of people born in the late 80s-early 90s responding that they knew it as “laid an egg”.
I’m shocked this wasn’t linked in the article at all….
There was so much about that show I just accepted. Like, yeah, the Joker was somehow able to get a Christmas tree rocket into Arkham undetected by any security and then fly it out unharmed. Sure.
If Arkham had better security, there would have only been 6 episodes.
This episode aired in 1992, before the Simpsons episode referenced. Of course, Bart also sings these lyrics in the first ever Simpsons episode in 1989, but the 1993 episode referenced is generally more memorable. As a kid – albeit a big fan of superhero cartoons – I was definitely more familiar with the Joker version than the Simpsons Robert Goulet version.
The two episodes are close enough together in time – 13 months apart – that honestly, I feel like it’s a potential confounding factor in the study. Since the song is primarily a schoolyard chant sung by children, you can’t merely compare overall ratings – where I assume The Simpsons stomps – but you’d have to compare the ratings in specific demographics, and then compare that to the ages of those surveyed.
Day 67 of quarantine
Do I have to be Comic Book Guy and point out that Bart sang this version in the first full-length episode ever, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”?So be it.
You don’t, since the video points this out. It should go without saying for anyone reading this site that the first season/episode is far less memorable than season Burns’ Casino aired in.
I skimmed through the video to see if it was addressed, guess I missed it.I bow to no one in my love of “$pringfield, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling” but I certainly take issue with your characterization that the first episode is less memorable. I know it’s fashionable to say the golden age started in S2, but the Christmas episode remains a classic and, at least where I grew up, you could rent a VHS tape of the episode (and only that episode) from Blockbuster, so it got a few more spins among me and my friends.
To our individual opinions now, informed by decades of syndication, maybe. In the early 90s, absolutely not. In 1990/1991 The Simpsons was absolutely gigantic and that first episode was one of the most popular and iconic. By 1993 it was safely transitioning into just another popular show, maybe even a cult one, which rarely broke into the top rated shows. Kids would absolutely have been more likely to have seen the Christmas special than a random episode from deep in the show’s fifth season.
I can confirm “laid an egg” existed in the western U.S. in 1985.
Canadian, and we had the broken skies bit and the Joker ballet/saved the day bits as I remember it. The Gun one also made an appearance, I remember the rhyming of 1981, but I don’t remember the whole tree pee bit, and it was just Robin had a gun.
Man I miss Robert Goulet a lot. He was a fun character with a wicked sense of humor. I read Julie Andrews biography and she mentions putting whoopie cushins in peoples seats and intentionally ruining scenes in King Arthur for a laugh. Of course I can’t forget those spider commercials. Miss him all the time.
If he wants to do a follow up video on whether people first heard of Robert Goulet at all through this episode, he can put me down as a “yes”.
It’s funny that I stumbled upon this article because my 10 year old daughter was just talking about the jingle yesterday. And I wondered how she knew it.
For context, we live in a small town in central Mexico, we don’t own a tv, and she has yet to see a Simpson episode (or a Batman movie for that matter). She’s still connected to pop culture through the internet, her (mostly Mexican) friends, comics and films — but I still found it amusing to see her singing the “Batman Smells” jingle out of the blue and then discussing the lyrics.
Anyway, her version has “Robin flew away.”
Circa 1977…Jingle bells, Batman smellsRobin laid an eggThey got a deal on the Batmobile, and bought a Cheverolet!