I’ve heard that version, and there was a version of the one I wrote out that started “great green gobs” too.
You wanna know what’s surprising though? We were taught the song in school, by the elementary music teacher. She’d come through the district one school at a time, once a week and we’d have music class. Basic rhythm instruments (like those ridged sticks you rub together that we canned rhythm sticks, maracas, cabasas, etc) and folk songs and such.
It was awesome. Mrs Gore was her name. Really tall blonde lady with an incredible voice that had infinite patience with kids that couldn’t sing worth a damn lol.
I’ve never been good at rote memorization, but I remember every damn song she taught us.
Michael row your boat ashore, Puff the magic dragon, she’ll be comin round the mountain, Mary Mack, John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith (usually pronounced Yon Yacob Yingleheimer), and a bunch more.
Oh man, and my entire class when I was in second grade took part in a school show, where each class did a song. We did Amazing Grace, and there were tears among the parents, and not just of boredom or because we sounded like a random group of kids trying to sing lol. We wore these blue vests and pants (I think the girls could choose to wear skirts, I remember that not all did, but not any discussion about it). It was so damn fun.