– In one of our concerts a long time ago, when we had a different director, we sang a medley of patriotic songs. One was “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”. It usually goes, “When Johnny comes marching home again, Hurrah! Hurrah! We’ll give him a hearty welcome then. Hurrah! Hurrah! The men will cheer, the boys will shout, the ladies they will all come out and we’ll all feel well when Johnny comes marching home!”
Well there used to be, and maybe there still is, a soup company called “Mrs. Weiss”. As a kid I remember seeing a commercial for the soup and they used that particular patriotic song to advertise their soup, but they changed it a bit. “When Johnny comes marching home for lunch, serve Mrs. Weiss. He’ll need a hearty meal right then, serve Mrs. Weiss! Mrs. Weiss’s noodle soups, satisfies your hunger too, cuz you get more noodles in Mrs. Weiss’s soups!” Well hell I guess that jingle worked, didn’t it? Twenty or thirty odd (very odd) years later and I still remember it like it was yesterday.
– I had something in my eye just seconds ago, and that made me remember something else. I was walking home from high school with a friend one day, when the two of us made up a song/rap about something that I had in my eye all day. All I remember to this day is the first line, “There’s somethin’ in my eye and I don’t know what it is, and it’s been there all day long…”
-Speaking of raps, another friend and I made up a few other raps about our hard times in the suburbs. Harsh, gritty stuff like how my mom worried about me when I used to cover up with lots of blankets during hot, summer nights and how I just rebelled against that crap. Not for the sensitive, people. Eminem wouldn’t be brave enough to touch this stuff. I wish I still had our rough drafts of those lyrics. I just remember rapping, “I said ‘Mama, Mama, I’m not too hot. She said, ‘I don’t care, you shouldn’t be a snot.” And then we’d end that rap with sound effects like “a boom boom bop, a boom boom bop…”. For the record, I don’t think my mom ever called me a “snot”. She’s cool and awesome like that. We did perform the rap in front of her, though. She had every right to call me a snot then, but she just listened with a turned up eyebrow like a patient, tolerant mother.
Eclectic Spaghetti 
Wow, another reference that will allow me to mention the Dropkick Murphys. They do a song on 2007: The Meanest of Times called, “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya,” which is based on the same tune. I did a rap tape with two others (they will remain anonymous) and that was quite fun.
haha! I love the watching your train of thought here :-) Me and my sister used to record ourselves doing a variety show in our room. I’m sure if the networks had caught wind of it, we’d be super stars today.
Ha! That was fun! Your rap stories made me smile. The only commercial jingle that’s still in my head from childhood is that Coke song:
I’d like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I’d like to buy the world a Coke
And keep it company
Unfortunately, I remember almost every commercial jingle from the 70’s and 80’s and they pop into my head at really inappropriate times. There should be some kind of support group for that.
AlienCG: My friends and I played with recordings a lot – we did a talk show once, I’ve been a DJ, then there was the raps and stuff. It is lots of fun.
Laura B.: Yeah, we did a talk show once in my basement! There were four of us and we’d all take turns being the guest and th host. It would be fun to try that again.
Eros: I’ve had that theme song in my head too and just when it started to leave me alone, you come along! ;) I like that song, though.
Churlita: That support group would be amusing and frustrating at the same time, wouldn’t it? Ellen Degeneres once mentioned that commercial jingles slip into her head in the middle of yoga, when she’s supposed to clear her head.
Thank you for validating my insanity! That song goes through my head but i can find no videos of the ad. Might have been a locall ad for cleveland where the company is from. Just got married wife is sick and asked me to get mrs weiss soup mix and noodles and i started singing the song and she looked at me like i wad an idiot making it up
Ha, no, you’re not crazy. 😄
I loved your article. Only one thing. The lyrics to Mrs. Weiss are, “…Mrs. Weiss’ noodle soups, satisfies your hungry troops…” That is all. Carry on soldier.