Arthur has been going for 23 seasons now, but surprisingly one of their hit running gags, the song “Crazy Bus” was only used for seasons 2-5 (it recently got mentioned for the first time since season 7). It is still one of the most recognizable noises from the show, and it was only stopped because the writer/performer left the show, and they would have needed to pay him royalties. In universe it is a hit children’s song about lunacy that everyone but Arthur himself loves.
Out of universe the moral is clear when viewing the episode “That’s a Baby Show” (written by the same writer, Joe Fallon). The recurring gag is that Arthur hates it deeming it to be for babies, but every single character besides him loves it. Baby Kate, and D.W. love it, so does his entire class, The Tough Customers, all of his older relatives. His main reason he hates it is why I keep hearing grown ups saying why they hate great children’s movies, because the younger guys keep playing it over and over. That is really accurate. I relate better to D.W. than anyone on the show, and I was very guilty of playing The Land Before Time 5 over and over.
The song is used to criticize older children and adults who despise Children’s media, when the problem has nothing to do with the song, but how much D.W. plays it.
Despite calling it the worst song ever the only real criticism Arthur has directed at the song instead of D.W. is its use of made up words. If that means the song is bad then Dr. Seuss (interesting fact- “Seuss” rhymes with “voice”) must be the world’s worst writer. This is a common method for rhymes, and building a distinct voice.
Time to get to the good stuff, lyric analysis.
Crazy bus, crazy bus,
Riding on the crazy bus
Riding up, riding down,
Driven by a funny clown
I have ridden on the greyhound many times. Normally the bus drivers are really careful seemingly to a fault, but occasionally they do try something crazy. It can also be a reference to the driver’s weird conversations like when one of mine told us about how the free masons run the nation. This made trips better and more entertaining.
Wacky goony, goofy, spoony
High as a plane or a balloon-y
Wait? Is everyone drunk? Another interpretation is the song is about to be about wish fulfillment.
Crazy bus, come with us,
As we ride, ride, ride, ride, ride
Most of us bus rides do/did not have a driver’s license, so we know we need the bus to take a vehicle. The word “ride” being used five times is likely a reference to how some people are on the bus for days. I once had a seat mate riding all the way from Salt Lake City to either New Orleans or Mobile, and he had been on the bus for multiple days.
It’s a crazy bus, not a schmazy bus,
Don’t make a fuss, just come with us
I think this is the driver telling everyone to ignore American busses’ bad reputation and just try to enjoy the trip.
Sloppy, sloopy, gloppy, gloopy,
Happy-happy, hoopy-hoopy,
Dopey, doffy, screwy, blue-y
Gooey, chewy, fooey, dewey
Absolutely bus-a-looey
Crazy, lazy, crazy, crazy bus
These guys are having way too much fun. I think someone is eating food and making a huge mess everywhere, and everyone is basically just partying in it.
A flat tire is no problem,
Because it’s only flat on the bottom
A flat tire is no problem,
Because it’s only flat on the bottom
So let’s go!
Let’s go!
Let’s GOOOOO!
Wacky, goony, goofy, spoony
High as a plane or a balloon-y
Okay, I have two interpretations, and they both involve the bus going airborne. One is that everyone is so out of their minds (crazy) that they are happy as the bus is flying in a giant crash. The below lyrics are a description of their bodies and remains, and they die with great big smiles.
The other is about wish fulfillment when riding a bus. I had to regularly go into Baton Rouge, which is legendary for its awful traffic, and we often had 1-2 hour traffic delays. You could interpret the above lyrics, as the the bus passengers super inflated the tops of the tires until they became super balloons. Then they just flew over the traffic to their destination. Trust me, all of us bus passengers wanted to do that at some point.
Sloppy, sloopy, gloppy, gloopy,
Hoola-hoopa, hoppy-hoopy,
Dopey, doffy, screwy, blue-y,
Gooey, chewy, fooey, dewey
Absolutely bus-a-looey
Crazy, lazy, crazy, crazy bus
Crazy!
Bus!
Crazy!
I cannot tell if this is a description of corpses or the passengers partying in their flying bus. This song really is the best driving music ever.
Next time on Tuesday November 9th- lets try this again.
The Animation Historian 