Via Christine Quinones, I learn of the sad news that folk singer Tom Glazer died last week at the age of 88. Who was Tom Glazer, you ask? Why, the writer of one of the best songs ever, On Top of Spaghetti, that’s who. Sing it now with me:
On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.It rolled in the garden,
And under a bush,
And then my poor meatball,
Was nothing but mush.The mush was as tasty
As tasty could be,
And then the next summer,
It grew into a tree.The tree was all covered,
All covered with moss,
And on it grew meatballs,
And tomato sauce.So if you eat spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
Hold on to your meatball,
Whenever you sneeze.
sniff…brings a tear to my eyes, it does.
Tom Glazer occasionally speculated about meeting St. Peter at the Pearly Gates and being asked what he accomplished in music. Mr. Glazer mumbles that he wrote “On Top of Spaghetti.”
“Sorry, buster, you can’t enter,” the imagined St. Peter replies.
I’m sorry, but any version of Heaven that I can imagine has plenty of room for people like him. Rest in peace, Tom Glazer.