Who Would Eat Escargot?

Hot on the heels of last year's smash hit "The Boar's Head Carol" (adapted/arranged by John), we present "Who Would Eat Escargot?" (What is it with him and disgusting foods??) In this humorous song we are playing off a child's natural inclination not to try new foods. Escargot seemed like a perfect choice for the song because snails are slimy, and we're guessing most kids don't like slimy food. (FYI, okra is also a slimy food, and even though John is part Cajun, and Cajuns are known for their fondness of this vegetable, he does not care for it. At all.)

This song has a bit of a polka feel to it, and to that end we're using accordion in our tracks because it works with both polka music and escargot, which is quintessentially French. The melody on our tracks is covered by accordion, flute, and clarinet so your singers will have melodic reinforcement. Be sure to have them put a glottal on "escargot." It doesn't have to be a hard glottal, but enough to distinguish the word.

On the recording, we had our kids do some ad libbed spoken reactions to some of the lyrics. You can use these (indicated on the music and lyric page), or let your kids make up their own responses (if you dare).

A bit of trivia for you: Snails really do have a stomach-foot, which makes them gastropods. Gastro, from the Greek meaning stomach, and pod, from the Greek meaning foot. This does not make them any more appetizing in our opinion.

Warning: Eating raw or undercooked snails puts you at risk of contracting a parasite called Rat Lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis), which can cause meningitis in humans. Yet another reason not to eat escargot! If you're someone who just has to try snails (why??), be sure to cook them well!