\"The Wheels on the Bus\" is an American folk song written by Verna Hills (1898–1990) of Boston, Massachusetts. The earliest known publishing of the lyrics is the December 1937 issue of American Childhood, originally called \"The Bus\", with the lyrics being \"The wheels of the bus\", with each verse ending in lines relevant to what the verse spoke of, as opposed to the modern standard \"all through the town\".

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It is a popular children's song in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Brazil. The song has a repetitive rhythm, making the song easy for many people to sing, in a manner similar to the song \"99 Bottles of Beer\". It is based on the traditional British song \"Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush\". The song is also sometimes sung to the tune of \"Buffalo Gals\", as in the versions done by Raffi Cavoukian and The Wiggles.\n

You can view multiple versions of the song made by various users on the YouTube platform here:\n

Tune and lyrics

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Each verse lists a mechanical part or type of person found on a bus and describes the motion or sound associated with it, beginning with the wheels. The remaining features may be improvised, similar to the animals in \"Old MacDonald Had a Farm\". The following is an example rendition of the song:\n

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Normally followed by \"The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish\" (with action), \"the horn on the bus goes beep beep beep\", and \"the people on the bus go up and down\" (with action). Some versions substitute \"bounce up and down\" for \"go up and down\", and some modern commercial recordings of the song in children's toys simplify the tune by copying notes 7 through 9 onto notes 13 through 15.\n

\nLyrics as they were originally found in the December 1937 issue of American Childhood:

Modern versions of the song change the lyrics in the seventh verse to say the daddies on the bus go \"I love you\". This can be seen in the popular remake by the children’s show Cocomelon. \n

Note that this version does not make any reference to the melody that is commonly attached to the song.\n

Other recordings

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In 2002, American Madonna impersonator Michelle Chappel, under the stage name \"Mad Donna\", released a single which sampled the song, featuring a version of Madonna's 1998 song \"Ray of Light\" over which the classic children's song was sung. The single reached No. 17 in the United Kingdom and also made the charts elsewhere in Europe.\n

In 2018, the YouTube channel Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes uploaded a cover and music video of the song; this video has amassed more than nine billion views and is currently, as of July 2026, the second most viewed videos on the site of all time. \n

The song also has lyrics in Swedish, Hjulen på bussen (\"The Wheels on the Bus\"), and among the artists who have recorded it are Pernilla Wahlgren in 1996. An example is linked here:\n

A new recording of this song appears in Ms Rachel's debut album '\"I'm So Happy\" released 25th November, 2026.\n

References

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Wheels on the Bus

Broadcast History