Popcorn Popping - Blogged by JME

N8 and I are having a debate. I am the primary chorister in my ward and have been singing 'Popcorn Popping' lately with my primary since spring has sprung. This is how we sing it in Primary:

I looked out the window, and what did I see?
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!
Spring had brought me such a nice surprise,
Blossoms popping right before my eyes.
I could take and armful and make a treat,
A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.
It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

While I was visiting my husband a couple weeks ago, I was singing the song and sang the line that goes 'Blossoms popping right before my eyes.' N8 looked at me funny and told me that it isn't 'Blossoms' but 'Popcorn.' After much debate, I checked the Children's Song Book again. The CSB says 'Blossoms' instead of 'Popcorn.' We looked it up on the internet and there are many who sing it both ways. So which is it??? N8 says it originally was 'Popcorn' but has not yet found a good source to prove it. N8's sources have been ChaCha, Donalupe's Kitchen, and YouTube, which I don't think proves his point. I looked up the writer of the song, who is Georgia W. Bello. I found an article on line from the LDS Friend which said:

Georgia W. Bello

Georgia W. Bello is a Church-trained musician. She developed her talents as she served in Church callings.

One spring when the orchards in Magna, Utah, were blossoming, Sister Bello’s young son said, “Oh, look, Mother … popcorn’s popping on the apricot tree!” Some years later, when Sister Bello was a Primary music leader, her son’s words came back to her, and she wrote the song that includes his words.

Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

However, that article does not talk about the original words being 'Popcorn' instead of 'Blossoms.' N8 found another article from the Meridian Magazine:

Popcorn Popping

As Georgia W. Bello and her four-year-old son admired the beauties of an apricot orchard in full bloom near their home in Magna, Utah, her son made a delighted statement that planted the seeds of perhaps the best-loved Primary song: “Popcorn’s popping on the apricot tree!”

Six years later, Sister Bello once again noticed the profuse apricot blossoms, and her son’s gleeful words came into her mind. She didn’t own a piano at that time, so she grabbed her toddler daughter’s toy piano and plunked out the melody that has become famous to children throughout the Church. Because it was composed on that toy piano, no “black keys”—flats or sharps—are part of the composition.

Wanting to teach the song to the children in her ward, she solicited the help of friend and Primary music leader Betty Lou Cooney to write down the melody and to include music for the left hand. The rest is history.

The song was altered and made easier for use in the Children’s Songbook. It has also been published in many music collections for elementary-age children in the public schools.

So, this article says that the song was altered but it doesn't say what part. It could have been the sheet music or any number of words.

So, here is your challenge. We want to know what you think. Please leave a comment letting us know what you think the lyrics should be. There are backrubs riding on this debate. If N8 wins, he gets a backrub and if I win, I get one. So, please vote for ME!!!! Just kidding. We want to know what you really think.