butt washing

There is a German kids’ song about handwashing that goes like this:

Hände waschen, Hände waschen muss ein jedes Kind Hände waschen, Hände waschen bis sie sauber sind

which translates loosely to

(Hand washing, hand washing, every kid must do Hand washing, hand washing, until they they’re clean like new)

and then there is a kind of a joke:

Nun sind die Hände sauber, ja Doch leider ist kein Handtuch da

(And now your hands are clean, oh wow, But sadly there’s no hand towel)

It then proceeds through different parts of the body, which all need cleaning, and all need drying with an absent hand towel. The silliest bit is when the song reaches “der Popo” (your butt).

Popo waschen, Popo waschen muss ein jedes Kind Popo waschen, Popo waschen bis er sauber ist

This is humorous in a childlike way on German terms alone, with the mild taboo breaking, plus the break in rhyme from “sie sauber sind” to “er sauber ist”, but is especially funny if you translate it literally:

(Butt washing, butt washing, every kid must do, butt washing, butt washing until he’s clean like new)

My kids are too old for this song now but listen to it occasionally for nostalgia’s sake, and this line always amuses me. I like to think it stems from a deep