I Don't Wanna Throw Up

Initially set to the Toys-R-Us theme tune, this commercial song was appropriately titled 'I Don't Want To Grow Up, I'm A Toys-R-Us Kid'. Introduced to the world in February 1960, it was accompanied by the store mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe. There are many other various cover versions, but this one remains one of the most prolific.

Parody cover versions of classic kids' tunes are a staple of school playgrounds worldwide, as children creatively inflect their own lyrics onto a popular tune of the time. Nursery rhymes have faced similar treatment in the past, right up to favourite cartoon theme tunes. Usually they have a fun juvenile refrain, and in 'I Don't Wanna Throw Up' it's someone overeating at the zoo.

The original lyrics to the song were about a child not wanting to grow up because of the many toys that Toys-R-Us had in store, which they wanted to play with. With 'I Don't Wanna Throw Up' the lyrics have been changed to feature someone eating too much on a day out to the zoo and worrying about being sick.

The slogan 'I'm a Toys-R-Us Kid' was first coined by the best-selling writer James Patterson, who at the time worked as the chairman for the advertising company J. W. Thompson. This was the slogan which was to go on and inspire the famously catchy jingle.

Other famous artists to have covered the original song are the popular pop-punk band 'Less Than Jake' with their song Channel 14.