Fruitcake Toss

by John Riggio

Has your fruitcake overstayed its welcome? Is it past its prime? We may have a solution for you. The first Saturday in January is Fruitcake Toss Day! In this hilarious song, John revisits the style of his acclaimed song "Everlasting Fruitcake" (Music K-8, Vol. 11, No. 2). In that song we learned you can't really get rid of fruitcake, so what to do? You toss it, of course!

The melody is repetitive enough to learn by rote (though reading always helps), and has just a bit of syncopation. If you have any actors in your ranks, have them try some of the silly spoken lines in the song. Listen to the Performance/Accompaniment recording for examples – our studio singers had fun with this!

In performance, students can wear winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves, etc. And, oh yeah, there should be a fruitcake to toss. (Real or fake.) If it's real, perhaps wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it from crumbling.

Every year in Manitou Springs, Colorado, they hold The Great Fruitcake Toss, where people throw, launch, hurl, and catapult fruitcakes as far as they can. It's the most famous contest of its kind, but that doesn't mean you can't hold your own fruitcake toss! Just please be safe and make sure you have plenty of space to do it.

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.