Parodies of the song that ended Barney and Friends became a big hit in the 90s, enough so that Sherman’s book has a whole section on The Death of Barney.
I always assumed that the following was a Barney parody:
I love you, you love me,
homosexuality
people think that we’re just friends
but we’re really lesbians
The thing is, though, this was current on playgrounds in the 1950s along with “You Don’t Go Out With Boys Anymore/You don’t like Elvis Presley.” and a couple of others. Believe it or not, the 1950s were a boom time for playground songs about lesbians.
Most of the variations on this song, though, do seem to be much more violent, and generally do involve various ways to murder Barney the Dinosaur. Such as:
I hate you, you hate me
together we can kill Barney
one big shot and Barney’s on the floor
no more purple dinosaur!
Many of these songs went from playground to playground at roughly the speed of light in the 1990s, and have outlived Barney’s popularity. They’re connected to a long tradition of kids too old for a certain show slagging it off through song parody (see also: Howdy Doody)
Add the versions you heard in the comments!
Overheard from a kid in a New York City McDonald's, early 90's:
I love you
You love me
Barney gave me H.I.V.
Cause he was down with O.P.P.
The gritty urban version, complete with reference to the rap hit from Naughty by Nature.
i love you you love me let's go out and kill barney with a big shotgun and bang bang in the floor no more stupid dnosaur
hehe so fun
I love you,
You love me,
Let's gang up and kill Barney,
With a 4X4 we'll chase him out the door,
No more purple dinosaur
BC in the late 1990's
I love You,
You love Me,
Barney gave me HIV,
It Started with a kiss and ended on the floor,
I got raped by a dinosaur
I hate you
You hate me,
Lets chase Barney up a tree, i’ll get the flamethrower,
You get the gas,
And we’ll light up his purple ass
Oregon – United States
I hate you.
You hate me.
Let's get together and kill Barney
with an axe to the neck
and a bullet to the head.
We're so glad that Barney's dead.
I hate you
You hate me
We're a happy family
With a great big punch
and a kick from me to you.
Won't you say you hate me too?
(Palo Alto, 2000s)
LETS GET PHYSICAL!
Bristol, England in the late nineties.
I hate you, you hate me
Barney's watching MTV
With the shot of a gun and a bullet in his head
Sorry children Barney's dead
I hate you, You hate me
Lets go out and kill Barney,
With a baseball bat and a 2 by 4,
No more purple (or stupid) dinosaur!
In the 1990's in Newfoundland Canada
That’s the version that I heard too! I think there was another section about where to hide the body, but maybe they was just my school.
This was the one I knew as a kid. Shocking thing is I live in England and always have, kinda cool (and creepy) that the same version existed in both countries at similar times.
I hate you, you hate me
Barney gave me HIV
It started with a hug, but Barney wanted more
I got raped by a dinosaur
I hate you
You hate me
We went out and killed Barney
And we kicked his butt and we punched him in the head
Sorry, kids, but Barney's dead
(I made that one up)
I love u
u love me
let's chase Barney up a tree!
With a knife in my hand
I stab him in the head!
Sorry, kids, but Barney' s dead!
I love you, you love me, let's get together and kill Barney, with a bomb in his bed and a sword in his head, sorry kid's, but Barney's dead.
I hate you, you hate me, let's get together and lynch Barney. With a great big noose we will hang him from a tree. Sorry kids no more Barney
(Texas, early 1990s)
i love booze
booze loves me
holy sh!t i have to pee
i'm so smashed im falling on the floor
alcoholic dinosaur
Haha good one
I hate you
You Hate Me
Lets gang up and kill barney
I'll get the fire
You get the gas
Lets blow barneys big fat ass
I hate you
You hate me
Let's gang up and kill Barney
With a kick and a punch and a bullet in the head
Look now kids, poor Barney's dead!
NY early 90's
Northern Kentucky, 1990s
I love you, you love me,
Let's get together and kill Barney.
I'll get the lighter and you get the gas,
Let's all kill Barney's purple ass!
-Texas, early 2000's
I love you
you love me
Barney gave me HIV
so I kicked him in the balls
and shot him in the head
now that purple basturds dead
I hate you, you hate me
let’s get together and kill Barney
with a one shot, two shot, three shot, four
no more purple dinosaur
lol i edited it :
I hate you,you hate me,let’s team up and kill Barney
With a sword and push it on he’s butt
Now he’s dead and butt hurted
What do you think of it ? c:
I hate you, you hate me
Let’s get together and kill Barney
Grab a fork and stick it in his head
Aren’t you glad that Barney’s dead?
– New Jersey, early 2010s
i hate u, u hate me
lets hang out and kill barney
with a 4 by 4 and a rpg
no more purple dinasour
New Zealand late 2010s
amongst middleschoolers
I love you, you love me.
Let’s get together and kill barney.
Bang with a shotgun, Barney hit the floor.
No more purple dinosaur.
I hate you
You hate me
Let’s get together and kill Barney
With a great big hug
And a bullet in the head
Just one shot
And Barney’s dead
– Southern California (Los Angeles/Orange County), early 2000’s
Nah, I heard the one about family
i love you
u love me
lets get together and kill barney
with a 1 shot 2 shot 3 shot 4
no more purple dinosaur
Learnt in 2007/ 2008, Suffolk, England
I hate you, you hate Me.
Lets go off and kill barney
with a baseball bat and a four by four,
no more purple dinosaurs.
Sorry kids, Barney’s dead.
I chopped off his big fat head
with a baseball bat and a four by four,
no more purple dinosaurs.
Michigan, circa 2005/6:
I hate you, you hate me,
Barney stole my SUV,
So I went to the store and I bought a .44,
No more purple dinosaur.