"Comet" was a well-known humorous children's song

Children's song

Children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that young children invent and share among themselves, or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home, or education...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It describes the deleterious effects of consuming Comet cleanser

Comet (cleanser)

Comet is a powdered cleaning product sold in North America and distributed in the United States by Prestige Brands. Scratch Free Comet with Bleach Disinfectant Cleanser contains 1.2% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate and 98.8% "other" ingredients...

—a powdered cleansing product sold in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The most prominent and often-occurring effect in the song is that it turns one's teeth green. Among other effects alleged by this song are an unappealing taste and, unsurprisingly, a tendency to vomit.

Although this song, like many in its genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

, has widely variable lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

, a common version contains the following words:

Comet - it makes your teeth turn green;

Comet - it tastes like gasoline;

Comet - it makes you vomit;

So take some Comet and vomit today!

The melody of the song is the Colonel Bogey March

Colonel Bogey March

The "Colonel Bogey March" is a popular march that was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts , a British army bandmaster who later became director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth...

.

In popular culture

• Bart Simpson sings a version about his sister in the Simpsons
  The Simpsons
  The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
  
  episode "Stark Raving Dad
  Stark Raving Dad
  "Stark Raving Dad" is the first episode of the third season of American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 19, 1991...
  
  "