Do You Like Worms: Part 1
The Beach Boys Lyrics

The lyrics to The Beach Boys' song "Do You Like Worms" contain a unique blend of seemingly disparate elements that come together to form a narrative about the founding of America and the treatment of Native American people. The repeated refrain of "Rock, rock and roll / Plymouth rock, roll over" is a play on words that combines the birthplace of America (Plymouth Rock) with the popular music genre of rock and roll. The combination of these two elements represents a sort of cultural collision between the traditional values of America's founding and the new wave of modern popular culture.

The verse that follows this refrain is more explicit in its references to Native American history. The lyric "Bicycle rider, see see what you've done, to the church of the American Indian" speaks to the destructive impact of European colonization on indigenous cultures. The mention of a bicycle rider adds a surreal touch to the lyric, but ultimately underscores the idea that the arrival of Europeans in America set off a chain of events that drastically altered the lives and traditions of Native American people.

The song concludes with a series of nonsensical phrases that nonetheless convey a sense of cultural displacement and disconnection. The repeated lines "Wa halla loo lay / Wa halla loo lah / Keeny wok a poo lah" serve as a sort of tongue-in-cheek embodiment of the confusion and loss of identity that comes with cultural assimilation.