Wednesday 21 May 2014

The Other Side to a Nursery Rhyme

It's that joyous time of the year again when my girl crosses another milestone and enters a whole new adventurous territory of two-dom where, with her burgeoning penchant for song and theatrics, she will have a whole new set of ambitions to fulfill, new rules to break and new lessons to be learned.

But speaking of song and speaking of lessons to be learned, and unfortunately I'm already killing the celebratory mood that I seemed to be getting you into, I've had an unsettling discovery. It's not that I hadn't already sensed it before. Maybe I wasn't being very attentive. But you see, when you hear the same thing over and over again and you can't help humming it back in the kitchen, on the toilet seat, on an empty street (yes, like a whacko), in a chorus with your baby, you're bound to stop and really listen. So I'm singing this nursery rhyme and I totally hit a high-pitched Soprano-like note, much to the awe of my only audience, eagerly waiting for the glass to shatter...

Except that it does. My interpretation that a nursery rhyme, catchy as it is, is a song about glee and anticipation and praying before going to bed and teddy bears and rainbows and cute twinkling stars,  came crumbling down. And the more I paid attention, the more clearly I saw.

So I start ferreting through my book of nursery rhymes for evidence of more such morbid songs disguised as shiny, happy jingles, recited time and again by little children. I mean I don't know what kind of twisted, allegorical history has given them shape and maybe they're just nonsensical prose meant to help children find their way into acquiring language.

But they are disturbing, alright.

Here are the words to some of the nursery rhymes that dare to creep you out maybe to the point of boycotting them altogether for your child:

1. Goosey Goosey Gander
Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs.
Image Source: http://ancroiait.wordpress.com
I mean sure I want my child to learn how to say her prayers but not for the fear of being bumped down by the stairs by an innocent-looking goose. And how about some respect to the poor old man?

2. Rock-a-Bye Baby
Hush-a-bye baby
On the tree top,
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
And down will fall baby
Cradle and all.
Image Source: nursery-rhymes.org
And you say Sweet Dreams to your baby after giving her a terrifying vision of her cradle coming crashing down from the tree top. Turns out we're literally bidding bye to the baby. Awwww!

3.There was an Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. 
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Image Source: mommylife.net
Now there's a fairy tale straight out of  Les Miserables. You don't have to be a genius to see that this is about the despicable circumstance of a poverty-stricken single mother not sparing the rod and spoiling the child(ren).

 4. It's Raining, It's Pouring
 It's raining, it's pouring,
The old man's snoring.
He got into bed
And bumped his head
And couldn't get up in the morning.

Image Source: grandmasnurseryrhymes.com
"Why couldn't the old man get up, mommy?" Tough luck explaining that.

 5.Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
Peter , Peter , pumpkin-eater, 
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well

Image Source: cafemom.com
How very thoughtful. Wife goes astray. She goes into a pumpkin shell. Dead or alive, I wonder?


6. Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill, 
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown;
And Jill came tumbling after. 

Image Source: pinterest
OK, falling is like a recurrent theme in nursery rhymes. Sure, falling is funny. But incidentally, this had some deep-rooted political symbolism. You see, this poem is from France. And there's a theory that Jack here is referring to King Louis XVI and Jill is Queen Marie Antoinette. So Jack was beheaded (broke his crown) and Jill came tumbling after (during the Reign of Terror).

7.  Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run, 
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life, 
As three blind mice?

Image Source: gutenberg.org
"PETA Helpline? Need to report some cruelty against mice. No, not being tortured for beauty sake this time. Just being tortured for good ol' fun." But FYI, it even gets creepier. Some say that this poem is an allusion to Queen Mary I and her fondness for torture and the three blind mice were noblemen from her court who were blinded and executed for allegedly conspiring against her.

8. Ladybird Ladybird
Ladybird, ladybird fly away home, 
Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
All except one,
And her name is Ann,
And she hid under the baking pan.
arts-literature.blurtit.com

Goodness grief! This one's disturbing enough on its own. But FYI, the ladybird here refers to a 16th century catholic, when it was illegal to be a practicing Catholic. The fire is probably symbolic of how Catholic priests were burned for holding true to their beliefs.

 9. Georgie Porgie
Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie, 
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.

Image Source: nursery-rhymes.org
Oh, just a harmless little bully getting his way around innocently kissing girls against their will. And get this. This poem is loosely based on the adulterous, bisexual misgivings of a Duke and a bunch of other royal turds.

And last but not the least:

10. There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly 
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die! 
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!  


And she goes on to swallow a bird, a cat and other things, all ending on the happy note that she probably will die. 

As parents, we're always looking for novel ways to block out all the darkness for our kids that is regularly dished out on TV, in games, and wherever else they're prone to stumble upon it. But who'd have thought that there's a green monster chock full of terror and violence hiding in a cute little book of nursery rhymes?



Source: Cracked.com

10 comments:

  1. Rock-a-Bye Baby seems like an innocent Rhyme till you read it again and again to understand it is not.
    What a sham...thankfully hindi Ryhmes are a bit better :)

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  2. I too had these thoughts once..err ok maybe twice!! but then thankfully for kids they outgrow everything too fast. My 9 year old asked me the same thing, "what is so funny and sing-songy about three mice getting their tails cut off, kuchh bhi kya !!" well actually if u go too deep in to the depths..its dark..yes :)

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  3. Wow! These poems are scary as hell. I have never really given them much thought till now, but I've learned my lesson

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  4. Shaily: Hahaha...Can you imagine 9-year olds are more observant than us? I've been singing them all this while and only the other day did I actually pay attention to the words :). So apparently, most of these rhymes date from the 16th century when people had no freedom of speech. So these songs were cryptic messages about their true feelings. There were so many others that were even more disturbing.

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  5. Khushboo: Thanks for reading :). Glad you found it enlightening!

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  6. Nice analysis.. think we should stick to just few: twinkle twinkle little stars.. Johny johny- yes papa.. baa baa black sheep.. :)

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    2. Thank you Roohi! Hahaha...yea maybe it's time to ban these rhymes for good.

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  7. What a insightful explanation ! Really Flummoxed to see such poems for kids

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