Nursery Rhymes

Mitsuki

Mitsuki

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Hmm, have any of you noticed how disturbing some nursery rhymes are?

Example: Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

So, we're singing about...hmm, a cradle on a treetop with a baby inside. When the bough (tree's branch) breaks, the cradle will obviously fall...bringing the baby with it.

I mean, what is up with that? o_O It's really disturbing. And we actually teach children these?

Also, another example: Ring around the rosies
Pocket full of poesies
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Now that is disturbing too. Poesies are flowers...perhaps it's talking about those flowers that you throw around in graves? Ashes, ashes, we all fall down...it seems to be referring to the fact that we will all eventually die. The song suggests that we are dancing around a grave or something. So, why sing about death? Especially to children?

Another one: London bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down

You know how the rest goes. Erm, I just don't get it. They all seem so...dark. =/

There's more nursery rhymes that are quite disturbing, but I don't feel like typing them all out. Maybe later.
 
you have to think about when the rhymes were created, back when you were lucky if you survived childhood, back when you killed and ate the cow in the same day. death was a common occurrence in these times, people were used to it and unlike today's society where the very mention of death shocks and horrifies people , these nursery rhymes were created to help relieve the fear associated with death
 
Mitsuki said:
Also, another example: Ring around the rosies
Pocket full of poesies
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.
Click to expand...


When I was at school my history teacher told us that that nursery rhyme is about the Black Death (the plague) When you know that it really is disturbing when you hear kids singing it.

I found a link to wikipedia that tells you about it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_O'Roses
 
wow...that was creppy, i will never look at that movie the same way again...lol
 
Kdy said:
When I was at school my history teacher told us that that nursery rhyme is about the Black Death (the plague) When you know that it really is disturbing when you hear kids singing it.

I found a link to wikipedia that tells you about it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_O'Roses
Click to expand...

Ah, thank you! That explains a lot and extremely interesting. I might do some research about it. I just still don't get why they would teach children about death. I mean, for what purpose? To make them realize how real it is at such an early age?

And Aeris Gainsborough, that is a VERY freaky clip!

-----

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.

(When I was a kid, I've always thought that the "crown" was actually a crown that a king wears, so I didn't see anything wrong with the song. Now I know that the "crown" they're referring to is the crown on the top of your head, meaning that Jack cracked his skull or something.)
 
Wjy do half the nursery rhyme characters end up dead? Now thats disturbing! :O Fairytales too! Creepy....things we normally associate with being Happy things have creepy undertones of death o_0
 
I don't know why some of the nursery rhymes characters end up dead. I'd like to know that, myself. A friend of mine and I were arguing about this on MSN, and he said that back then people died young, so it was a comfort to them to turn death into something child-like. I don't agree though. Why turn it more depressing? I don't see any comfort in that.

We also argued the fact that most parents probably didn't notice the meaning behind the lyrics, so there is no harm in teaching parents these things to kids. And that if the kids don't notice, what's the harm? Anyone agree to this?

I really don't. There is no way, no how, that I am going to teach these to my kids. I'm sure the kids don't notice, but the fact that I know wouldn't help at all. I don't want to sing a lullaby about death to my children. I've only begun to notice the darkness to some of the nursery rhymes like half a year ago. Did any of you notice before this?

Granted, the songs/rhymes are soothing, fun and even likable. But these beautiful melodies cover up the darker side of the rhymes, IMO. Most songs are okay though. I have no problem with it.
 
ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down

That reffers to the Black death. I think if you had the disease, you got red rings on you and your skin turned black, like ashes. They carried around posies in their pockets for some reason. 'We all fall down" well, pretty obvious there.

the Jack be nimble one says that he set himself on fire or something.
Another one, about some kid who kissed girls until they cried is obviously advocating child porn, molestation, and rap.
and the one with the plum talks about how it's good to be sent to the corner, cause you'll get pie.
 
well, this one isnt as bad, but

Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub

... what do you think they are rubbing? :O
we are teaching our kids to be gay

or, for the girls, the original from the 14th century:
Rub a dub dub, three maids in a tub....
...the HELL.....

i think that a "tub" is a boat, but still, when i was 10, i thought that it meant three guys were rubbing each other in a tub, which i found odd...
 
The English version of a ring of roses replaces ashes, ashes with a-tish-yu, a-tish-you (the sound of sneezing, also a symptom of the Black Death).

Oh and London Bridge is falling down is actually based on the time when some Yank bought London Bridge and sent it brick by Brick to the USA. Only problem was, he thought he was buying Tower Bridge.... oops, sorry, that one isn't for sale.
 
I think it's all pretty funny, but I was too naive as a child to understand the real meaning behind all of these. It doesn't disturb me at all though because I saw worse things on TV.
 
They never said that Humpty Dumpty was an egg...

Though not a nursery rhyme related, there are several stories that we overlook, as well.

The story of Alice in Wonderland is an obvious drug reference. The references included the White Rabbit (Speed, I think), and the Mushrooms that made Alice bigger and smaller. Heck, the caterpillar is smoking from a hookah.

We also have Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Hmm...a young woman stranded in a house of seven men...at least the horror movie version of the story makes obvious hints towards that.

When I think of others, I shall post them.
 
Lol, yeah I've heard about Snow White and her seven dwarves. I wouldn't say she's a very lucky girl. =/ Oooh, but I never heard about Alice in Wonderland! That's very interesting! =O I shall spread the word!
 
Also, another example: Ring around the rosies
Pocket full of poesies
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

This was written supposedly about the Bubonic (Black) Plague. "Ring around the rosies" represents the dark circles that people got around their eyes. "Pocket full of posies" represents the people that believed that if they carried posies in their pockets, they would be spared form the plague. "Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down", of course, means death.
 
I got one...

Three blind mice, three blind mice
See how they run, see how they run
They all ran after the farmer's wife
She cut of their tails with a carvin' knife
You ever see such a sight in your life?
Three blind mice

Always felt bad for all the three tail-less mice...

EDIT: Here's a list of rhymes I found on wikipedia if anyone wants to check it out. It's pretty long.
 
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