kid songs in the car —
I’d forgotten all about
three blind mice
One of my friends gave me a 3 CD collection of classic children’s songs with H came into my life. Since he’s been home, those CDs have proven themselves to be a well chosen gift. H loves them! I’m quite sick of them, if truth be told, but I’m continually amazed by the song collection.
Some of the songs are tunes I’d forgotten all about, songs I probably hadn’t thought about — let alone sung — in decades, and yet here they are coming through my car stereo and there I am singing every single word. Three Blind Mice is a perfect example. It’s even sung in a round on the CD, and I’m pretty certain I sang Three Blind Mice in a round in elementary school.
But beyond all the “a-ha” moments of suddenly discovering I know all the words to all these songs I’d forgotten, I also have these “what the f—?” moments where I find myself listening to one of these “kid” songs and thinking, “Who decided this was appropriate for kids?” For example, again, Three Blind Mice. The lady cuts off their tails with a carving knife and it’s the topic for a cute little ditty for wee children? Really?
And consider this one:
Oh where have you been Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Oh where have you been charming Billy?
I have been to see my wife, she’s the apple of my life. She’s a young thing and cannot leave her mother.
What? His wife is so young she can’t leave home? Putting aside the rather obvious question about pedophilia, who decided this was an appropriate song for children?
I enjoy nursery rhymes and fairy tales very much. But yes, they are weird. My solution is to get Penny to critically think about the tales. Peter, Peter Pumpkin eater, had a wife but couldn’t keep her? Put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well. Penny and I decided that Peter is a very bad boy and when we read the tale we shout, “naughty!”
Comment by Alison — January 16, 2013 @ 6:12 am
My favorite:
Rock-a-bye baby, in 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
Comment by Uncle Michael — January 16, 2013 @ 11:57 am
Of course I love this Haiku. So happy H loves the songs!. Perhaps it is the music, all the majors and minors, chords, voices, that make him happy and feel the music! I guess I never put too much thought into the lyrics but he music had me at happy and content!
Comment by Catherine Stenzel — January 16, 2013 @ 5:30 pm