Well, as I was singing along and dancing around in front of my son, I started to listen to the words. Although I've known the origins of some of these songs in the past and found it odd, I never thought too much about them, but for some reason it bothered me more today.
Read these words to some of the most popular nursery rhymes we sing to our children today:
"Ring around the rosy,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes, Ashes,
We all fall down!"
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"Rock 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 come baby, cradle and all."
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"London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair lady.
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair lady.
Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, iron and steel,
Build it up with iron and steel,
My fair lady.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My fair lady.
Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold,
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair lady.
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair lady.
Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair lady.
Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair lady.
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night,
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair lady."
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Ring Around the Rosy - I have sung and danced to this upbeat nursery rhyme more times that I can count in my life. I can't even remember when I learned it. Maybe you've heard that this song supposedly refers to the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) that killed around 75 million people (30-60% of the entire population) in Europe during the 14th century[1]. I had heard this before too, but today it really hit me that those aren't just numbers, but rather, people! 75 million PEOPLE died a terrible death due to an outbreak of a disease, and we have a sing-song nursery rhyme which ends in us "all fall(ing) down," as if to die like the millions of people in Europe who died during this outbreak. YIKES!
Ring around the rosy is said to be referring to the red sores, which looked as if they had a ring around them, that people who contracted this disease would get on their bodies. A pocket full of posies refers to sweet-smelling packets to either ward off the smell from the disease or to keep the disease from spreading (based on the incorrect idea that the disease was spread through a foul odor it caused). Ashes, Ashes, burning bodies of those whose lives were lost to this disease...
We all fall down - the entire population of Europe may have died if it weren't for a great fire that killed the rats who carried this disease...
First off, it seems to me very disrespectful of all those human lives that were lost (shouldn't we be helping our children to learn to value human life). Secondly, I don't want my baby to grow up singing a song and playing a game (so to speak) where they pretend to die at the end due to the symptoms of a terrible disease. How scary to think of that happening today to our children!
Rock-A-Bye Baby - There are a couple of stories I found when researching this nursery rhyme, but neither were related to a child falling from a tree; However, regardless of whether or not there is a connection to history in this nursery rhyme, does it really seem comforting to sing our babies to sleep with a song that end in a baby falling from a tree?! I don't think that would comfort me!
London Bridge is Falling Down - Thankfully, this song does not mention anything about injury or death, but it is said to be based upon the difficulties that were experienced in London with building and re-building a bridge over and over...and over again because of destruction by vikings and several other destructive events[2]. How disappointing for those who built that bridge...again and again... I don"t want to instill fear of bridges in my son when we live in a town with several of them! But hey, at least it teaches our kids that if they smoke a pipe they'll be able to stay up all night and get their job done!
There are others ("Humpty Dumpty," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," and "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" come to mind), but this is a sampling of some of the nursery rhymes I came across that send strange or negative messages to our children (or are based upon negative situations in the history of the world).
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Anyway, I get that the vast majority of the time, we sing these songs without thinking about the words or what they mean and that all of this is done in fun (I also get that there is some speculation as to whether or not all of these nursery rhymes are based upon these historical events or not). I'm not condemning anyone for singing these songs and dancing around with their kids, I just wish our nursery rhymes could be more innocent and hold more positive messages.
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Here are some nursery rhymes that send positive messages. I want to try to focus on songs likes these when I sing to my son:
The more we get together,
Together, together;
The more we get together,
The happier we'll be.
'Cause your friends are my friends,
And my friends are your friends.
The more we get together,
The happier we'll be.
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.
If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it.
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.
(...Stamp your feet.)
(...Snap your fingers.)
(...Shout hurray!)
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world,
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
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There are other nursery rhymes with neutral messages, but that teach babies and children, as well, such as:
"Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and "The Hokey Pokey"
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References:
The other thing is stories- the Grimm Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Anderson come quick to mind. Times were tough then!
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