How is that a children's song?

[billyhorrible]

My solution to squirmy baby diaper changes is singing a song to keep the kid entertained.  With LBB, it was "I've been working on the railroad."  With BH I've been singing "Alouette."  This morning as I was singing I was thinking about what a morbid song it really is and how millions of little kids go around singing about torturing birds.

And I started thinking about other songs that seem inappropriate for children.  Like "You are my sunshine" has always creeped me out with its threatening stalker-like lyrics. And I adore "Waltzing Matilda" but it's about a suicidal thief.

Are there any other songs out there which make you wonder how they became beloved classics?

[Widget123]

The only one I can think of is Ring Around the Rosie

[Deleted]

Any grimms fairy tale stories. They are so f'd up.
Moral to the story? If you misbehave you might get baked by a strange old lady in an oven!

[jessila]

Many of the children's song we sing now, that have been passed down by aural tradition, were work songs or used as a form of entertainment a long time ago.
Then the song would get stuck in people's heads and get sung to babies. Babies learn it and continue to pass it onto their children.

You are my sunshine was a love song originally. There's a second verse which is super sad.

[billyhorrible]

Apr 5, 2016 17:00:23 GMT -5 madymoiselle said:

Haha, billyhorrible , do you sing it in French?

Bien sûr!  We don't have an English version of the song. 

[billyhorrible]

Apr 5, 2016 17:32:07 GMT -5 jessila said:

You are my sunshine was a love song originally. There's a second verse which is super sad.

See, you say "sad" I say "creepy."    I mean I don't know how else to take "If you leave me, to love another, you'll regret it all someday."

[jessila]

Apr 5, 2016 17:37:00 GMT -5 billyhorrible said:

Apr 5, 2016 17:32:07 GMT -5 jessila said:

You are my sunshine was a love song originally. There's a second verse which is super sad.

See, you say "sad" I say "creepy."    I mean I don't know how else to take "If you leave me, to love another, you'll regret it all someday."

Oooh! I know it differently!

The other night dear as I lay sleeping,
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
When I awoke dear, I was mistaken,
So I hung my head and cried.

What's the verse you know? #musicteachernerdalert I'm totally geeking out over this.

[billyhorrible]

Apr 5, 2016 17:28:12 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

Any grimms fairy tale stories. They are so f'd up.
Moral to the story? If you misbehave you might get baked by a strange old lady in an oven!

SO TRUE! So much eating of other people! The Robber Bridegroom might be one of the most disturbing children's stories ever.  I still get goosebumps when I think about it.

[billyhorrible]

jessila,

I'll always love you, and keep you happy
if you will always stay the same.
But if you leave me, to love another,
you'll regret it all some day.


Taken all together the song always made me think that "sunshine" was strapped to a chair in someone's basement.

[tiffbot]

Apr 5, 2016 17:42:20 GMT -5 billyhorrible said:

jessila,

I'll always love you, and keep you happy
if you will always stay the same.
But if you leave me, to love another,
you'll regret it all some day.


Taken all together the song always made me think that "sunshine" was strapped to a chair in someone's basement.

I just got the shivers reading this and your thoughts. I've never heard that before.

[Deleted]

Apr 5, 2016 17:09:26 GMT -5 @babybean9 said:

Rockabye Baby is weird. A lot of lullabies to be a bit morbid, I'm glad times have changed.

I used to sob with hysterical terror every time I heard Rockabye Baby when I was little. It's a horrible song. I still hate it and and have strong, visceral reactions to it. My heart is pounding just typing this.

[sammyca]

I did not know the other verses for "you are my sunshine". It's the song I sing to Freddie before I put him to bed. Super creepy now but probably just means I'm going to be that annoying MIL some day...

[jillywilly]

I sing "you are my sunshine" all the time to DS, but I only know the first verse. So if I continue singing, I'll make up words. Normally - you are my Wally, my only Wally. Your momma loves you so very much oh you don't know dear, how much I love you. So please be my sweet baby boy" or whatever pops in my head.

Additionally, when he was littler and playing on his kick mat, "little bunny fufu" would always play on the piano. DH thinks it's hilarious to make words up that change song lyrics to indicate someone's getting punched in the face or something anyway. So imagine our surprise when we learned the actual lyric is "little bunny fufu hopping through the forest. Picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head."

[heartofglass]

H and I were talking about this the other day....

It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring
He bumped his head
And went to bed
And didn't wake up in the morning

So what? The old man has a concussion and is in a coma?

[Bluedaisy]

Yup the Grimms fairy tales are terrifying. My cousin got me a book called "Grimm's Grimmest" it's an unabridged copy...without any of the scary stuff taken out. Holy it is so messed up. We both have a very sarcastic sense of humor so it was a gift to celebrate me getting my first job (teaching kindergarten) and in it she wrote "Read THIS at story time...I dare you!" I hardly finished it let alone ever bringing it to school!

[Bluedaisy]

Oooh and when I was little we had a fairytale anthology that had both Babes in the Wood and Bluebeard in it. Talk about nightmares!

[Bluedaisy]

heartofglass, I always wondered what that was talking about.

jillywilly, my kindergarteners loved Bunny Foofoo

[Deleted]

I don't know if the translation of this Icelandic lullaby is accurate or not but we LOAO when we saw this for the first time.

Sofur thu svid thitt
Svartur i augum
Far i fulan pytt
Fullan af draugum

Sleep, you black-eyed pig.
Fall into a deep pit of ghosts.

[billyhorrible]

Apr 5, 2016 19:32:28 GMT -5 heartofglass said:

H and I were talking about this the other day....

It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring
He bumped his head
And went to bed
And didn't wake up in the morning

So what? The old man has a concussion and is in a coma?

I forgot about this one! I remember LBB asking if the old man dies, and that's why he didn't wake up.

[veggiemo]

I sing you are my sunshine to LO before bed every night, just the chorus. But I know the creepy verses and I always had the same thought as you billyhorrible! Stalker!
Ok, I knew the verses from a children's CD we used to listen to when I was a preschool teacher. I just googled and can't find the song. I thought it was faith hill and another country singer (male) but evidently I'm wrong. I'm only telling this story because I'm hoping someone else knows what I'm talking about!

[belle0720]

Love this thread. I've always cringed at creepy songs but just kept on singing anyways!

I had no idea that there was more to You are My Sunshine than the chorus. I don't know what I was thinking!

[billyhorrible]

Apr 5, 2016 22:46:11 GMT -5 michyme123 said:

Mh's grandma always brings random crap that she finds and one of them was a German book called Der Struwwelpeter. I can't even look at the cover I'm going to have nightmares lol

I know this book! You're right, along the lines of Grimm it was to teach children to "behave."   I don't know if you're familiar with the musical "Spring Awakening" but the book was one of the inspirations for Wedekind's play that the musical is based on.

There's also an actual musical based on the book which uses puppets.

[mrsdee1982]

+1 to all the songs and stories listed here. In college I took a "fairy tale and mythology" class where we analyzed the original versions of mythological stories and fairy tales. So much sex. So much torture. So much gloom. So much death. Makes total sense to turn into Children's stories!

One song that just boggles my mind is not a kids song. It's a beloved Christmas classic. The Band Aid "Do They Know it's Christmas" song. I get the premise behind why it was recorded and released. But how…seriously, HOW has it become a Christmas classic??? With such cheery lyrics like:

"But when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
Is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring
There are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you"

There now. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and festive and joyful?