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Nursery Rhymes and how messed up alot of them really are

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by ChloeKiss, Dec 21, 2014.

  1. ChloeKiss

    ChloeKiss Guest

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    I'm talking about the MEANINGS behind some Nursery Rhyme songs.. Ring around the rosie is a nursery rhyme but the rhyme itself is associated with the BLACK DEATH
    I only found that out recently at my grandmothers after I asked her what the rhyme meant and she told me it wasn't good. Then she told me about The Black Death and i've even researched about it. Crazy how many people died from that plague. I mean honestly it's kind of fucked up right? That kids are growing up listening to that stuff. I guess it doesn't hurt them if they don't know the meaning behind it right?! :lol: But yeah still pretty messed up in my opinion!

    I always loved Ring Around The Rosie and even sing it with my neices and nephew while spinning them around. It doesn't make me worried about singing it to them but it does freak me out a little!

    What do you guys think? Do you find it kind of creepy how some Nursery Rhymes are about some terrible things that have happened in the past? I'm not exactly sure how many others are about historical tragedies but I THINK Humpty Dumpty is another one.
     
    #1 ChloeKiss, Dec 21, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2014
  2. drwinchester

    drwinchester Guest

    Humpty Dumpty was, if I remember correctly, about a ludicrously huge cannon that had been mounted on a wall and came crashing spectacularly down to the ground during a battle.
     
  3. ChloeKiss

    ChloeKiss Guest

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    Oh.. My bad then. :eek:
     
  4. Tai

    Tai
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    Personally, I love that some seemingly-innocent rhymes for children have grim and darker meanings behind them. I dig that kind of stuff.
     
  5. MintberryCrunch

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    There are a lot of myths and folk theories about nursery rhymes, but some you don't even have to examine to see how messed up they are:

    Rock-a-Bye Baby is about a baby falling out of a tree. How is that a great lullaby? :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

    I just always hated the one that said little boys are made of snakes and snails and puppy-dog tails. I remember thinking "why can't I be sugar and spice?" :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: I was destined to be gay...
     
  6. ChloeKiss

    ChloeKiss Guest

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    I do somewhat ''dig'' messed up stuff but there is something seriously fucked up about the ring around a rosie song :lol:
     
  7. Quiet Raven

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    Yeah I learned of the Ring around the Rosie long ago. That is messed up...

    Most nursery rhymes are pretty messed up like that.
     
  8. CyanChachki

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    When I saw this thread, the first thing that came to my mind was Ring Around The Rosie. But in all honesty, I don't think it was meant to be a nursery rhyme. I think it was more so to teach kids about the black death in a way that they'd understand, kinda like Dot Dot, Line Line. Dot Dot, Line Line is about Mono. Still, it's pretty creepy, especially when our parents used to sing it to us as kids when it's no longer needed.

    I think one of the most messed up though is "Eeeny Meeny Miny Mo" which is apparently a racist rhyme.
     
  9. ChloeKiss

    ChloeKiss Guest

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    Well that's fucked up for SURE! A racist rhyme? I wonder if there is a gay rhyme? :dry:
     
  10. BryanM

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    There was one from back in the nineteen teens that went like this:

    I found a little birdie
    And its name was enza
    I opened the window
    And in flew enza

    Needless to say this nursery rhyme was a wordplay on the Spanish Influenza that killed millions. Kids would jump rope and hopscotch to it.
     
  11. ChloeKiss

    ChloeKiss Guest

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    Oh my fucking god :eek: That's terrible!
     
  12. NingyoBroken

    NingyoBroken Guest

    I like the aesthetic, I guess

    Innocent sounding but creepy and dark.
     
  13. Quiet Raven

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    Wow! They aren't even trying to be subtle with that one.
     
  14. CandyKing

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    Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
    Kissed the girls and made them cry;
    When the boys came out to play,
    Georgie Porgie ran away.



    ---------- Post added 21st Dec 2014 at 08:18 PM ----------

    Eeny, meena, mina, mo,
    Catch a nigger by the toe;
    If he hollers let him go,
    Eena, meena, mina, mo
    Older versions of this rhyme used nigger instead of tiger.

    Here is another version of that used nigger.
    Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,
    Catch a nigger by his toe,
    If he won't work then let him go;
    Skidum, skidee, skidoo.
    But when you get money, your little bride
    Will surely find out where you hide,
    So there's the door and when I count four,
    Then out goes you.[11]
     
  15. Daydreamer1

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    My fiance and I were just talking about this, and how I'd be a shitty preschool teacher since I'm sure after reading them Humpty Dumpty, I'd be the rotten bastard to say "Here's some food for thought, kids--I never said Humpty Dumpty was an egg" before leaving the room.
     
  16. bicomplicated

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    Yeah, a lot of nursery rhymes are messed up. Also farrie tales origninally usually (I'm not sure maybe always) ended badly not happily after after. As a kid, I read the original Little Mermaid and was horrified! Why? Just why? Way to terrify children...
     
  17. Quiet Raven

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    Yeah, and I remember hearing something about the original Cinderella story involving the sisters actually cutting their own feet to fit the shoe. That's just... Brutal.
     
  18. ChloeKiss

    ChloeKiss Guest

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    What the FUCK! :eek:
     
  19. MissBookworm

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    ^^^ Totally true. In the original version, Ariel (The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson) died instead of marrying her prince, because she refused to murder him. Also, have you read any of the Grimm fairy tales?
     
  20. bicomplicated

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    Yep, pretty Grimm stuff :wink: