 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| English Songs | |
| Nursery Rhymes Numbers and Letters Move and Dance Rhymes & Fun Rock the Kings Ancient Times Ballads and Stories Folksongs for Children Around the World Lullabies |
|
Traditional English Folk Songs Rap Rock & Learn English! |
|
| German Songs | |
| German Nursery Rhymes |
|
| German Poems set to music |
|
Learn Grammar with Music! |
Ancient Times
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Baa baa black sheep
|
Baa baa black sheep |
|
History, origin and meaningIt can be supposed that a lot of people have heard the debate about whether the nursery rhyme “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep“ is racist and whether it should be banned from school. The supporter of this idea sees the a relationship between this song and the slave trade, but it is impossible to find any concrete facts supporting this affirmation. There is no doubt that the black sheep is a problem, but this problem has nothing to do with the colour of the sheep, but what the sheep can provide. Another issue is that the question, “Have you any wool?“ is directed to the sheep and that doesn’ t make any sense. This question could be addressed to the sheperd of the herd or to the owner, but not to a sheep. The correct version, which would word as well with the music, because the amount of syllables are the same would be: Baa, baa, sheperd, But we must admit that this doesn’ t work very well with the sheep’s cry of “baa, baa“. It seems that there is no logical reason for addressing the question to a sheep and therefore it is probably all about the phonetics. Concerning the colour BLACK sheep, some people may think of the famous “black sheep“ - a scoundrel, an outcast, someone out of the ordinary - but the widespread idea, is that the song is about taxes imposed on wool in the middle ages. |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Girls and Boys |
But when the loaf is gone, |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
London's burning, London's burning. |
|
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Little Jack Horner |
Little Miss Muffet |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green, |
Call up your friends, dilly, dilly set them to work, |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
"Oranges and lemons" |
"When I grow rich" |
|
History, origin and meaningThere are several theories about the meaning of this truly historic Nursery Rhyme, but let us begin with the one that seems to be the most convincing at first glance. Following this theory, someone bought oranges and lemons near the church of St Clements, but was not able to pay for them. He was brought to court (Old Bailey) and asked when he was going to pay, but being poor (Shoreditch), he said he would when he grew rich. Someone (Stepney) asked when that is going to be, and someone else (Bow) answered that he didn’t know, probably believeing it never would happen. Unable to pay, he got cut his head off. As you can already see from this information, time has indeed changed. Once, it would seem, you could get your head cut off for some pennies, today the city of London can burn billions of pounds and the people responsible are rewarded - nobody thinks about sending them to court. There has been much progress during the last centuries! [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme "Oranges And Lemons"] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
See saw Margery Daw |
See saw Margery Daw |
|
History, origin and meaningThere are several nursery rhymes included in this collection which are said to deal with poverty at the beginning and during the Industrial Revolution, especially amongst children. (See Saw Margery Daw, Little Tommy Tucker, Girls And Boys Come Out To Play). If we take into account the money paid to ‘Jacky‘, he/she would seem to be a child, because only children earned so little money and only children could work for such little money because they were supported by their parents, although one penny a DAY is really very little. For a young boy chopping wood the going rate was 1 ½ pence PER HOUR, while a porter could expect a penny for shifting a bushel of coal. A waterman would expect six pence to take you from Westminster to London Bridge, while a barber asked the same to dress your wig and give you a shave. source: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Coinage.jsp [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme See Saw Margery Daw] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
London Bridge is falling down, Build it up with silver and gold, |
Build it up with Pins and Needles, |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Oh, dear! What can the matter be? |
Oh, dear! What can the matter be? |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Little Tommy Tucker |
|
|
History, origin and meaningAs we already mentioned when discussing the origin of See Saw Margery Daw many historic nursery rhymes deal with child labour. Little Tommy Tucker is one of these poor working children. Although no reliable source could be found for that, it is a widely accepted idea that Tommy Tucker was a name given to orphans. It is also true, that the economic and social situation of orphans was very difficult. There are a lot of sources about this! What can’t be true is: What did he sing for but because white bread was a luxury good in the 18th century. White bread was therefore a rarity and a luxury. "In all French, Spanish and English homes," wrote Dupré de Saint-Maur, "there are not more than two million men eating wheathen bread." If the statement is accurate it would mean that no more than 4 % of the European population ate white bread. Even at the beginning of the eighteenth century, half the rural population fed on non-bread-making cereals and rye, and a lot of bran was left in the mixture of grains that went to make bread for the poor. [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme Little Tommy Tucker] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Shoo fly, don’t bother me, |
Shoo fly, don’t bother me, |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Goosey Goosey Gander |
|
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Cock-a-doodle-doo, |
My dame has found her shoe, |
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
The grand old Duke of York, |
Oh, The grand old Duke of York, |
|
History, origin and meaningHuh! This nursery rhyme is an easy one to interpret, because the truth has nothing to do with a historical context, for the very simple reason that this story is ALWAYS true! Instead of the Grand Old Duke of York, you can put the name of any general or military officer - Napoleon, Rommel, Caesar, Alexander the Great, Dschingis(Ghengis) Khan – any you wish really, and it is always true. Armies run up and down hills, cross deserts, sail over oceans – all kinds of travel and tactics! The result of all this movement, from an economic point of view, is nothing, because actually only scientific research and better training in all aspects changes the world. Nevertheless, armies don’t care about that. The question of when this kind of strange behaviour will stop has been asked many times already, but the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind. Therefore we agree completely to what is said in the wikipedia article about this song. As a result the argument has been made that it may have been a common satirical verse that was adapted as appropriate, and because it was recorded in roughly the modern form, has become fixed on the Duke of York. [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme The Grand Old Duke Of York] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Ring a ring o' roses |
Ring a ring o' roses |
|
History, origin and meaningWe have already pointed to the website http://www.snopes.com, the authors are Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. The whole site is about strange ideas and theories, that become “true“ because they have been repeated millions of times. Concerning traditional nursery rhymes, the problem doesn’t seem to be very important, nobody is hurt if a widely spread idea about the meaning of a nursery rhyme is wrong. In other circumstances, it is a good idea to check if a rumour is plausible. You can read very often that the song is about the black plague (bubonic plague), caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and spread through fleas jumping from rodents to human beings. Europe was several times hit by this epidemic, the most important outbreaks in England and Scotland were in the years 1382 - 1384 (The Fourth Pestilence) and 1665 - 1666 (The Great Plague, which killed 20% of the population of London). The rumours about the black plague being the historical origin of the song affirm that "Ring a Ring o'Roses" refers to a symptom of this epidemic disease. [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme Ring A Ring O Roses] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
All around the cobbler's Bench |
A penny for a spool of thread, |
|
History, origin and meaningThis nursery rhyme also has many interpretations (and versions) . One of these interpretations and versions establishes a relationship between the pub “The Eagle“, on Shepherdess Walk, London and this song. The Eagle itself seems to be very proud of that history. They have placed a plaque on the wall referencing the song, although we don't really know if a more “serious“ company would do that, as the story behind the song is little bit strange. But bad marketing is better than no marketing at all. [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme Pop Goes The Weasel] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Old King Cole was a merry old soul, |
|
|
History, origin and meaningThere is a big debate about the identity of King Cole, and one can ask if this is really an important issue. In all the other nursery rhymes about (assumed) kings and queens, we have an interpretation of an historical event. This is either in the words or the sardonic tone (Rock-a-Bye Baby, Three Blind Mice, Georgy Porgy), or very occasionally, in the admiration expressed (Speed, Bonnie Boat). The songs we have seen until know give us, therefore, an idea what the ordinary people thought about their kings, and in general they show that the people were clever enough to inteprete the facts correctly. They were sufficiantly distanced to each part of the conflict. The only exception is Speed, Bonnie Boat, which is in favour of the last and unhappy Stuart, Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart. In the case of Speed Bonnie Boat the sympathy for the last Stuart can be explained by romantic stupidity and by the fact that the people had the impression that George II put the interests of Hanover (George II was also king of Hanover) before the interests of Great Britain. Although this might have been true, kings in general, at least at that time, put their own interests before other things. Therefore the difference between George II and Charles Edward Stuart didn’ t actually make a huge difference, at least not one to die for as was done by the poor soldier of Loch Lomond! [Read more about the origin of the Nursery Rhyme Old King Cole] |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
One two three four!
Words: Traditional |
|
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
One, two, buckle my shoe |
|
|
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Little Boy Blue |
Little Boy Blue |
|
 |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Bye, baby bunting Words: Traditional |
Bye, baby bunting |
|
 |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
There was an old woman |
There was an old woman |
|
 |
||
Sound Sample: In order to play this file you need a current Flashplayer |
||
Jack Sprat could eat no fat |
|
|
|
||||||
Ev'ry fiddler had a fiddle so fine,
