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| 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 |
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Traditional English Folk Songs Rap Rock & Learn English! |
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| German Songs | |
| German Nursery Rhymes |
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| German Poems set to music |
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Learn Grammar with Music! |
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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, |
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, |
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History, origin and meaning...However, the egg only got larger and larger, and more and more human: when she had come within a few yards of it, she saw that it had eyes and a nose and mouth; and when she had come close to it, she saw clearly that it was HUMPTY DUMPTY himself. `It can't be anybody else!' she said to herself. `I'm as certain of it, as if his name were written all over his face.' It might have been written a hundred times, easily, on that enormous face. Humpty Dumpty was sitting with his legs crossed, like a Turk, on the top of a high wall -- such a narrow one that Alice quite wondered how he could keep his balance -- and, as his eyes were steadily fixed in the opposite direction, and he didn't take the least notice of her, she thought he must be a stuffed figure after all. `And how exactly like an egg he is!' she said aloud, standing with her hands ready to catch him, for she was every moment expecting him to fall. [Read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Humpty Dumpty] |
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Georgie Porgie pudding and pie, |
Georgie Porgie pudding and pie, |
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History, origin and meaningWhile not unequivocally linked to an historical event or specific year, Georgie Porgie is another example of a Nursery Rhyme with an historical background. The song tells a story: Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry, When the boys came out to play Georgie Porgie ran away. Therefore, we can assume Georgie Porgie is an immoral figure: lazy, despicable, greedy and cowardly. It is well known that writers from various cultures in the world like to use myth, history or song to give deeper sense or meaning to their work. Christian and Greek mythology and even fairy tails are often employed by writers for similar purposes. [Read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Georgie Porgie] |
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Three blind mice, |
Three blind mice, |
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History, origin and meaningThis nursery rhyme is often said to be about Mary I (1516 – 1558), the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, who was made “illegitimate“ when her father married Anne Boleyn. She nevertheless became Queen of England when her half brother Edward IV, the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, his third wife, died. If this theory is true, the song is most likely about religious persecution, specifically protestant persecution by a Catholic Queen. There are also many songs linked to the persecution of Catholics by Anglican kings (Little Jack Horner, Goosey Goosey Gander). Religious persecution in the 16th century seems to have given rise to many songs. [read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Three Blind Mice] |
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Rock-a-bye baby, |
Rock-a-bye baby, |
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Jack and Jill went up the hill |
Then up got Jack and said to Jill, |
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History, origin and meaningIt is a widely spread affirmation that this nursery rhyme has to do with the French Revolution, more exactly with the execution of the french king Louis XVI on the 21st January 1793 (…Jack fell down / and broke his crown) and his wife, Marie Antoinette, 9 months later on the 16 October 1793 ( and Jill came tumbling after…).
and the correct date is 1795, as affirmed here: There seem to be differing opinions of the publication date of both the music and lyrics. [read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Jack And Jill] |
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Sing a song of sixpence |
The king was in his counting house |
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History, origin and meaningThere are people on the internet who like to make jokes. Here http://www.snopes.com/lost/sixpence.asp you can find an ‘at first glance‘ very convincing interpretation of this song, but by clicking on “more information about that site“ you get here: http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.asp where you can read this. Everything in this section is a spoof. Mister Ed was no more a zebra than the origin of the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence had anything to do with pirates on a recruiting drive. Actually this is a sad joke, because it contains too much truth. There are many things people read and hear everyday that they take for facts, although they are nothing but fiction and many, many interpretations that you can find on the internet and elsewhere about nursery rhymes that have only a very loose relationship to concrete facts. But on the other side, what would be the alternative? Say that the texts are just nonsense, that they are nonsense now and they have always been nonsense. Is that really more plausible than saying that there was a meaning initially but that meaning got lost in the course of history? And if one thinks that this is more plausible, how do you explain why these absurdities survived? Normally absurdities get eliminated quickly. [Read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Sing A Song A Sixpence] |
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Mary Mary quite contrary, |
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History, origin and meaningThere are different interpretations of this nursery rhyme, but most of them put Mary I, Bloody Mary, in the center. The historical context is explained in detail in the comment of the song Three Blind Mice. Mary I (1516 – 1558) issued from the the first marriage of Henry VIII (1491 – 1547) and Catherine of Aragon (1485 – 1536). When her father divorced to marry Anne Boleyn (1501 – 1536) she became “illegitimate“ and was no longer heir to the throne. Henry VIII declared himself the head of the Church of England in order to divorce Catherine of Aragon. After the death of Henry VIII, his son from his third marriage with Jane Seymour ascended to the throne, Edward VI, who died in 1553. Because of the fact that Edward had changed the succession to the throne, for a very short time the protestant Lady Jane Grey (Edwards cousin once removed) ascended to the throne ahead of the catholic Mary, but she was not accepted by the people and imprisoned only thirteen days later. Mary I finally ascended to the throne in 1553 and this was the beginning of the suppression of all non-catholics. The first line “Mary Mary quite contrary“ can therefore easily be understood. [Read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Mary Mary Quite Contrary] |
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Speed, bonnie boat, |
Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar, |
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By yon bonnie banks and |
The wee birdies sing |
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History, origin and meaningWe have already seen in the Skye Boat Song that these different languages and different cultures can perhaps explain the difference in attitude, by the Highlanders and Lowlanders, toward Charles Edward Stuart - and the reason why Charles Edward is presented in a positive way in the song Speed, Bonnie Boat. The picture above shows the situation today. Nowadays only 1.2 % of the population speak Scottish Gaelic, and the language runs the risk to be eliminated. The support of the Highlanders to Charles Edward can perhaps be explained by the suppression of the Gaelic culture which started long before the battle of Culloden in April 1746 and got stronger after 1746. The fact that Charles Edward fled to Skye can be explained by the fact that there the Gaelic culture was still dominant and the support for Charles Edward followed the logic ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend‘. The Catholicism of Charles Edward was opposed to the Anglicanism of England and the religious differences were the battlefield of the more real problems. [Read more about the historic background of the Nursery Rhyme Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond] |
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This affirmation can only be true if the information given by wikipedia about the time the song was published for the first time, 1765, is wrong: 
Mary Mary quite contrary, 