Saturday, January 9, 2010

Nursery Rhymes: Worse than Video Games?


I was online today looking for songs to sing with babies/kids, since the only ones I remember are Christmas songs and B-I-N-G-O (gets old FAST). I came across www.bussongs.com and they had this neat,  slightly prejudice number: Ten Little Injuns. Check out the lyrics:


Ten little "Injuns" standin' in a line,
One toddled home and then there were nine;
Nine little "Injuns" swingin' on a gate,
One tumbled off and then there were eight.



Chorus:
One little, two little, three little, four little, five little "Injun" boys,
Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little "Injun" boys.

Eight little "Injuns" never heard of heav'n.
One "kick'd the bucket" and then there were seven;
Seven little "Injuns" cuttin' up their tricks,
One broke his neck and then there were six. 



Six little "Injuns" kickin' all alive,
One went to sleep and then there were five;
Five little "Injuns" on a cellar door,
One tumbled in and then there were four.



Four little "Injuns" out upon a spree,
One dead drunk and then there were three;
Three little "Injuns" out on a canoe,
One tumbled overboard and then there were two.


Two little "Injuns" foolin' with a gun,
One shot t'other and then there was one;
One little "Injun" livin' all alone,
He got married and then there were none.


Encore Verse:
This little "Injun," with his little wife,
Lived in a wigwam the balance of his life;
One daddy "Injun" and a mommy "Squaw"
Brought up a family of Ten "Injuns" more.
 

2nd Chorus:
One little, two little, three little, four little, five little "Injuns" more,
Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little "Injuns" more.


Slightly morbid, don't cha think? For one thing, 'indian' isn't exactly a PC name for Aboriginal people. Then they're shooting each other? Dying from what could be alcohol poisoning? Drowning? Dying in their sleep? And what's with the last one getting married and that being equivalent to death? And we're worried about kids learning bad things from movies and video games! Ha!

I kept looking and found out that many of the songs we sang as kids are the same - violent, creepy, and could strike fear in to the hearts of children. What about Rock A Bye Baby and Three Blind Mice? Have you heard of The Harlem Goat or I Hate Everything?

I think I'll stick with Bingo.

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