Surrounded in Death

On the way home from Abi's junior high open house this evening Sugar asked us to pop in one of his (annoying) nursery rhyme CD's. Something I hear grabs my attention and I find myself focusing intently on the lyrics, being sung by obviously very young children with sweet, high pitched voices. Of course this is not the first time I have listed to these songs, having been a small child once myself, but I'm not sure I ever really put any thought into the words I would sing skipping down the sidewalk. Until tonight that is. So here I am in the front seat listening to my three kids in the back , singing along gleefully...

GO TELL AUNT RHODY
THE OLD GREY GOOSE IS DEAD
GRANDPA FOUND HER DYING
IN THE MILLPOND ON HER HEAD

THE GANDER WON'T EAT NOW
GANDER WON'T EAT NOW
BECAUSE HIS WIFE IS DEAD

LET'S PRAY FOR THE BABIES
PRAY FOR THE BABIES
BECAUSE THEIR MAMA'S DEAD

This prompted me to do some reasearch on nursery rhymes when I arrived home. We all know the common theme in many Disney movies to be death. Parental death to be more exact, i.e. Cinderella, Snow White, Lion King, Bambi, Tarzan. I suppose I never realized until I did some Googling how much death has inspired so many of the nursery rhymes we all learned and innocently sang as children. I read stories with references to the Bubonic Plague and Mary Mary Quite Contrary torturing poor souls and burning them at the stake. At that point I thought I had better stop before I lost all my enjoyment of Humpty Dumpty falling off that damn wall. Poor egg.

I also have to throw in there, since this is my blog and I can say what I want, that I also found this particular verse interesting for alltogether different reasons:

COCK A DOODLE DOO,
MY DAME WILL DANCE WITH YOU,
WHILE MASTER FIDDLES HIS FIDDLING STICK,
FOR DAME AND DOODLE DOO.

~snicker~