I have started many articles before this, on various topics , but all went to drafts because I was not able to lure them to an eventful closure. Mr. Amish Tripathi and Mr.George R R Martin have kept me very busy. So as I was probing for a good topic , it started raining. The very first rain. First rain is always magical. Your whole atmospheric temperament does a 180. Its darker, cooler, and more fragrant! Every thing seems more fresh, more rejuvenated and brimming with life. But, I have observed a peculiar behavior of people when it comes to these environmental transformations. People work in two modes, "Its so hot, I really wish it would rain!' and " when is this bloody rain going to stop!". And this change over happens quite instantaneously. Its like acid on litmus!
Yet another peculiarity that I've noticed is people have a dire altercation with rain, they try to run away from it. I understand a little running and shouting but people go full on rugby-styled-marathon-frenzy. The running, shoving pushing jumping and howling almost as if somebody was showing Himesh's Expose in public!
I agree, standing your ground when it rains is pretty damn stupid especially when you have a shit load of work to do, but even in their leisure moments people have abandoned the rain. Like Lord Pink Floyd describes in his vividly variable songs such social fear frenzies are programmed into us right from the very childhood. Now the rhyme "Rain Rain Go away, Come again another day!" makes perfect sense, doesnt it.Its all part of a devious propaganda of an unknown evil that propagates its diabolical ideologies through such innocent nursery rhymes!
This made made me think. Do other Nursery rhymes have dark origins too? And so, I started my snooping with the help of ol' google bro ( you might think why I gave such a "Pablo-Neruda-I-Love-nature introduction" to this, and quite frankly, I'm thinking the same.) and here is what I uncovered:
Though most scholars agree that “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is about the Great Custom, a tax on wool that was introduced in 1275, its use of the color black and the word “master” led some to wonder whether there was a racial message at its center. Its political correctness was called into question yet again in the latter part of the 20th century, with some schools banning it from being repeated in classrooms, and others simply switching out the word “black” for something deemed less offensive. In 2011, news.com.au reported on the proliferation of “Baa, Baa Rainbow Sheep” as an alternative. Doesnt have the Punch , I reckon!
Its probably the most repeated verse ever, but its origins have a devious tale of its own.One of the most common theories surrounding the story’s origin is that it’s about France’s Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were both found guilty of treason and subsequently beheaded. The only problem is that those events occurred nearly 30 years after “Jack and Jill” was first written. The more likely possibility is that it’s an account of King Charles I’s attempt to reform the tax on liquid measures. When Parliament rejected his suggestion, he instead made sure that the volume was reduced on half- and quarter-pints, known as jacks and gills, respectively. And hence the catchy rhyme.
This one is pretty obvious . Depending on whom you ask, “London Bridge is Falling Down” could be about a 1014 Viking attack, child sacrifice, or the normal deterioration of an old bridge. But the most popular theory seems to be that first one. More specifically: the alleged destruction of London Bridge at the hands of Olaf II of Norway some time in the early 1000s. (“Alleged” because some historians don’t believe that attack took place.) The song’s popularity around the world is often cited as further proof that it was the Vikings who created it, believing that they brought the tune to the many places they traveled. Oh, and that whole child sacrifice thing? That’s an idea that is also often debated (there’s no archaeological evidence to support it), but the theory goes that in order to keep London Bridge upright, its builders believed that it must be built on a foundation of human sacrifice, and that those same humans—mostly children—would help to watch over the bridge and maintain its sturdiness. Which I'm pretty sure isn’t a practice they teach you in architecture school. Skyscrapers dont seem very friendly now, Does it?
“Contrary” is one way to describe a murderous psychopath. This popular English nursery rhyme, which reads like a solicitation for gardening advice, is actually a recounting of the homicidal nature of Queen Mary I of England, a.k.a. Bloody Mary. A fierce believer in Catholicism, her reign as queen—from 1553 to 1558—was marked by the execution of hundreds of Protestants. (Silver bells and cockle shells are torture devices, not garden accouterments.) So basically, this rhyme is the equivalent of John McNaughton's grotesque thriller "HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER"
“Three Blind Mice” is supposedly yet another ode to Bloody Mary’s reign, with the trio in question believed to be a group of Protestant bishops—Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Radley, and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer—who (unsuccessfully) conspired to overthrow the queen and were burned at the stake for their heresy. Critics suggest that the blindness in the title refers to their religious beliefs.Talk about juicing out a political scenario!
No, there’s nothing particularly inflammatory about the lines “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo, Catch a tiger by his toe.” But there is when you consider that the word “tiger” is a relatively new development in this counting rhyme, as a replacement for the n-word[you know nigger, or nigga derieved from negro :D]. Even with the lyrical switch-out, any reference to the poem still has the ability to offend. This implication even caused a few school to abolish the rhyme for a few years but who can really stop the kids.
“Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” is often sung as part of a children’s game. According to historian R. S. Duncan, a former governor of England’s Wakefield Prison, the song originated with that 420-year-old institution’s female prisoners, who were exercised around a mulberry tree. Which is probably not the connotation your six-year-old self had in mind. Unpalatable, indeed.
One interpretation of this famous lullaby is that it is about the son of King James II of England and Mary of Modena. It is widely believed that the boy was not their son at all, but a child who was brought into the birthing room and passed off as their own in order to ensure a Roman Catholic heir to the throne.
Of all the alleged nursery rhyme backstories, “Ring Around the Rosie” is probably the most infamous. Though its lyrics and even its title have gone through some changes over the years, the most popular contention is that the sing-songy verse refers to the 1665 Great Plague of London.“The rosie” is the rash that covered the afflicted(far far away from the roses we imagined), the smell from which they attempted to cover up with “a pocket full of posies.” The plague killed nearly 15 percent of the country’s population, which makes the final verse—“Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down”—rather self-explanatory.
It seems,“Old Mother Hubbard” is not a mother at all—nor a woman. The poem is speculated to have been written as a mockery of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, whose refusal to grant an annulment to King Henry VIII, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, led to his political downfall.Its was a very strategically satirical ballad.
Disclaimer : All the above information is gathered from the internet. I'm in no way liable for any legal implication if any/ all of the above prescribed information turned out to be incorrect, illogical or just plain anarchist mumbo-jumbo. Viewer discretion is advised.
Yet another peculiarity that I've noticed is people have a dire altercation with rain, they try to run away from it. I understand a little running and shouting but people go full on rugby-styled-marathon-frenzy. The running, shoving pushing jumping and howling almost as if somebody was showing Himesh's Expose in public!
I agree, standing your ground when it rains is pretty damn stupid especially when you have a shit load of work to do, but even in their leisure moments people have abandoned the rain. Like Lord Pink Floyd describes in his vividly variable songs such social fear frenzies are programmed into us right from the very childhood. Now the rhyme "Rain Rain Go away, Come again another day!" makes perfect sense, doesnt it.Its all part of a devious propaganda of an unknown evil that propagates its diabolical ideologies through such innocent nursery rhymes!
This made made me think. Do other Nursery rhymes have dark origins too? And so, I started my snooping with the help of ol' google bro ( you might think why I gave such a "Pablo-Neruda-I-Love-nature introduction" to this, and quite frankly, I'm thinking the same.) and here is what I uncovered:
1. BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP (1731)
Though most scholars agree that “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is about the Great Custom, a tax on wool that was introduced in 1275, its use of the color black and the word “master” led some to wonder whether there was a racial message at its center. Its political correctness was called into question yet again in the latter part of the 20th century, with some schools banning it from being repeated in classrooms, and others simply switching out the word “black” for something deemed less offensive. In 2011, news.com.au reported on the proliferation of “Baa, Baa Rainbow Sheep” as an alternative. Doesnt have the Punch , I reckon!
2. JACK AND JILL (1765)
Its probably the most repeated verse ever, but its origins have a devious tale of its own.One of the most common theories surrounding the story’s origin is that it’s about France’s Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were both found guilty of treason and subsequently beheaded. The only problem is that those events occurred nearly 30 years after “Jack and Jill” was first written. The more likely possibility is that it’s an account of King Charles I’s attempt to reform the tax on liquid measures. When Parliament rejected his suggestion, he instead made sure that the volume was reduced on half- and quarter-pints, known as jacks and gills, respectively. And hence the catchy rhyme.
3. LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN (1744)
This one is pretty obvious . Depending on whom you ask, “London Bridge is Falling Down” could be about a 1014 Viking attack, child sacrifice, or the normal deterioration of an old bridge. But the most popular theory seems to be that first one. More specifically: the alleged destruction of London Bridge at the hands of Olaf II of Norway some time in the early 1000s. (“Alleged” because some historians don’t believe that attack took place.) The song’s popularity around the world is often cited as further proof that it was the Vikings who created it, believing that they brought the tune to the many places they traveled. Oh, and that whole child sacrifice thing? That’s an idea that is also often debated (there’s no archaeological evidence to support it), but the theory goes that in order to keep London Bridge upright, its builders believed that it must be built on a foundation of human sacrifice, and that those same humans—mostly children—would help to watch over the bridge and maintain its sturdiness. Which I'm pretty sure isn’t a practice they teach you in architecture school. Skyscrapers dont seem very friendly now, Does it?
4. MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY (1744)
“Contrary” is one way to describe a murderous psychopath. This popular English nursery rhyme, which reads like a solicitation for gardening advice, is actually a recounting of the homicidal nature of Queen Mary I of England, a.k.a. Bloody Mary. A fierce believer in Catholicism, her reign as queen—from 1553 to 1558—was marked by the execution of hundreds of Protestants. (Silver bells and cockle shells are torture devices, not garden accouterments.) So basically, this rhyme is the equivalent of John McNaughton's grotesque thriller "HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER"
5. THREE BLIND MICE (1805)
“Three Blind Mice” is supposedly yet another ode to Bloody Mary’s reign, with the trio in question believed to be a group of Protestant bishops—Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Radley, and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer—who (unsuccessfully) conspired to overthrow the queen and were burned at the stake for their heresy. Critics suggest that the blindness in the title refers to their religious beliefs.Talk about juicing out a political scenario!
6. EENY, MEENY, MINY, MO
No, there’s nothing particularly inflammatory about the lines “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo, Catch a tiger by his toe.” But there is when you consider that the word “tiger” is a relatively new development in this counting rhyme, as a replacement for the n-word[you know nigger, or nigga derieved from negro :D]. Even with the lyrical switch-out, any reference to the poem still has the ability to offend. This implication even caused a few school to abolish the rhyme for a few years but who can really stop the kids.
7. HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH (1840)
“Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” is often sung as part of a children’s game. According to historian R. S. Duncan, a former governor of England’s Wakefield Prison, the song originated with that 420-year-old institution’s female prisoners, who were exercised around a mulberry tree. Which is probably not the connotation your six-year-old self had in mind. Unpalatable, indeed.
8. ROCK-A-BYE BABY (1765)
One interpretation of this famous lullaby is that it is about the son of King James II of England and Mary of Modena. It is widely believed that the boy was not their son at all, but a child who was brought into the birthing room and passed off as their own in order to ensure a Roman Catholic heir to the throne.
9. RING AROUND THE ROSIE (1881)
Of all the alleged nursery rhyme backstories, “Ring Around the Rosie” is probably the most infamous. Though its lyrics and even its title have gone through some changes over the years, the most popular contention is that the sing-songy verse refers to the 1665 Great Plague of London.“The rosie” is the rash that covered the afflicted(far far away from the roses we imagined), the smell from which they attempted to cover up with “a pocket full of posies.” The plague killed nearly 15 percent of the country’s population, which makes the final verse—“Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down”—rather self-explanatory.
10. OLD MOTHER HUBBARD (1805)
It seems,“Old Mother Hubbard” is not a mother at all—nor a woman. The poem is speculated to have been written as a mockery of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, whose refusal to grant an annulment to King Henry VIII, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, led to his political downfall.Its was a very strategically satirical ballad.
Disclaimer : All the above information is gathered from the internet. I'm in no way liable for any legal implication if any/ all of the above prescribed information turned out to be incorrect, illogical or just plain anarchist mumbo-jumbo. Viewer discretion is advised.
