More from CafeMom: 5 Spooky Ghost Stories to Tell Around the Campfire
I quickly changed the lyric to something lame like, "He didn't want to go to work in the morning." To which my son piped, "That's not right." But I didn't want to sing about death and dying to a 4-year-old. It's just too weird. But when I really started to think about it, so many of our favorite childhood songs are totally terrifying. From death, violence, to some very strange stories about gender relations, take a look at the 11 creepiest nursery rhymes we sing to our kids. Who came up with this stuff and why do we keep signing it?
More from CafeMom: 25 Words All Toddlers Should Know by Age 2
What other nursery rhymes should be on this list? And more importantly, how should we talk to our kids about the rhymes that already exist? Let us know!
-
Image via caddy_corner/Flickr
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.
- I said this every night as a child. It's a wonder I didn't have nightmares about not waking up ever again. -
Image via Department of Sustainability & Envronment/Flickr
Alouette, gentille alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.
Je te plumerai la tête. Je te plumerai la tête.
Et la tête! Et la tête!
Alouette! Alouette!
A-a-a-ah.The terrifying translation:
Lark, nice lark,
Lark, I will pluck you.
I will pluck your head. I will pluck your head.
And your head! And your head!
Lark! Lark!
O-o-o-oh. -
Image via RichardBowen/Flickr
Peter Peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well!
- Yikes! He's basically holding her hostage. -
Image via angeladellatorre/Flickr
Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?
- I'm no fan of mice, but this is pretty violent. -
Image via abbybatchelder/Flickr
Georgie Porgie pudding and pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.- Well, if you think about it, this will teach girls early on that guys can be jerks.
-
Image via Amazon
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.- Hello! Jack broke his head. His head!
-
Image via jipe_dk/Flickr
Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!
- Snapped off her nose? Who wrote this -- Alfred Hitchcock?More From The Stir: Quiz: What’s Your Nursery Rhyme IQ?
-
Image via Kazutaka NAKANO/Flickr
Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all.
- So, you can imagine what happens if a baby really falls out of a tree. Totally morbid! -
Image via thejbird/Flickr
Ring-a-round a rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down.
- This ditty is actually about the Plague. -
Image via jimmyharris/Flickr
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
- So if the bridge is crumbling into the water, doesn't that mean cars full of people are too? -
Image via Amazon
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
- Jeez. Why did she beat her hungry children? Talk about Mommy Dearest.More From The Stir: 24 Popular Kids Movies With Naughty Adult Jokes
