Poll of the Day > Why is a song used to lull babies to sleep is about a baby falling to his death

(+) Yeah! (+)

Also, why put a cradle in a goddamned TREE?

For the same reason kids skip rope to songs about the black plague, and why parents have their kids pray before bedtime by emphasizing the idea that they might die at any moment.

Death wasn't a big deal in the past, because it was pretty much everywhere all of the time. It's only stuff that's been around for centuries that gets jarring when compared with the modern era's almost pathological fear of death and everything related to it, which has us trying to censor any and all mention of it out of anything for kids.


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Like pretty much all nursery rhymes are about death, disasters, diseases, etc.
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Muscles posted...

Like pretty much all nursery rhymes are about death, disasters, diseases, etc.

We all know Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and had a great fall. And then he underwent this bizarre experimental surgery where they let the king's horses try to patch him up.

Firewerx posted...

Muscles posted...

Like pretty much all nursery rhymes are about death, disasters, diseases, etc.

We all know Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and had a great fall. And then he underwent this bizarre experimental surgery where they let the king's horses try to patch him up.

They were some intelligent horse, but not intelligent enough I guess.

Jack and Jill went up a hill to tetch water, and Jack fell down and broke his damn head (the crown is the top part of your head).

Likewise, when it was raining and pouring, the old man bumped his head and couldn't get up in the morning. So did he die from the bump on his head? Does he have a severe concussion and there is nobody there to help him?

The London Bridge is falling down, take the key and lock up the fair lady. WTF? A bridge is falling down, potentially killing lots of people, and are we kidnapping a woman and making her a sex slave? WTF is going on here?

Why are there three men in a tub?

On second thought, don't answer that.

To remind babies how good they have it now compared to olden days and have them submit through fear.
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TheWorstPoster posted...

Also, why put a cradle in a goddamned TREE?

I guess cause morbid humor has long been a part of humanity?
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There's also Hansel and Gretel, where the kids' father abandons them in the woods to either starve to death or be eaten by wild animals, just because his new wife doesn't like them.

Middle ages were fucked up, y'all.



Firewerx posted...

We all know Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and had a great fall. And then he underwent this bizarre experimental surgery where they let the king's horses try to patch him up.

Fun Fact: The King's horses didn't mean literal horses. It basically refers to the mounted soldiers (often referred to as "horse", though in modern times more commonly known as cavalry). The line is differentiating between infantry and cavalry troops.

Other Fun Fact: Humpty Dumpty wasn't about an egg-man the way most people think. It was probably about a siege engine or canon, and it was likely a mocking reference about a fight where the weapon got broken and the and the soldiers couldn't fix it.


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Huh... Because we hope they won't wake up in the morning?

*comic drums*

*crickets*

Okay, I'm leaving...

Why are Grimms fairy tales intended for children but most result in children dying?
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Other Fun Fact: Humpty Dumpty wasn't about an egg-man the way most people think. It was probably about a siege engine or canon, and it was likely a mocking reference about a fight where the weapon got broken and the and the soldiers couldn't fix it.

Well, that's bound to happen if you sit it on a wall. I mean, that's just plain bad gunnery.

There's also Hansel and Gretel, where the kids' father abandons them in the woods to either starve to death or be eaten by wild animals, just because his new wife doesn't like them.

On the lighter side, the story also has cannibalism and burning alive in an oven. You really have to wonder how many children actually slept at night during the Middle Ages, don't you?

Firewerx posted...

ParanoidObsessive posted...

There's also Hansel and Gretel, where the kids' father abandons them in the woods to either starve to death or be eaten by wild animals, just because his new wife doesn't like them.

On the lighter side, the story also has cannibalism and burning alive in an oven. You really have to wonder how many children actually slept at night during the Middle Ages, don't you?

If that's a bright side, then no wonder people call that time the dark ages...

Actually there are a few reasons to put a cradle in a tree.

First if you do it right between 2 fairly light branches, the wind will rock the cradle, and put the baby to sleep.

Second if you can't be with the baby for a bit, putting it in a tree will help prevent a dingo etc from getting it (just check the tree for pythons etc first).

Third, some mythology believes that trees have feminine spirits that will watch a baby, and protect it, so putting a cradle in a tree may protect the baby from bad spirits etc.
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wolfy42 posted...

Actually there are a few reasons to put a cradle in a tree.

First if you do it right between 2 fairly light branches, the wind will rock the cradle, and put the baby to sleep.

Second if you can't be with the baby for a bit, putting it in a tree will help prevent a dingo etc from getting it (just check the tree for pythons etc first).

Third, some mythology believes that trees have feminine spirits that will watch a baby, and protect it, so putting a cradle in a tree may protect the baby from bad spirits etc.

But the cradle fell, and the baby either died on impact or got eaten by a dingo

kangolcone posted...

Why are Grimms fairy tales intended for children but most result in children dying?

Because the brothers Grimm had a deal with Mab to keep the old tales alive because the fey draw power from them.
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Why is a song about a woman cutting the tails off of mice that are blind, sang by children?

Destroy the child
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Fun fact: Ring Around the Rosie was actually just a nonsense song that predated the black plague. Anthropologists can't agree as to when it was first sung, though--they didn't keep the best records back then.
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TheWorstPoster posted...

Why are there three men in a tub?

On second thought, don't answer that.

That actually made me laugh. Well done!
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