Nursery Rhymes... SOOOO Creepy

I'm finding myself in a rut where I'm a half day behind... maybe I can catch up this weekend.  Basically, I created this post last night (8/21), but am writing it this morning (8/22).

Last night, Stacy and I were having dinner and feeding Grayson.  We've discovered how much Grayson enjoys music, so we've been alternating between pop songs and children's songs.  Last night was nursery rhymes on Pandora.  (What a wonderful invention: Pandora.com)

Most of the songs that came up were very familiar to Stacy and I.  We sung them as children, and, save for a different key or a syncopated rhythm, they are just as we remembered them.  As an adult, though, I'm paying attention to the lyrics and the themes of these songs.  I'm a bit mortified by what I'm hearing.  So much loss, depth, fear.

     Ring around the rosy/
     a pocket full of posies/
     Ashes to ashes/
     We all fall down

Wow.  Just wow.  Here kids!  Life goes on like you know it, having fun, but be sure to carry some flowers so you don't stink nearly as bad when you die... because we all die, and you will too someday!

One of my favorite childhood memories is my mother singing to me before bed.  The song I always remember her singing (and can still hear in my head to this day) is You Are My Sunshine.  The melody is sweet and tender; my mother's voice was always soft and pure.  As a child, I found great comfort in this song, and when it came on Pandora last night, I began to sing it to my son.  But this song was clearly written before stalking laws were prevalent.  Written in 1940 by a former governor of Louisiana, You Are My Sunshine juxtaposes a sweet melody with lyrics that are riddled with guilt and loss.

The whole lyrics can be found here, but I want to highlight one verse in particular:
     I'll always love you/
     And make you happy/
     If you will only say the same/
     But if you leave me/
     To love another/
     You'll regret it all some day

It reminds me of the scene in Wedding Crashers where Gloria Cleary says to Jeremy Gray in her creepiest voice, "Don't ever leave me... because I'll find you!"

I think for dinner tonight, we will just listen to heavy metal backwards; I think it will have less of a negative impact on Grayson...