Nursery Rhymes & Lullabies

Here are a bunch of songs that allude to nursery rhymes and lullabies.

"Throw it Out the Window" - Rise Up Singing (as performed by YouTube user matthewvaughan)


This is one of the only videos I could find for this song. It sounds like it's from a book of songs, not from a particular band. The song references a bunch of nursery rhymes, but the line "he/she/it threw it out the window" is at the end of each nursery rhyme. I think the repetition is because children find that kind of repetition funny.

"Cat's in the Cradle" - Harry Chapin


We talked about this song in class. It's really depressing. The chorus refers to nursery rhymes because it's about a father who works and misses his son's childhood. Here are some lyrics:
"The cat's in the cradle with the silver spoon,
Little Boy Blue and the Man in the Moon,
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then
We're gonna have a good time then."

"American Pie" - Don McLean

This song is pretty famous. The relevant line is where he sings "Jack be nimble Jack be quick/ Jack Flash sat on a candlestick”, which references the "Jack Be Nimble" nursery rhyme, where he "jumps over the candlestick" instead of sitting on it.

"My Cat" - Jack off Jill

The band's name alludes to the nursery rhyme "Jack & Jill." The song I've got from them isn't related to nursery rhymes, but it sounds very childlike.

"Mockingbird" - Toby Keith featuring Krystal Keith (his daughter)

The song references and messes with the lyrics from the "Mockingbird" lullaby. Here are some lyrics:

“He’s gonna buy me a mockingbird

And if that mockingbird don’t sing

He’s gonna buy me a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring won’t shine

Oh, he’s surely gonna break this heart of mine”

"Mockingbird" - Eminem
I'm only linking to this one because it includes the f-word. It's another play off the "Mockingbird" lullaby, and Eminem is singing about his daughter. Here are a couple of different sections from the lyrics, one which I've censored:

“Now hush little baby, don’t you cry

Everything’s gonna be alright”

“And if you ask me to

Daddy’s gonna buy you a mockingbird”

“And if that mockingbird don’t sing and that ring don’t shine

I’mma break the birdie’s neck

I’ll go back to the jeweler who sold it to ya

And make him eat every carat don’t f- with dad”

 Just a couple of more posts left on this blog. It's been fun but it will be nice to have this project done before the end of the semester. But there is a lot out there that I haven't included here just for lack of time to find every single song reference and post it.