Sunday, August 22, 2010

Die Gedanken Sind Frei: Three Blind Mice vs. Hickory Dickory Dock













Memories and thoughts may be precious but they're also free -- unless one's being brainwashed or has dementia or is dead; in which case all bets all off, I suppose.

The other day while driving, "Three Blind Mice" came to mind. Why? Who knows? Main thing was the realization, as an adult, that it's a weird little song, really. Here's the truly old school (1600s) version, going back to about the time Jamestown was founded in the Old Dominion:

Three Blinde Mice,
Three Blinde Mice,
Dame Iulian,
Dame Iulian,
The Miller and his merry olde Wife,
Shee scrapte her tripe licke thou the knife

Not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound good exactly.

I like "Hickory Dickory Dock" better, especially after disentangling it from the first one in memory:

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock

Better than rats, I guess -- we'll leave those for the Pied Piper.

This one may trace back to an Anglo-American colonial origin, circa early 1700s. "Grandfather" clocks have been mass-produced at least as far back as the 1680s.   Ain't that something? 

Any of the olde songs drift into your mind lately?

Today's Rune:  The Mystery Rune.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The little dog ran around the choo choo, the choo came to a halt. I heard a little yelp that the engine couldn't help 'cause the engine couldn't run around the dog.
That litttle ditty surfaced from deep in the mind, a song from Girls Scout days. Another little gem, a little peanut sat on a rail road track, its heart all aflutter,along came a choo choo train, uh oh, peanut butter.

Charles Gramlich said...

I like the tune to three blind mice but it is a nasty creepy little ditty.

jodi said...

Erik, I always loved "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and still play the spider fingers game with children. Carly Simon went on to sing a song of sorts with the same title-and I love that too!