Row, row, row your boat SURPRISE ENDING!!!

[Vort]

A child's rhyme:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

WHOA! That last line came out of NOWHERE! You're going along in a fun, simple, almost nonsensical verse, perhaps singing it as a round, when suddenly...

Philosophical conundrum! EXISTENTIAL CRISIS! NIHILISM!

Is this a bait-and-switch designed to draw in our precious children, then suck the life out of them? Or is it a brutal but ironically necessary inoculation of the very young against the ravages of cynicism, alerting them from the beginning of the ephemeral nature of life itself?

I take comfort in knowing that at least we don't have any nursery rhymes that celebrate brutal, painful death from something like the black plague.

[Carborendum]

1 minute ago, Vort said:

WHOA! That last line came out of NOWHERE! You're going along in a fun, simple, almost nonsensical verse, perhaps singing it as a round, when suddenly...

Philosophical conundrum! EXISTENTIAL CRISIS! NIHILISM!

If we shadows have offended...

[Fether]

6 minutes ago, Vort said:

Is this a bait-and-switch designed to draw in our precious children, then suck the life out of them? Or is it a brutal but ironically necessary inoculation of the very young against the ravages of cynicism, alerting them from the beginning of the ephemeral nature of life itself?

My two year old asked this very question not three days ago

[NeuroTypical]

One of the coolest things I own, is a Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes book printed in the early 1900's.   I oughta break it out for this thread.  If you're waiting to be astounded by Ring around the Rosy, that thing had page after page of death, disease, maiming, unjust imprisonment by tyrannical royalty, and monsters.

And one of the coolest things I did as a young father was read my sweet little bebbesh every single dang one of them.

[mordorbund]

 

[askandanswer]

On 4/5/2020 at 2:07 AM, Vort said:

A child's rhyme:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

WHOA! That last line came out of NOWHERE! You're going along in a fun, simple, almost nonsensical verse, perhaps singing it as a round, when suddenly...

Philosophical conundrum! EXISTENTIAL CRISIS! NIHILISM!

 

Wordsworth would disagree  - our life is more like a sleep and a forgetting than a dream.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting.../Not in entire forgetfulness, / And not in utter nakedness, /But trailing clouds of glory do we come / From God, who is our home....”)

[Carborendum]

On 4/4/2020 at 11:59 PM, mordorbund said:

 

Did you just call @Vort a green-blooded Vulcan?

[mordorbund]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Did you just call @Vort a green-blooded Vulcan?

I called him a "green-blooded ..... Vulcan".

It allows the mind to explore options.

[anatess2]

On 4/4/2020 at 11:20 AM, NeuroTypical said:

And one of the coolest things I did as a young father was read my sweet little bebbesh every single dang one of them.

My kids' favorite rhyme was the Old Lady that swallowed the fly... I don't know why... I guess she'll die.... she swallowed a horse... she'll die, of course.  They can go on and on and on forever with that rhyme guffawing the whole way.

Edited April 6, 2020 by anatess2

[Traveler]

On 4/4/2020 at 9:07 AM, Vort said:

A child's rhyme:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

WHOA! That last line came out of NOWHERE! You're going along in a fun, simple, almost nonsensical verse, perhaps singing it as a round, when suddenly...

Philosophical conundrum! EXISTENTIAL CRISIS! NIHILISM!

Is this a bait-and-switch designed to draw in our precious children, then suck the life out of them? Or is it a brutal but ironically necessary inoculation of the very young against the ravages of cynicism, alerting them from the beginning of the ephemeral nature of life itself?

I take comfort in knowing that at least we don't have any nursery rhymes that celebrate brutal, painful death from something like the black plague.

It is my understanding that the nursery rhymes were created as a symbolic criticism of British royalty (even if one wants to consider Meghan and Harry).  As you obvious have suggested - this includes nonsense in dealing with the black plague.  But you are right - taken out of context there is no rational meaning.

 

The Traveler

[Guest Scott]

Am I the only one here who hates that song.  I hated when I was it kid and I hate it now.  The song really bugs me for some reason.  I don't even know what it is that bugs me so much.

[Vort]

10 minutes ago, Scott said:

Am I the only one here who hates that song.  I hated when I was it kid and I hate it now.  The song really bugs me for some reason.  I don't even know what it is that bugs me so much.

^^ uncomfortable with existential inquiry ^^

[Guest Scott]

15 minutes ago, Vort said:

^^ uncomfortable with existential inquiry ^^

Maybe.  Fantasy by Aldo Nova also has an nihilistic meaing, but I like that song.  It's better than any KISS song for sure.  Don't tell Mr. Gator.

[askandanswer]

I think the use of the word "dream" in this nursery rhyme can be attributed to an error by the stenographer who transcribed the rhyme under the authors dictation. The author probably said steam but the stenographer heard dream. The nursery rhyme started as the authors refelection on the pending transition in nautical engineering from man power (rowing) to steam power and, when contemplating the likely  future outcome of this transition he said, with some confidence, that life is but a steam. The stenographer wrote life is but a dream. When the author saw that, and thought how much easier the work of rowers was about to become he decided that no correction was needed.

[Vort]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:08 PM, Scott said:

Maybe.  Fantasy by Aldo Nova also has an nihilistic meaing, but I like that song.  It's better than any KISS song for sure.  Don't tell Mr. Gator.

I used to listen to Aldo Nova. I was finally put off enough that I don't really listen to him any more, not so much by his nihilism as just sort of the vacuousness of his songs. He's a rock/metal virtuoso along the lines of the '80s thrashers, but with more of a traditional rock/metal sound—and a sort of traditional sex/drugs/rock'n'roll level of lyrical depth. There's nothing wrong with having a high-school level of introspection, such as rebelling against The Man, being enamored of Ayn Rand, etc...if you're a high schooler. But adults are expected eventually to grow up. Aldo Nova's music seems to me to be perpetually stuck in adolescence or very young adulthood.

Plus, none of the cool kids listen to him any more. That's an important consideration.

[askandanswer]

I've noticed that people in control of boats who end up dreaming while on the job sometimes end up on the rocks. 

[Still_Small_Voice]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:33 PM, Scott said:

Am I the only one here who hates that song.  I hated when I was it kid and I hate it now.  The song really bugs me for some reason.  I don't even know what it is that bugs me so much.

That song does not bother me, but I do not like the Happy Birthday song.  I like the old Disney Alice in Wonderland A Very Merry Unbirthday song much more.

[Br-Ahman]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:33 PM, Scott said:

Am I the only one here who hates that song.  I hated when I was it kid and I hate it now.  The song really bugs me for some reason.  I don't even know what it is that bugs me so much.

Probably because, when you were a baby, a loud noise startled you while someone was singing it.