Childhood Songs & Rhymes: A Deeper Meaning

As a child, I remember me and my friends playing hand games during recess and around the neighborhood. It was our past time. I know for me, I learned these songs from the other children. I would go to school and teach my friends these rhymed filled songs that had some type of hand gesture to accompany them. They were in the same likeness as jumping rope.

So what is the problem with young girls singing songs and jumping rope. Nothing, until you grow up and really analyze the words being recited. One of my favorites was, "I like coffee, I like tea. I like the colored boy, he likes me! So step back white boy, you don't shine! I'll get the colored boy to beat your behind! Last night, the night before, I met my boyfriend at the candy store. He bought me ice cream, he bought me cake, he bought me home with a belly ache. Mama, mama! I feel sick! Call the doctor, quick, quick, quick! Doctor, doctor should I die? Close your eyes and count to five!" Wait a minute! Did I really just say that? While hearing this song in a new, more mature light, I discovered some alarming subliminal and not so subliminal messages.

The first part of the song is clear and descriptively written. Coffee and tea, as we know, are brown in color. They have been used as complexion descriptors for years and years. I've even used the words myself to describe my complexion. This may not be as offensive as what follows. The term "colored", is a term in which contains a dark past. The use of the word has been controversial. Some people think its an oppressive term that roots begin in slavery days. It was used to distinguish and separate whites and blacks during segregation. Water fountains would have signs reading, "whites only" and "coloreds only".

This song also teaches our children to discriminate other races and promote violence between races. Hopefully, many of our young girls aren't mature enough to comprehend the words that they speak. As for me, they were just empty words that were fun to sing. The question now becomes, are we willing to take that risk?

The third part of the song contains some subliminal messages. I remember singing this song around the age of seven. I was not allowed to have a boyfriend or even talk to boys. This could be the first introduction to that world for a lot of young girls. "Last night, the night before, I met my boyfriend at the candy store." It seems as if the song sets up a disreputable scene. Most things that happen at night, or in the dark, are considered suspicious and distasteful. Perhaps these young girls are participating in events or actions they shouldn't be.

"He brought me ice cream, he brought me cake, he brought me home with a belly ache." I believe that the belly ache is subliminal for something far more serious; pregnancy perhaps? What do young girls like? Candy, ice cream, cake, etc. Now these are all just possibilities that are solid enough for concern. Maybe our focus on keeping our children protected from bad influences does not start and end with videos and bad music. Maybe it starts with childhood songs that have sustained the test of time.

If you think I'm just over analyzing this one particular song, lets look at another. "Zing, zing, like a washer machine.... mama in the kitchen, stirring that rice, daddy on the corner shooting that dice, brother in jail, ringing that bell, sister on the corner selling fruit cocktail." If you can remember the hand gestures that went along with the last part, you know that we weren't singing about real fruit. How about this one, "Nick-a-bock-a, nick-a-bock-a, number nine, a man got drunk off a bottle of wine! He called the doctor and the doctor said, 'lets get the rhythm of the head, ding dong, we got the rhythm of the head...lets get the rhythm of the feet...lets get the rhythm of the hands...lets get the rhythm of the hot dog!'" Now that I think about the hip movement associated with the "rhythm of the hot dog", I can only assume that we were talking about his genitals.

My advice is that we pay closer attention to the songs that we allow our children to sing, dance, and play to. They're aren't as harmless or meaningless as we think.