Ironic Nursery Tune: Difference between revisions

''Close your eyes, go to sleep"''|'''[[Tom Waits]]''', "Lullaby"}}

OldtimeOld time songs like the works of Frank Sinatra are quickly becoming part of this trope. If you enter an ancient dilapidated mansion and a song whose original listeners are either senile or dead from old age plays ''over and over and over'', you're in trouble. Also the famous "Hush Little Baby" (also called "Mockingbird") lullaby seems to be the top icon of this trope, it's simple enough for parents (or some creepy unseen killer) to ad-lib further verses as required. 

{{quote|''Who are those little girls in pain just trapped in castle of dark side of moon

''Twelve of them shining bright in vain like flowers that blossom just once in years?

''They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love just dreaming of a place where they're free as dove

''They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage

''It's only the fairy tale they believe }}

{{quote|"''My mother's killed me

''My father's eating me

''My brothers and sisters sit under the table

''Picking at my bones

''They will bury them

''Under the cold

''Marble Stones" }}

{{quote|"''It was my mother who murdered me

''It was my father who ate me

''It was my sister Marjorie

''Who all my bones in pieces found

''Them in a handkerchief she bound

''And laid them under the aspen tree

''Kywitt, kywitt, kywitt I cry;

''Oh, what a beautiful bird am I!" }}

* In the ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' Super S movie, the villains use a cheerful song called "Three O'Clock Fairy" to hypnotize children.

* In the ''[[Batman]]'' relaunch by [[Scott Snyder]], the [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|Court of Owls]] have an old nursery rhyme about them:

{{quote|''During afternoon tea, there's a shift in the air,

''A bone trembling chill that tells you she's there,

''There are those who believe the whole town is cursed,

''But the house in the marsh is by far the worst,

''What she wants is unknown, but she always comes back,

''The specter of darkness, [[Title Drop|The woman in black]]. }}

{{quote|"''Round we go, the world is spinning.

''When it stops, it's just beginning.

''Sun comes up, we laugh and we cry.

''Sun goes down, and then we all die." }}

** And then there's the creepy song used throughout ''Deep Red''. If you hear it, you're wormfoodworm food.

* The opening theme to ''[[Poltergeist (film series)||Poltergeist]]''.

{{quote|''Santa's watching, Santa's creeping

''Now you're nodding, now you're sleeping

''Were you good for Mom and Dad?

''Santa knows when you've been bad... }}

{{quote|''One bright day in the middle of the night 

''Two dead boys got up to fight 

''Back to back they faced each other 

''Drew their swords and shot each other 

''A deaf policeman heard the noise 

''He came and killed those two dead boys 

''One bright day in the middle of the night }}

''into a land of Enchantment'' }}

{{quote|''FollowWeep sweetnot poor children I'llfor showlife theeis thethis way'' 

''throughmurdering all the painbeauty and the SorrowsPassions'' }}

{{quote|''Weepto notweary poor children forof life is thisand wayDeceptions''

{{quote|''HushCome now dearlittle children it must beI'll thistake waythee away''

''tointo wearya land of life and DeceptionsEnchantment'' }}

* ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|The Rescuers]]'': Percival McLeach's]] [[Villain Song|version]] of "Home on the Range." 

{{quote|''Home, home on the range

''Where them critters are tied up in chains

''I cut through their sides

''And tear off their hides

''And the next day I do it again!

''Everybody! }}

{{quote|''I will not stand for anything that's crooked or unfair,

''I'm strictly on the up-and-up, so everyone beware!

''If anyone's caught taking graft - and I don't get my share,

''We stand him up against the wall and Pop Goes the Weasel! }}

{{quote|''Two, four, six, eight

''The nasty man in black will come

''With his little chopper

''He's going to chop you up. }}

* The climax of the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud!]]!'' features a variant on this. Sam Vimes is lost in a cave, addled with pain, despair, and rage, and fighting off a pack of dwarfs {{spoiler|not to mention possession by the Summoning Dark, a diabolical "entity of pure vengeance" brought about by a dwarf curse}}, when out of pure force of habit he starts to shout the words to his infant son's favorite book, "[[Where's My Cow?]]" (since it's six o'clock, and he ''always'' reads "Where's My Cow?" to Young Sam at six o'clock). Understandably, the dwarfs aren't sure at first how to react to the threat of a man with an axe and a sword shouting things like "It goes 'baa!' It is a sheep! ''[[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|That! Is!! Not!!! My!!!! COW!!!!!]]''"

* ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'' features two nursery rhymes: "Oranges and Lemons" and one which begins: "Under the falling chestnut tree/I sold you and you sold me." The latter is, of course, [[Room 101|disturbingly prophetic.]]

{{quote|'''Peter:''' "Eins, zwei drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,)

{{quote|''Can't even shout, can't even cry

''The Gentlemen are coming by

''Looking in windows, knocking on doors

''They need to take seven, and they might take yours

''Can't call to Mom, can't say a word

''You're gonna die screaming, but you won't be heard. }}

''we laughed at fate and mourned her,

''Tick-tock, goes the clock, 

''even for {{spoiler|the Doctor}}...'' }}

{{quote|''Tick tock goes the clock

''And all the years they fly

''Tick tock and all too soon

''{{spoiler|Your love will surely die}}

''Tick tock goes the clock

''He cradled and he rocked her

''Tick tock goes the clock

''{{spoiler|'Till River kills the Doctor...}} }}

{{quote|''Doctor, brave and good, he turned away from violence

''When he understood the [[Arc Words|falling of the Silence]]. }}

{{quote|''Tick tock goes the clock

''He gave all he could give her

''Tick tock goes the clock

'''{{spoiler|Now prison waits for River.}} }}

* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] wrestler The Boogeyman speaks almost exclusively in Ironic Nursery Tunes.

* In the "Brigadoom" episode of ''[[Lexx]]'', the main musical motif for Kai and the eventual destruction of the Brunnen-g (The time prophet, It will be a good way to die) is a note-for-note rendition of an Armenian lullaby, ''Babuska Bay-oh (Sleep my little one)''. 

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'': "Taking a Break From All Your Worries" opens with Baltar and Virtual Six singing a variation of the tune from the page quote.

* Currently{{when}} on Singapore TV, the Chinese series ''Together'' is a hard-hitting historical drama focusing on the difficult times of the post-WWII period. The Chinese-language title, though, is actually the name of the Chinese version of "The More We Get Together", and the theme song samples this tune for its opening bars.

* [[Parody|Parodied]] by [[Colin Mochrie]] (of ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Colin Mochrie]]'' fame) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCyMXyY-vO0 here.]

*  The ''[[Babylon 5]]'' episode ''"Ceremonies of Light and Dark''", [[The Dragon]] of the episode, after explaining in detail how he spent seven days killing a prisoner, proceeds to go into a flat rendition of ''Dem Bones''.

** ''[httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20210930053509/https://noxarcana.com/vr.html?/grimm404.html Grimm Tales]''{{Dead link}}'' makes use of this trope throughout. Strangely, there seems to be an unusual focus on dramatic orchestrations rather than music-box sounds.

{{quote|''Now I lay me down to sleep

''Pray the lord my soul to keep

''If I die before I wake

''Pray the lord my soul to take }}

{{quote|''Hush, little baby, don't say a word

''And never mind that noise you heard

''It's just the beast under your bed

''In your closet, in your head }}

*** The prayer can take on a distinctly creepy tone all by itself if you think about it the wrong way-in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''Hogfather'' Susan notes that it was taught to Twyla and Gawain by their previous governess and the impression she got was that it carried the rider that the second half was the preferred result. At the time it was played for laughs, ''but now think about a child saying it with the same intent.''

** "Enter Sandman" was inspired by and actually samples [[Robert Schumann]]'s ''Der Sandmann'' (itself from the German short story) which is just as creepy.

{{quote|''Step by step, heart to heart

''Left right left, we all fall down

''Like toy soldiers

''Beat by beat, torn apart

''We never win, but the battle wages on

''For toy soldiers... }}

''What do we do with a bucket of snails?

''What do we do with a boy like you?

''We put them in a pot and we throw them on the fire!'' }}

''Verses in my head

''Into our childhood they're spoonfed

''Hidden violence revealed

''Darkness that seems real

''Look at the pages that cause all this evil'' }}

{{quote|"''We are small, but we are many

''We are many, we are small

''But we were here before you were

''So we will be here when you fall." }}

{{quote|''Counting sheep

''I lay me down to sleep

''But I see

''A sheep that will not leave

''From the back

''They catch him in a trap

''Hit his head

''and send him off to bed. }}

{{quote|''Hush little baby, don't make a sound

''Hush little baby, don't make a move

''This is going to hurt me more than you }}

{{quote|''Each time I make my mother cry an angel dies and falls from Heaven...}}

{{quote|''A tisket, a tasket

''The Scarecrow's out his casket

''Turn out the light and lock the doors

''Praying that he passes. }}

{{quote|''Hush little baby, here comes the Sandman

''Papa's going to buy you a medical plan.

''And if that medical plan don't cover your ass,

''Papa's going to buy you a pregnancy test.

''And if that pregnancy test comes out positive,

''Then, girl, I don't know how the hell we're going to live.

''Maybe on your bright ideas. }}

{{quote|''Mother Mary, quite contrary

''Kissed the boys and made them wary,

''Things are getting just a little bit scary

''It's a wonder I can still breathe }}

{{quote|''And out of the Darkness the Zombie did call,

''True pain and suffering he brought to them all,

''Away went the children to hide in their beds,

''For fear that the devil would chop off their heads. }}

*  "Abendlied" by the German band Subway To Sally. It starts with the refrain played by a music box and seems at first like a nice lullaby, but it becomes clearer and clearer that the song is actually about a father molesting his daughter.

* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' gave us the [http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=209133 Phyrexian Hulk] with this wonderfully disturbing flavor text

{{quote|"''It doesn't think. It doesn't feel.

''It doesn't laugh or cry.

''All it does from dusk till dawn

''Is make the soldiers die."|Onean children's rhyme}}

{{quote|''Your parents are a loving pair;

''He smacks her face, she pulls his hair;

''Their shrieks and curses fill the air.

''She smashes plates, and he tears her clothes;

''She lands a left right on his nose,

''Until there's blood all over his mug!

''Sleep, ladybug;

''Sleep sweet and snug;

''Sleep my lady bug-bug. }}

* In theLlondonthe London play of Susan Hill's novel ''[[The Woman in Black]]'', whenever Arthur Kipps goes into the mandondedabandoned nursery, the musicalmusic box wilwill start playing "Brahms' Lullaby". Cue audience screaming and hugging of complete strangers.

''And filled it with his toys.

''Six guests were invited one night

''Their screams the only noise

''Blood inside the library,

''Blood '''right up the hall''',

''Dripping down the attic stairs...

''Hey guests, try not to fall?

''Nobody came out that night

''Not one was ever seen

''But old man Stauf is waiting there * evil chuckle*

''Crazy, sick, and MEAN!'' }}

{{quote|''Sleeping princess in the Forest of Thorns

''Princess dreaming for a thousand years

''Long is her hair of emerald

''Like rose crystal are her cheeks

''Sleeping princess in the Forest of Thorns

''Never awakening from her slumber

''Damned by the poisonous thoughts

''of the devil with scarlet hair

''Within the spines of the Forest of Thorns

''Dream forever and ever as the world ends

''Someday, the black moon will fall

''And the white moon will crumble

''Prayers for release wither

''Consumed by the monsters that live in dreams

''And pearly tears, too, shatter

''Wrapped up in thorns, until the day the nightmares come to life...

''Until the day the hero stops the nightmares. }}

''Cybrids are all rusty

''Mommy's burning!

''Mommy's burning!

''All fall down!''

''Missing his liter

''While Herky plays in the red

''Down came the glitches

''And burn us in ditches

''And we slept after eating our dead.'' }}

{{quote|''Little girls, this seems to say,

''Never stop along the way.

''Never trust a stranger friend,

''No one knows how it will end.

''As you're pretty, so be wise,

''Wolves may lurk in every guise.

''Now as then, 'tis simple truth,

''Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth! }}

{{quote|''Hashizoroe, hashizoroe 

''Through the blinds I see a woman and a wicker basket, 

''I hear the sound of a little drum,

''Scattered blood colours the carpet red-hot,

''Silk thread spins a trail of lies.

''A wicker basket tied up with thread, trembling calmly,

''Like a happy child before the hashizoroe cermony. 

''A terrible ceremony that continues in earnest. 

''Hashizoroe }}

{{quote|''Come, come, bonny Lynne; tell us, tell us where you’ve been

''Were you up, were you down

''Chasing rabbits ‘round the town

''Come, come, bonny Lynne; tell us, tell us where you’ve been

''Come, come, bonny Lynne; we’ve a bed to put you in

''It is soft, it is warm

''It will shelter from the storm

''Come, come, bonny Lynne; we’ve a bed to put you in

''Dear, dear bonny Lynne sleeps the peaceful crib within

''A mossy stone, a finger bone

''No one knows but Lynne alone

''Dear, dear bonny Lynne sleeps the peaceful crib within\\  }}

{{quote|''Monday's pea was a sight to see

Tuesdays''Tuesday's pea almost made it free

''Wednesday's pea didn't think to flee

''Stray Dog will have his peas }}

{{quote|"''Wander freely, wander far, off beneath the Devil's star

''In the dark, the girl so bright, got up to see the day by night

''Her fear in hand, her fear in heart, her fear did tear her soul apart

''The white of flesh, the white of bone, the worms will leave your soul alone

''On and on the road does go, down into the depths below

''Off you went to call the king, you wish to hear the Devil sing..." }}

''what shall we do with a drunken whaler

''what shall we do with a drunken whaler

''early in the morning? ''

''slice his throat with a rusty cleaver

''slice his throat with a rusty cleaver

''early in the morning '' }}

* ''[[Homestar Runner|]]'': "Where is Thompkins? Where is cole slaw? Here I am!"]]

{{quote|"''Come to the window

''My baby, with me,

''And look at the stars

''That shine on the sea!" }}

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Noah]]'': Noah's version of "hush little baby" goes as such:

{{quote|"''Hush little Mokuba, don't say a word,

''Noah's going to keep you in the virtual world,

''And if your brother tries to moan,

''Noah's going to turn him into stone" }}

* ''[[Total Drama World Tour|]]'': "The cradle will fall, and down...will...come...GWEN!"]] 

* In ''[[Aeon Flux]]'', when a former anarchist spy is [[Brainwashing for the Greater Good|implanted with a behaviour modifying]]... [[Biopunk|thing]], she takes up a job writing nursery rhymes. Her recitation of one of her compositions, edited with an extreme close up of her face, is incredibly creepy.

* ''[[Tuff Puppy|]]'': Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep or I'll choke you.]]

{{quote|''Sleep, little baby

''So Cuca can catch you

''Your father's on the field

''Your mother went to work}}

'':Oh, Cuca? Is a monster. A baby-eating hag with the head of a caiman. Stand-up comedian Rafinha Bastos has a whole number about that.'' }}

{{quote|'''Dave:''' I'm sorry, but I can't understand what you're saying. Can you please sing it in English?

'''Alvin, Simon and Theodore:''' Can we sing it in English?

{{quote|''Fly Zeppelin,

''Help us in the war,

''Fly to England,

''England will be destroyed by fire,

''Fly Zeppelin. }}

{{quote|''Fly may bug, fly

''Father is fighting in the war

''Mother is in (gun)powder land 

''(Gun)powder land burned down

''Fly may bug, fly }}

{{quote|"''Mary Ann Cotton

''She's dead and she's rotten

''She lies in her bed,

''With her eyes wide open

''Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing,

''Mary Ann Cotton is tied up with string

''Where, where? Up in the air

''Sellin' black puddings a penny a pair." }}

{{quote|"''Lizzie Borden took an axe 

''And gave her mother forty whacks. 

''When she saw what she had done 

''She gave her father forty-one." }}

{{quote|"''There were seven little frogs

''in a farmer's pond.

''The pond was covered in ice,

''the frogs half-dead.

''They didn't croak, they didn't croak

''out of hunger and sadness.

''There were seven little frogs

''in a farmer's pond." }}

* A bunch of Danish children's songs is about lovely events like crows and rabbits being shot by hunters, fish and crabs being cooked alive and eaten, royalityroyalty being executed, and a lot of other deaths. 

** SpecificlySpecifically, she dies because her lover can't swim, hence why he's "dreadful sorry."

{{quote|''I love Irene God knows I do

''Love her till the seas run dry

''And if Irene turns her back on me,

''I’ll take morphine and die }}

* The Field Operation Manual for early PanzerfaustPanzerfausts had a two-line stanza on every page, forming a short poem mimicking popular children's rhymes. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120508070853/http://www.deutsche-stadtpost.com/phila/pumpenmeier/FMPro?-db=pumpen.fp5&-format=detail.htm&-RecId=45882&-find It begins with]: ''Der schwerste Panzer geht in Brand / Nimmst Du die Panzerfaust zur Hand'' (''The heaviest armor goes up in flame / Once the Panzefaust in hand you take''). May count for real-life example of [[Mood Dissonance]].

{{quote|''Tell Tale Tit,

''Your tongue shall be slit.

''And all the dogs in the town,

''Shall have a little bit. }}

{{quote|''As black as soil, as white as foal, 

''The one who comes last, he is [[The Grim Reaper|Death]].  }}

* During the Spanish Flu<ref>More correctly called the H1N1 flu.</ref> Pandemic, there is one that children started singing. However it's not familiar to most people now. Despite a common estimate for the death toll being 50-100 million in the span of three years, Spanish Flu has faded from our cultural consciousness. Anyways:

{{quote|''I had a little bird

''Her name was Enza

''I opened the window

''And in-flu-enza!}}