More music - Monkeys and sheep

[Nedenfor er en beskrivelse af to engelske boernesange som Tobias regelmaessigt synger. Den ene handler om aber der hopper i sengen den anden om et faar og uld.]

There are two songs that Tobias currently is keen to sing: Five Little Monkeys and Baa Baa Black Sheep. He sings each of them in his own very special way. While he usually sings the sheep song with his innocent boyish voice, he tends to growl the monkey song in double tempo.

The monkey song goes like this:

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Four ...

Three ...

Two...

One little monkey jumping on the bed.
He fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"Put those monkey's straight to bed."

Okay so you get the picture, as soon as the monkeys say good-night to Mama, they start to jump on their bed. Trouble lies ahead as, one by one, they fall off and hurt themselves. The doctor issues stern orders each time and finally says "Put those monkey's straight to bed".

I am not sure how Tobias interprets the song. He doesn't seem to have any trouble with the monkeys bumping their head and he himself has never backed away from jumping in our bed. For him it is seems to be all fun and games. Maybe jumping on the bed is his way of celebrating his inner monkey. It’s naughty. It’s fun. A phrase I got from a website appropriate for the occasion: http://www.bedjump.com/.

The nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep is a completely different story. It goes like this:

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

He sings it to a variant of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and will often only sing from "one for the master". When searching for the lyrics on the internet I came up with several versions. It turns out that the original lyrics (as shown above) have been criticized for being racially negative. According to Wikipedia, in 1999, guidelines from Birmingham City Council in England suggested that the rhyme should not be taught in schools because it was seen as racially negative and could cause offense. However, these guidelines were dropped by the council early in 2000 when black parents described the advice as ridiculous. Yes, indeed, bizarre! Nevertheless, in many different cities across the UK, the nursery rhyme is no longer permitted to be sung in its original manner. Variations include 'Fluffy sheep', Wooly sheep', 'Rainbow sheep'.