Nursery Rhyme Blues
Music by Penny Buhr Johnson
Lyrics based on Mother Goose, Sarah Hale, 1830
Vision, © Penny Buhr Johnson, 2008

Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle little star
I was wond’ring just how you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Do you ever feel blue?

I was reading some nursery rhymes the other day
Just to review the words to see what they really say
Before long I began to notice a trend
Happy at the start
Sad by the end

Do you remember Mary?
Sweet, little, gentle Mary
She loved her little lamb
So soft and white as snow
He followed her to school one day
Made the children laugh and play
But the teacher sent him away!

O isn’t it sad?
Is a lamb at school really that bad?
But what could sweet little Mary do
When the teacher got the nursery rhyme blues!

Then there was Humpty
Humpty Dumpty on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!
All the king’s horses
All the King’s noblemen
Couldn’t put Humpty together again

O this is really sad!
Think of all those king’s men
They must’ve felt really bad
I bet they worreid every that he’d fall
And they’d all get the nursery rhyme blues

Then Jack and Jill, they went up a hill
To fetch a pail of nice, cool water
Suddenly Jack fell down
Apparently he broke his crown
Tell me why
Can you tell me
Why did Jill tumble after?

So there you have it again
Two good little kids and the story turns bad at the very end
I bet you can guess what the doctor said to them
You’ve got the nursery rhyme blues!

Rock-a-bye my sweet little nursery rhyme baby
Rock-a-bye in the tree tops so high, high, high
And the wind will blow
So softly blow
And rock my baby tonight
And rock my baby tonight
Sweet dreams, good night!