Friday, September 21, 2007

Ruined

Cletus is just getting to the age where he likes some songs with hand motions. Like the Itsy-bitsy Spider.

My in-laws were visiting from Scotland this weekend and Cletus was fussing - bored, as usual. I suggested a bit of Itsy-bitsy spider. My father-in-law seized on the idea and began singing:

"The isky-whisky spider went up the water spout..."


What? Did he misspeak? Am I hearing that right?

"Down came the rain and washed the whisky out,"


Surely that's just a horrible, horrible mistake. Itsy-bitsy means little. Isky-whisky sounds like some kind of bizarre Japanese Scotch cocktail.

I wanted to grab him by the lapels and say "Noooo!" But I wasn't sure if it was his mistake or some kind of weird British version - and I also recognise that it might have seemed a tad rude if I'd done so. At any rate, I'll keep singing itsy-bitsy and one day Cletus will say "No, granddad sing it right." And then I can smirk.

-0-

Speaking of songs with hand motions, I don't really know any more. There are hazy snatches of memory floating around my brain, remnants of my life as a four-year-old.

There is one song I remember, but I'm afraid it's ruined. Little Rabbit Foo Foo:

Little Rabbit Foo Foo hoppin' through the forest,
scoopin' up the field mice and boppin' 'em on the head

But my brother and I gave it alternate and very politically incorrect lyrics.

Little Faggot Foo Foo hoppin' through the forest,
scoopin' up the field mice and [the rest is really not appropriate for a family blog]


So, I tried to sing the original version. But our version, which made us laugh like drains as youth kept running through my head rendering me incapable of singing it right.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where or where did I go soooo wrong? VolMom

Anonymous said...

There is also 'One little, Two Little, Three Little Indians'....

and 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed',

VolBro loved the Itsy-Bitsy Spider and learned the hand motions before he could talk. Bet he would have liked Isky-Whiskey even better, no?

VolMom

Anonymous said...

Googling isky wisky spider turned up this reference:

http://www.isobelmadden.com/blog/post/3-A-life-in-a-day

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia is informative:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsy_Bitsy_Spider

I guess isky-wisky must be a local Edinburgh variation.

St. Caffeine said...

Songs with hand motions (and potential politcal incorrectness): YMCA.

Sorry, no experience with kids, but it seems to be a big hit at the ballpark.

Anonymous said...

The Wheels on the Bus go round and round, round and round, round and round...

Also the wipers go swish, swish, swish and the people go bump, bump, bump. Babies go whah, whah, whah.