Truth in an Old Folk Song
Every Wednesday, I meet a friend at the public library for toddler story time, to borrow books/music, and to just hang out.
This week I found a cool CD...Animal Folk Songs for Children
I especially like this song...
It has an earthy, rustic flavor like most folk songs. It always seems strange that today's culture tries so hard to shelter itself from death. I can't picture Raffi strumming along, singing about an old hare who is about to kick the bucket. Well, maybe he would but, there is something so real and matter-of-fact about Mister Rabbit. He's pretty much saying "Yep, I'm gonner die sonny boy and so will you - so git ter shinin'!"
Although death isn't natural, I don't think we should ignore it or dress it up to be something it's not or search for eternal youth through surgeries, pills, machines, etc. (Blah, Blah, Blah). Death is so crucial to Life! Afterall, Christ conquered death by death.
Thanks for the reminder, Mister Rabbit.
Every Wednesday, I meet a friend at the public library for toddler story time, to borrow books/music, and to just hang out.
This week I found a cool CD...Animal Folk Songs for Children
I especially like this song...
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit your ears are mighty long
Yes, my Lord, they were put on wrong
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit your coat is mighty grey
Yes, my Lord, it was made that way
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit your feet are mighty red
Yes, my Lord, I'm almost dead
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit your eyes are mighty white
Yes, my Lord, I'm runnin' out of sight
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit you're lookin' mighty thin
Yes, my Lord, been a-cuttin' through the wind
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
Every little soul must shine, shine, shine
It has an earthy, rustic flavor like most folk songs. It always seems strange that today's culture tries so hard to shelter itself from death. I can't picture Raffi strumming along, singing about an old hare who is about to kick the bucket. Well, maybe he would but, there is something so real and matter-of-fact about Mister Rabbit. He's pretty much saying "Yep, I'm gonner die sonny boy and so will you - so git ter shinin'!"
Although death isn't natural, I don't think we should ignore it or dress it up to be something it's not or search for eternal youth through surgeries, pills, machines, etc. (Blah, Blah, Blah). Death is so crucial to Life! Afterall, Christ conquered death by death.
Thanks for the reminder, Mister Rabbit.
3 Comments:
Exactly! You have said it just right.
As a culture, we totally ignore the one completely
unavoidable thing (or at least we try).
And then we wonder why it id so hard to
deal with when it actually happens.
quite interesting you mention Christ conquering death by death, then saying "death is crucial to life"... It is indeed!... not to be an egghead, but "crucial" has its roots in the word "cross", i.e. "getting to the crux of the issue at hand"... Christ's impact was so great, He is even right in the middle of our commonly used words and phrases! Death, our death and especially His death, IS crucial.
I was just searching the history of this song and came across info on it having origins going back to slavery - http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=48941
My daughter was singing it when she came home from school and I wanted to explain the significance to her.
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