There is something about the melody of a nursery rhyme that has lasted the ages. Perhaps it is because the melody is so simple that it has a natural catchiness to it. Other times it could be that the lyrics are so vivid that it embeds itself in the memory of the listener and singer. However, who knew that when 'Jack and Jill went up the hill' it was right before a beheading and that it is really about a French king and queen? The tumbling down part need not be explained but that a happy ending was added when Jack went home with a head wrapped in 'brown paper and vinegar'. Anybody with the name 'Mary' has been accosted with any rhyme to do with 'Mary'. When was it forgotten that "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" was about "Bloody Mary" and the 'silver bells' sung of in this song would be something akin to the dungeons of the Tower of London? Her 'garden' was referring to a graveyard of martyrs resulting from her quest to rid the country of Protestantism. Regardless of the content and subject matter, these rhymes have been around a very long time.
Today catchy melodies often have to do with advertising. The most notable might be the T-Mobile sound. The only problem with this melody is that it is not really ascribed to anything anybody really cares about. The melody is attributed to a cellphone. It can be used for a cellphone 'ring' or as a way to get somebody's attention on the television. So I wonder how long this melody will live in the consciousness of the culture of our time. Does anybody remember, for example fully, the old melodies attributed to Kleenex, paper towels or Oscar Meyer? The last melody that was used for bologna has been used for years so out of all of the above that is probably the most memorable. It is so memorable that who knows if it will get fashioned into another song in the time ahead.
Contrary to popular belief it was not Mozart who at the age of five created "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". At the time this would have been a French melody that was published in 1761 and it was actually about a daughter preferring sweets to her dad's sense of 'reason'. Later in 1806 it was Jane Taylor who published the story of a star being like a 'diamond in the sky'. Still these two pieces were unrelated. Twenty years later after the publication of the melody, Wolfgang Mozart created an adaptation that would add his own musical flourish. It is not at this time known how the French melody and the English poem merged into a song that has lasted to this day.
Unlike most nursery rhymes of European origin the story behind "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" is benign. It basically describes the wonderment of looking up at the sky and seeing something placed 'so high' with a description of a 'diamond'. This then moves on to the subject of the traveller and also lighting the night sky while the sun is down. This type of nursery rhyme is more typical of the American nursery rhyme. There is a basic connection here expressed in a fundamental part of creation. Other nursery rhymes take on a more joyful feel like "Hush Little Baby" or "Little Jack Horner". It seems that nursery rhymes that did not come from the medieval or Elizabethan ages are more kindly and they are carried on in the United States. Perhaps out of all of these "Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star" is the most popular and therefore presents the most contrast against stories of old. "Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star" has no hidden meaning behind it and it has a clear format of subject matter and story line. Also, it's melody is very easy to remember. We can thank Jane Taylor for writing something that might have paved the way as an example for a more positive subject line and perhaps Wolfgang Mozart for embellishing a melody that is appealing and memorable.
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