A Childhood Song

Sue and I were on a car trip, talking about music.  Given my profession as a Child Psychiatrist and hers as an Early Childhood Education Director, it was inevitable that we would discuss children’s music.  We both agreed about the profound importance of music to children of all ages, even the very young.  We reminisced about the songs we once sang to our children.  Then we began to sing, and to listen to the words as we imagined our children might have heard them.  Humorously we observed that lyrics sometime soothe (“rock-a-bye baby”), and sometime do not (“down will come baby, cradle and all”).

We continued singing.  “you put your right hand in and you shake it all about.”  We recalled the satirical bumper sticker that asked, “Is the Hokey Pokey really what it’s all about?”

We laughed and sang some more.  “Row row row your boat.”  Jokingly, we began to analyze the meaning of these words.  However, we soon realized that, quite unlike the Hokey Pokey, this apparently simple tune with simple words was not so simple after all.  Did whoever write the lyrics to this tune intend to convey to children a subtle message, a first philosophy-of-life lesson?

ROW ROW ROW.  This three-letter word, repeated three times, implies a great truth.  Life is hard and one must work.

YOUR BOAT.  As used by many poets, writers, and lyricists, the boat is a metaphor for the vessel that is our body and ours alone, a vessel that must be steered through the vicissitudes of life.

GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM.  We must row, not always fighting against the currents of life, but moving forward gently where the stream of life leads.

MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY.  Not just three, but four times repeated, attitude is everything.  Approach life joyously.

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM.  These words introduce the great mystery of existence.  Life is a vapor, a fleeting breath, short, transient.

Finally, I am reminded that ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT is often sung as a round.  We can live in harmony and in rhythm with those around us.  We can make music together, while each of us sing in our own voice.

Stay tuned.  Sometime In a future blog, I shall attempt to unlock the deep and hidden meaning of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.