vckystxx

Did you guys remember that song we were taught when we were young? About, grade 2 young?

There’s something moaning in the old oak tree
There’s something groaning in the old oak tree
But I’m not scared for I’m safe inside
I’m not scared but I think I’ll hide

I sing that song (under my breath) around the house when it’s really windy out, and then I gather all my most prized blankets and hide out in my mom’s walk-in closet until she discovers me asleep and decides to yell expletives like “BLAH BLAH BLAH twenty five years old BLAH BLAH adult responsibilites BLAH BLAH BLAH never getting married BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH”.

Or this song that’s set in a very pretty minor key,

“Bluenose, the ocean knows her name
Sailors know how proud a ship was she”

I think that to myself when I’m outside and my nose is cold, because I have never been able to rectify my grade 4 neurons that tell me “bluenose” is a Blue Nose. And for all you fantastic Canadians out there who know that BLUENOSE is the name of the ship on our Dime, I’m just going to say that I had really lousy grade 4 listening skills. Like C- lousy.

“Clouds, oh won’t you tell us what those tears are for
Do you weep for something, something we’ve ignored
Could it be that from your lofty post so high above
You have seen how little we have given of our love
Do you see the lonely, weary, troubled and the poor
Have you seen the fighting annnnnnd thhhhhhe warrrrr
Clouds, there must be some way, to make your crying cease
Share with us the secret of happiness and peace
Do you mean to say that each of us can play a part
With each spark of love we light, a flame of love may start
Reaching all around us, giving hope to those we know
This, you say, will help true peace to grow
Clouds, though you are parting, your point you’ve made quite clear
Peace will never happen unless we start it here”

I think I’ve got them lyrics right. It’s a beautiful song that my elementary school choir had us sing, complete with harmony and OOOooh’s and AHHhhh’s and hand gestures and the like. I sing this song when it rains. It reminds me to remain the ever vigilant pacifist, because Vancouver rains all the fucking time and then I get sick of this song.

Ooo one of my favourite kindergarten ones:

“Oh mister sun, sun, mister golden sun!
Please shine down on me!”

and then Vancouver’s like FUCK YOU and pelts me viciously with its PACIFIST CLOUD TEARS.

This is probably one of my all time favourites;

“What do you do with a drunken sailor!
What do you with a drunken sailor!
What do you with a drunken sailor!
Err-lye in the morning

WAY HEY AND UP SHE RISES!
Way hey and up she rises!
Way hey and up she rises!
Earl-eye in the morning!”

My grade 3 teacher was not impressed with these lyrics we dug up from an old book. We were supposed to sing “Put him in a drum boat till he’s sober”, but SHAVING HIS BALLS WITH A RUSTY RAZOR offered a much more confusing picture that we used to love imagining. To my newly English’d grade 3 brain, sailors carried around a small baggyfull of hairy bouncy-balls. Nothing else could make sense. Anyway I like singing this all the time in my head. When I wake up with a bad hangover, I just imagine that colorful sack of beautiful hairy bouncy balls and I’ll either snap out of it or vomit. Way, hey, and up I rises.

I need some help.
There’s a song out there that’s also in this really lilting, sad minor key, I sang it in grade 4 but I don’t know if it is meant to be a children’s song ‘cus it was REALLY SAD. It’s about these coal miners, and they go down each day and they don’t know if they’ll come back each time and if they’ll see the sun again. I think the song ends with what’s alluded to as a cave-in. I cried every time we had to sing this in class, and to this day for the life of me I can’t remember it. I’ll know it if I see the lyrics. If you know it, please let me know what it is in the comments. I’ll put you in the next daily comic.