When you're a child, everything seems like sunshine and roses, right? But as you get older, things seem to take a turn for the... sinister.
The best example of this is nursery rhymes.
Now, I know what you're thinking: How can sweet, little innocent nursery rhymes be sinister? Isn't that a bit dramatic? No, no it's not.
Take for example, 'It's Raining, It's Pouring'.
Some may think it's just a catchy little tune about bad weather, but I'm here to debunk that one for you thanks to a TikTok user known as @stupidlittlegenius who unmasked the alternate meaning behind the lyrics.
The social media user explained that the rhyme, which goes: "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. He went to bed and bumped his head and couldn't get up in the morning," actually contains an alarming cautionary tale.
"Surprisingly this rhyme has nothing to do with the weather at all," she said. Instead, the 'raining and pouring' line cryptically refers to alcoholic drinks being poured like a deluge of cocktails and shots.
She confirmed: "That's right, the old man was drunk, very drunk... Anyway, after drinking so much that he couldn't stay awake, he started nodding off and snoring so he decided it's time to sleep it off.
"But, by this point, he was so inebriated, he probably couldn't even walk in a straight line," she continued explaining. "So, when he went to bed, he stumbled, fell, or otherwise drunkenly bumped his head."
Sadly, the old man didn't wake up, having suffered "major head trauma" from his fall.
And if you think that one's bad, let me tell you about 'Knick Knack Paddy Whack' AKA 'This Old Man.'
For those of you that need a little refresher on the lyrics, here you go: "This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb. With a knick-knack paddy whack, give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home."
It continues: "This old man, he played two, he played knick-knack on my shoe. With a knick-knack paddy whack, give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home."
The numbers continue to go up: "This old man, he played three, he played knick-knack on my knee. With a knick-knack paddy whack, give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home."
According to Thrillist, this "harmless" nursery rhyme dates back over a hundred years all the way back to the potato famine that affected millions of Irish folks.
The outlet reported that after checking multiple sources, 'This Old Man' seemingly refers to the influx of Irish beggars going door to door in England after the famine, either to sell knickknacks or to literally play a rhythm called "nick-nacks" using spoons in hopes of getting some change.
The 'paddy whack' part is a derogatory term for literally hitting an Irish person (just as a "paddy wagon" referred to either the Irish cops driving it or the Irish drunks inside it), and the old man "rolling home" seems to allude to the use of caravans, or drunk Irish people.
It might be time to get rid of this one from the ol' bedtime song list... Yikes.
