We’ve all sung London Bridge is Falling Down many times in our lives, that’s for sure. It’s fun to sing; it’s catchy; and the Miami Bass Hip Hop Lullabies version has a great funky beat with pounding bass, not to mention a music video! But here’s the scary part…
It’s a nursery rhyme about starving children to death.
You see, a long time ago people believed in a practice called immurement. Basically, a child was trapped in the base of a building, and the rest of structure was built around them. This doomed kid would slowly pass away because there was no food to eat or water to drink. The structure became the child’s tomb, and it was believed that the spirit of child trapped inside for eternity would somehow keep the building from falling down.
Come to think of it, maybe London Bridge is Falling Down is not so scary. If the bridge IS falling down, then maybe there wasn’t a child buried in it after all…
Or maybe that particular child wasn’t too good at their job.