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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To raise this with school? Song lyrics

52 replies

NotEnglish · 15/12/2017 20:25

Today parents were invited to the school to see the kids perform.
They perfomed a really cute dance BUT the lyrics of the song chorus were
"We drink a schnapps, and then we drink another. And then we drink Tequila to enhance our mood"
(I paraphrase, the song was in german)

The kids are 6-10 years old.

AIBU to think that is not appropriate?

OP posts:

sailorcherries · 15/12/2017 23:25

Do your children listen to Justin Bieber/1D/Little Mix/Katy Perry etc?

StickThatInYourPipe · 15/12/2017 23:27

ASDismynormality Amazing

Yeah I think I thought it said ready ready, although not sure which is worse. As Dennis would say, ‘because of the implication’

BestZebbie · 15/12/2017 23:30

In primary school we sand "As I walked down the Broadway", which is about both the protagonist and his new date cheating on their partners together (albeit quite chastely), and the truly misguided "Love is like a Magic Penny" which even the 9 year olds felt was explicitly about sex.
I do recall being more offended to sing the Muckspreader song with the chorus "Fling it here, fling it there, fling it all everywhere!" though, bizarrely.

ASDismynormality · 15/12/2017 23:30

StickThatInYourPipe. The kids all seemed very happy performing it and have probably heard much worse from the artists sailorcherries has suggested.

nursy1 · 15/12/2017 23:32

When I was a child at school in 1960s we sang in Miss Albutts folk music classes.
What shall we do with the drunken sailor and various other dubious “ “soldier on leave” military songs.
Never spared a thought on it. What harm can it possibly do?

ASDismynormality · 15/12/2017 23:35

nursy1. That's just reminded me that in my infant school Christmas show we sang what shall we do with the drunken sailor and I played the drunken sailor, I had to drunkenly walk around!

blaaake · 15/12/2017 23:36

That is amazing ASDismynormality

StickThatInYourPipe · 15/12/2017 23:38

ASDismynormality yeah I bet, equally they probably have zero idea what it means. It’s not something I would be bothered about, was just shocked to learn it about that song!

I remember being at the school disco and sex on the beach coming on. The teacher would turn the volume down and shout ‘sand’ over the sex bit. Of course, all is older ones who knew the correct words would all shout ‘sex’ at the top of our lungs anyway

The one song I was really shocked to learn the correct lyrics too was The Beautiful South, Don’t marry her. Haha how we laughed at my Mum playing it in the car one day and not realising she had the non edited version. We must have been 10 or 11 and obviously enjoyed reminding her about it all the time. Hahaha 17 years on and I still shout ‘fuck’ at her when the song is playing and crack up laughing.

nursy1 · 15/12/2017 23:38

“I went to an ale house I used to frequent
And the landlady told me my moneys all spent”

It’s all coming back to me now. I could have been a teetotaller if I hadn’t been so corrupted as a wee one!!

Joinourclub · 15/12/2017 23:40

BestZebbie The magic penny song is about sex!? Love does not equal sex you know .....

nursy1 · 15/12/2017 23:46

This was my favourite.

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing in the valley below:
"Oh, don't deceive me, oh, never leave me!
How could you use a poor maiden so?"

"Oh gay is the garland, fresh are the roses,
I've culled from the garden to bind on thy brow.
Oh, don't deceive me, Oh, never leave me!
How could you use a poor maiden so?"

"Remember the vows that you made to your Mary,
Remember the bow'r where you vow'd to be true.
Oh, don't deceive me, oh, never leave me.
How could you use a poor maiden so!"

Thus sung the poor maiden, her sorrow bewailing,
Thus sung the poor maid in the valley below:
"Oh don't deceive me! Oh, never leave me!
How could you use a poor maid

nursy1 · 15/12/2017 23:48

Had absolutely no idea, at age 8, what any of it meant. We loved the communal singing.
Thanks OP I’ve loved dredging up those memories

gabsdot · 15/12/2017 23:51

At one of my son's Christmas concerts the kids sang a song about an infamous Dublin alcoholic,
The lyrics go, in part
Poor auld Dicey Riley
She has taken to the sup
Poor auld Dicey Riley,
She never can give up.

iboughtsnowboots · 16/12/2017 00:00

My dm encouraged us to sign"9 inch will please a lady" to the parish priest. A rather inappropriate Scottish country song lyric.

While in Latin America the choice of songs for school sports day made our hair stand on end but then despacito isn't great.

iboughtsnowboots · 16/12/2017 00:01

No sing, thank god she didn't make us sign!

PrincePooPoo · 16/12/2017 00:06

I think it's weird OP. I'd maybe ask the other parents what they think and see if it's seen as normal first.

Originalfoogirl · 16/12/2017 00:07

This morning the kids were all in the hall because the playground was sheet ice. Christmas tunes were playing as we went in and fairytale of New York came on. Our girl looked at me and said “oops, hope it’s not the rude version”. The looks of realisation on the adults faces as they scrambled to the computer to change it was quite funny.

A song about drinking isn’t that bad IMO, but I guess we all have different thresholds of acceptable.

SeaToSki · 16/12/2017 00:08

If you ask my DC what the lyrics are that they are singing, they have usually mashed two words together and stretched out a third so its not recognisable as a word any more. I dont think they actually listen to the words they are singing until about 12 ish, any younger and it is more likely to be phonetic noise yelled to music

manicinsomniac · 16/12/2017 00:11

I don't think that's that bad tbh. I wouldn't bother complaining. It can be quite tricky to find songs that the children want to dance to that are completely appropriate. I often try to let my dance classes choose their music - once they wanted to do Rhianna's
''Cause I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me"
Obviously I said no but I think what we have to understand is that the children don't understand or interpret the lyrics in the same way we do. They asked me why they couldn't use the song above and I said 'it's inappropriate'. They asked why and I was really flustered and not sure how much to explain. Then one asked if it was because it had the word sex in it and I decided that was as good an answer as any and agreed! They had absolutely no concept of the S&M content whatsoever.

Same as the busload of 9 year olds I once travelled home from a trip with who were singing along to Lily Allen on the radio about 'the wet spot in the middle of the bed' and 'it's not fair, you never make me scream' !!

Some of the music marketed at pre teens has horrendously inappropriate lyrics. And unfortunately some of it is perfect for dancing. Katy Perry 'Last Friday Night' for example - would make a great funky jazz dance track for 6-10 year olds. But not with those lyrics.

It's very difficult to get right and I don't think your example is too bad, compared to many of the other options.

GrooovyLass · 16/12/2017 00:19

I remember our headmistress taking us for music lessons when I was about 6 and trying to teach us a song that went "do your ears hang low do they waggle to and fro" and precocious little me piping up "Miss, my daddy sings that but he says balls, not ears!"

Ragusa · 16/12/2017 00:21

Haha I think more school singalongs at Christmas should take in Fairytale of New York. Can't beat a bit of the Poges.

Ragusa · 16/12/2017 00:22

Or Pogues eve.

Witchend · 16/12/2017 00:24

When I was at primary the school choir's theme tune was Sloop John B by Beach Boys. I was somewhat surprised re-reading the lyrics as an adult. As a child it went over my head.

I commented to ds tonight that most of the Christmas songs played in shops haven't changed since I was about his age. He replied that was because all modern pop songs are either "I love her and she's gone off with someone else so I'm sad" or "I love her and she loves me too so I'm happy" which is boring and not really Christmassy.

Blogwoman · 16/12/2017 00:25

We still laugh about a memorable evening a few years ago which involved a large number of local guide & brownie packs getting together. Grand finale was a mass sing-song led by a fairly aged leader dredging up lyrics that were best left in the past. We sang “because her muff is swaying..” & “I hold a candle under my bush - WOO!” No idea what that last one was all about..!

HipNewName · 16/12/2017 00:36

The school I taught at would have changed the lyrics to something else, or just picked another song. You never really know which child's life is hell at home because one of their parents is an alcoholic.

But I wouldn't make a fuss. Soon as I saw the thread title, "To raise this with school? Song lyrics," I felt sorry for the teacher involved and glad that I'm not teaching right now. Trying to do anything fun or creative without stepping any one's toes is really hard.

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