London Bridge is Falling Down

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"London Bridge is falling down" is a well-known traditional nursery rhyme.

The main verse is:

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, Falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

The rhyme is often used in a children's singing game, which exists in a wide variety of forms, with additional verses. The most common is that two players make an arch while the others pass through in single file. The arch is then lowered at the song's end to "catch" a player.

1 History
2 Lyrics
- 2.1 Alternative verses
3 Meaning
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External link

[edit] History

The earliest reference to the rhyme appears to be in a play of 1659, and it is recorded as being associated with children by 1720. The earliest known text dates from a little later, appearing in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (circa 1744). It is likely, however, that it was already well-established by this time.

The rhyme may have had considerably more ancient antecedents. In 1013, London Bridge was burned down by King Ethelred and his Norwegian ally Olaf Haraldsson in a bid to divide the invading forces of the Danish king Svein Haraldsson. The event was recorded in the Saga of Olaf Haraldson, part of the Heimskringla composed around 1225 by Snorri Sturluson. Snorri quotes extracts of a lay by a Norse poet, Ottar Svarte, including the following passage which is strikingly similar to parts of the rhyme:

London Bridge is broken down. --

Gold is won, and bright renown.

Shields resounding,

War-horns sounding,

Hild is shouting in the din!

Arrows singing,

Mail-coats ringing --

Odin makes our Olaf win! [1]

However, the popular version probably originates from 1269, when Henry III granted the tolling right to Queen Eleanor. She is the "fair lady" who notably failed to spend the resulting funds on actually maintaining the structure.

[edit] Lyrics

In its original form (there are several versions), the lyrics are as follows:

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, Falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

Take a key and lock her up,

Lock her up, Lock her up.

Take a key and lock her up,

My fair lady.

How will we build it up,

Build it up, Build it up?

How will we build it up,

My fair lady?

Build it up with silver and gold,

Silver and gold, Silver and gold.

Build it up with silver and gold,

My fair lady.

Gold and silver I have none,

I have none, I have none.

Gold and silver I have none,

My fair lady.

Build it up with needles and pins,

Needles and pins, Needles and pins.

Build it up with needles and pins,

My fair lady.

Pins and needles bend and break,

Bend and break, Bend and break.

Pins and needles bend and break,

My fair lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,

Wood and clay, Wood and clay.

Build it up with wood and clay,

My fair lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,

Wash away, Wash away.

Wood and clay will wash away,

My fair lady.

Build it up with stone so strong,

Stone so strong, Stone so strong.

Build it up with stone so strong,

My fair lady.

Stone so strong will last so long,

Last so long, Last so long.

Stone so strong will last so long,

My fair lady.

[edit] Alternative verses

Other verses used include:

We must build it up again,

Up again, Up again.

We must build it up again,

My fair lady.

Build it up with iron and steel,

Iron and steel, Iron and steel.

Build it up with iron and steel,

My fair lady.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,

Bend and bow, bend and bow.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,

My fair lady.

Silver and gold will be stolen away,

Stolen away, Stolen away.

Silver and gold will be stolen away,

My fair lady.

Set a man to watch all night,

Watch all night, watch all night,

Set a man to watch all night,

My fair lady.

Suppose the man should fall asleep,

Fall asleep, fall asleep,

Suppose the man should fall asleep?

My fair lady.

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,

Smoke all night, smoke all night,

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,

My fair lady.

Here's a prisoner I have got,

I have got, I have got,

Here's a prisoner I have got,

My fair lady.

Take the key and lock him up,

Lock him up, lock him up,

Take the key and lock him up,

My fair lady.

Silver and gold will set him free,

Set him free, set him free,

Silver and gold will set him free,

My fair lady.

[edit] Meaning

The meaning of the rhyme is obscure. Most obviously, it relates to the many difficulties experienced in bridging the River Thames: London's earlier bridges did indeed "wash away" before a bridge built of "stone so strong" was constructed. It has been suggested that the "fair lady" who is "locked up" is a reference to an old practice of burying a dead virgin in the foundations of the bridge to ensure its strength through magical means, although this more plausibly refers to Queen Eleanor. Intriguingly, the rhyme is not confined to England and variants exist in many other western and central European countries.

[edit] Trivia

This list may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
This list is poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. Please help improve this list, prune it, or discuss it on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Modernist poet T.S. Eliot used the first two lines of this rhyme in his famous poem The Waste Land.

Late indie musician Elliott Smith referenced the rhyme in song, "Baby Britain" --"London bridge is safe and sound, no matter what you keep repeating, nothing's going to drag me down, to a death that's not worth cheating."

Nu-Metal band KoRn used a part of this rhyme for their song Shoots and Ladders.

Darkwave band Switchblade Symphony used two verses of and added to the original rhyme for their song Gutter Glitter.

Hip hop performer Lil Jon performed a crunk version of this rhyme on Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out show.

The title from the 1993 movie "Falling Down" was inspired from this song, which is also sung in the movie.

In the Disney movie Pocahontas, Governor Ratclife's dog has a toy carousel from which dog biscuits hang. When the carousel moves, it plays "London Bridge is Falling Down"

The Anti-Nowhere League's punk rock version of Streets of London begins with an electric guitar riff of this song's melody. The song, written and originally recorded by Ralph McTell, is about the downtrodden people of that city.

In Fergie of Black Eyed Peas's song, "London Bridge", Fergie sings: