London Bridge is Falling Down

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"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.

Contents

[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 of Aquitaine. Intriguingly, the rhyme is not confined to England and variants exist in many other western and central European countries.

[edit] Cultural references

  • Modernist poet T.S. Eliot used the first two lines of this rhyme in his poem The Waste Land.
  • The title of the 1993 movie Falling Down was inspired by this song, which is also sung in the movie.
  • In the 1960s, the tune of "London Bridge" was used as a series of jingles for BBC Radio 1, produced by PAMS.
  • On July 4, 2006, Fergie debuted the most modern-day version of "London Bridge" as the first single on her album The Dutchess.
  • Nu-metal band Korn utilizes the popular refrain of the rhyme in their song Shoots and Ladders.
  • In the computer game God of Thunder, the player must ask Relg's TV & Bridge Repair to fix Creekin's Bridge, but among the choices when Thor talks to him are "My dental bridge" and "London Bridge". If the player tries to tell him "London Bridge", Relg says, "Sorry, we only work within a 50 mile radius." This is a reference to the song title as London Bridge would need fixing if it were falling down.
  • The movie Halloween III heavily features a ad jingle to the tune of "London Bridge" but with different lyrics.
  • In the American Dad! episode "American Dream Factory", when Rodger takes over Steve's band, they decide to cover traditional songs, and they play Steve a sample of "London Bridge is Falling Down".
  • In the Animaniacs song "A Quake", part of the song is a parody of "London Bridge is Falling Down", that goes, "L.A. Town is falling down, while the ground moves around, but we won't let it get us down, we're Californians!"
  • The English punk band Anti-Nowhere League uses a segment from the song in a cover version of Streets of London, a song about downtrodden Londoners.

[edit] See also

[edit] External link

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