The Shaken Baby Song

When I was a baby, my grandfather used to bounce me on his knee and sing a song in German that I assumed was gibberish (as was most language to me at the time).  He’s been gone for a few years, but this particular rhyme has always stayed with me particularly because the ending is accompanied by an action that has the adult “drop” the child on the floor in a playful oh-my-Gott-in-Himmel-I’m-falling kind of motion.  While I still don’t speak German and have no plans to start taking lessons, I was able to use the sounds of the song that I still remembered to track down the rhyme on google.  The internet is totally amazing. 

Withing 30 seconds of searching, I learned that the song was called “Hoppe, Hoppe Reiter” and it sounded a little something like this:

As you can tell by the video, it's true that the Germans have a song for everything. Even Shaken Baby Syndrome.

In actuality, the song’s translation is (sort of) as follows:

Bumpety bump, rider,

if he falls, then he cries out

should he fall into the pond,

no one will find him soon.

Bumpety bump, rider...

should he fall into the ditch,

then the ravens will eat him.

Should he fall into the swamp,

then the rider goes... splash! ("Drop" child)

OMFG.  That’s what that means?  Seriously, I am glad I didn’t speak German.  Even their nursery rhymes are evil.  

Still, thinking of our unbridled laughter on that "plumps" line reminds me of the last time that I may have ever been considered an innocent.   Remembering him fondly.