Rock & Roll
39 nursery rhymes with a rock edge — electric guitars, drum kits, and real energy applied to classic children's songs. Free audio and full lyrics.
39 songs
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Georgie Porgie
A cheeky rhyme with a surprisingly controversial history
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Humpty Dumpty
The great fall that no one could undo — not even all the King's men
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Mary Had a Little Lamb
Everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go
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The Wheels on the Bus
The classic action song with wheels, wipers, horns and a crying baby
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A-Tisket, A-Tasket
Made famous by Ella Fitzgerald — a timeless playground favourite
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I'm a Little Teapot
Short and stout, with a handle and a spout — tip me up and pour
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Little Jack Horner
A plum from the pie and a spider from the whey — two nursery favourites in one
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My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Bring back my Bonnie to me — a longing cry across the sea
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One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Counting from buckled shoes to big fat hens and back again
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Rock-a-Bye Baby
The cradle on the treetop and the long fall down
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Round and Round the Garden
One step, two step — tickle time!
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She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain
Coming round the mountain in pink pyjamas on six white horses
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Shoo Fly
Shoo fly, don't bother me — I belong to somebody
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Simple Simon
No penny, no pie — and a very unfortunate fisherman
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The Runaway Train
The runaway train came down the track and she blew
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The Teddy Bears' Picnic
If you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise
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Three Little Kittens
Three kittens lose their mittens, find them, soil them and wash them
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Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son
Tom steals a pig and plays his pipe until the whole world dances
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Wee Willie Winkie / Jack Be Nimble
Two classics in one — Wee Willie Winkie on his night rounds and Jack over the candlestick
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Manx Lullaby
Oh hush my lapwing, my little brown bird — a lullaby from the Isle of Man
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The Pirate Song
When I was one to ten, a pirate captain's life for me
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Two Little Dicky Birds
Peter and Paul the dicky birds who fly away and come back again
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Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree
A cheerful action song under the chestnut tree with a banjo on your knee
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We Need a Ship
A comic song about the desperate search for a ship — and settling for the bath
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Down in the Jungle Boogie
A groovy jungle action song with a great big gorilla doing the laundry
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In and Out the Dusty Bluebells
A weaving ring game through arches of children's arms
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It's Raining, It's Pouring
The old man is snoring — three rainy-day rhymes combined in one lively recording
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Little Robin Redbreast
A game of chase between a quick robin and a determined pussy cat
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On Top of Old Smokey
All covered with snow — lost a true love for courting too slow
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Pease Pudding Hot
Hot or cold, nine days old — pease pudding for everyone
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Peter Hammers
Hammering along with Peter, one hammer at a time
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Sing, Sing, Sing
A drumstick, a whistle, a trumpet — and now everyone's a music maker
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Taffy Was a Welshman
A beef thief, a marrow bone and a long history of dispute
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The Jumping Song
Jump, jump, jump, jump — jump around now!
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The Sparrow
A cheerful sparrow hops through the garden, picking cherries and tweeting sweetly
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There Was a Little Girl Who Had a Little Curl
The famous rhyme of a little girl with a curl — very good and quite horrid
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There's a Hole in the Middle of the Sea
A cumulative nonsense song that stacks up hole, log, frog and flea
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Waltzing Matilda
Australia's most beloved folk song — the swagman, the jumbuck and the billabong
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Who Built the Ark?
The traditional gospel song about Noah and the building of the ark
About This Collection
Some nursery rhymes turn out to suit a rock arrangement so naturally that you wonder why anyone ever recorded them any other way. The driving rhythm of "Hickory Dickory Dock." The raw urgency hidden inside "Baa Baa Black Sheep." The stomping energy of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" when the guitars come in.
This collection brings together thirty-nine songs from the Nursery Rhymes Collections recorded with electric guitars, full drum kits, and the energy that the word rock implies. These are not novelty recordings — they are proper arrangements that take the songs seriously and find genuine musical ideas in them. The melodies remain intact, the lyrics unchanged, but the sound has an edge and a forward momentum that can make even the most familiar rhyme feel as though you are hearing it for the first time. You might also discover some affectionate nods to famous classics from the world of rock and pop music hidden among the arrangements.
Children who have grown up with more conventional nursery rhyme recordings often respond to these rock versions with particular enthusiasm. There is something about the physicality of the music — the beat you can feel, the guitars you can air-play — that suits the directness and energy of nursery rhymes rather well.