Songs My Mother Taught Me . . . Mairzy Doats

lamb in pen spring 2007 by marezlove

{This is the tenth in an undetermined number of songs my mother taught me I'm posting this month in her memory. For background, please visit the post containing the first song, Ivory Tower.}

I love this song my mother taught me when I was a little kid(!) I can actually remember the first time my mother sang it for me and the excited twisty feeling of my brain working to switch off the nonsense words and plug into their becoming words with meaning, words that I knew. Quite likely, my first "Ah-Ha!" moment was learning Mairzy Doats.

To hear the original Mairzy Doats recorded in 1944
by Merry Macs......click!

MAIRZY DOATS (Merry Macs) - lyrics

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy"

Oh! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you-oo?
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?



It is not true that the younger generation doesn't sing these kinds of silly songs anymore. The little girl, named Kennedy, in this video is adorable singing Mairzy Doats. Embedding has been disabled so you'll need to click the link to hear her version.  The same is true with the video featuring two boys and their lamb named Ivy who sing the song at the beginning of this video.

Be silly. Be honest. Be kind. 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Long live silly songs.

-Lydia

.