As a kid I pondered the meaning of things Words and phrases, popular and odd Let's take Mother Goose You know rhymes for the nursery I can picture a cat with a fiddle, but What's with this Hey diddle diddle? To diddle is to cheat To go too far, or To totter when walking I think of cats as sly but not cheats Perhaps as he played, He tottered, that makes sense, but Why a fiddle? Just to work the rhyme. Did I mention, in music a diddle is two consecutive percussion notes played by the same hand, and by convention played the same speed That's a lot to take in, and, What’s all this business about A cow jumping over the moon Of course that would be funny, so I don’t blame the dog, but I have to wonder about the spoon and the dish Well not really, if she’s a dish, How could you blame a simple spoon. Spooning is his business, His stock and trade. Just like rhyming is mine Hey Diddle diddle. Did you hear the one about The Owl and the Pussy-Cat Unlikely lovers, yet They paid a shilling to buy a ring From a pig, so they could marry, and Dance by the light of the moon Imagine, a Moondance, I never realized What a wonderful sight. I could go on There is the one about the old woman who ate a fly, but the chain is too long, and the horse put an end to it all Of course, there is Mary and her lamb Humpty and his fall Those mice and the clock Jack and his sister All those spiders, tiny and bitsy Not to mention, That fella who lives on Drury lane You know, The Muffin Man Rhymes with butter and jam The Muffin Man I could go on, but I think it's time for a diddle, Now, where's my fiddle. Hey, diddle diddle Where's the cat, and Where's the fiddle Hey diddle diddle Hey diddle diddle
