Naomi Styles
COMPOSITIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS
Suite of Puerile and Politically Incorrect British Playground Rhymes
Set to music for SSAATTBB and easy piano
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Listen
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Including:
First the Worst, Second the Best (Dirty Donkey)
My Friend Billy and the Geordie Girls
Mrs White Had a Fright
Susie Sits in a Shoeshine Shop
Jelly Belly (Compilation of Jelly on a Plate, Milk Milk Lemonade, Ahem Ahem, Yum Yum Bubble Gum and more)
Fatty and Skinny
Beans!
The One who Smelt it Dealt it
Confucius Say...
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear
The Ballad of Nobby Hall
For Curiosity
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Silly playground rhymes are part of many people's early life, passed down from schoolchild to schoolchild, often barely understanding what they are singing, while teachers try in vain to stop them disgracing the school in public.
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But with time comes change, and increasingly, children grow up unaware of the delights of silly chants. Political correctness makes us nervous about celebrating those who are Fat, Skinny, bald, Chinese, Japanese and in possession of fuzzy hair, dirty knees or extreme genitalia in song. ​​​
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But these rhymes are part of our cultural heritage, and to lose them is to lose a part of Britishness and childhood.
So here, a wide variety of playground chants have been researched to include variations from around the country. They have been lovingly set to music for a competent 8-part choir / chamber choir, with a simple accompanying piano part, representing the simplicity of those nostalgic playground days. The piece includes jolly melodies, soulful solos and rich harmonies. ​​
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Warning: The lyrics include references to bodily parts and functions, race and sexual innuendo.
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Please seek permission before performing this work.