I remember little of my childhood,
Sometimes I wonder if that is normal
But lying in bed this morning, a song got stuck
A mind worm from god knows where
My grandmother pulling up her simple blue dress, kicking her legs in the garden as she sang her own version
“ Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay
Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-de-ay!
My knickers flew away
They came back yesterday”
And I remember crying with laughter
Sometimes I wish I could be hypnotised to forget much of my childhood!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I’ve heard too many clients say the same things
DeleteTa rah boom de ay
ReplyDeleteThey took my pants away
And now I am standing there
In my underwear.
It was quite funny.
I’m tittering at the number of people that have their own lyrics
DeleteI believe that "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" is a Welsh expression which means, "I wish we still knew how to play rugby".
ReplyDeleteI was thinking a more ruder version
DeleteI don’t remember much of my childhood either but I remember singing that with a bunch of girls galloping down the street in high school and thinking it was so funny. Gigi
ReplyDeleteI just remembered. Ta ra ra boom dee ay, did you get yours today, I got mine yesterday…. Gigi
DeleteLucky gal lol
DeleteMy sister would start a conversation by saying, "Do you remember, when we were little...." and I never did, and I would ask her, "Was I there?" I have pieces in my memory here and there, but not like my sister's memories. Of course, she could be making all that shit up, and none of us would know. My counselor told me that not remembering my childhood was normal, especially for a child who suffered from trauma.
ReplyDeleteTrauma can be buried but everything else can be buried too….sometimes I think i don’t remember much as life was pretty boring
DeleteThat was a lovely memory of your grandmother. I had a good childhood, surrounded by loving family, but I only remember snippets, too. Seems to me, the more you try to remember, the less you actually do! xx
ReplyDeleteI think I was worrying too much
DeleteThere are a few highlight memories from childhood, some reinforced by photos and family stories, but really for me, memory starts to be deep in my teens. I don't recall my grandmother ever signing, her taste in music was rather classical.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right david ,
DeleteMy maternal grandma hated my Aunt Mary, her daughter in-law, and used to sing “Aunty Mary had a canary, up the leg of her drawers” to the tune Long way to Tipperary. Grandma felt that her only son had ‘married low’, she also didn’t like me but her venom was dished out liberally so I never felt treated any different to all she knew - strange lady. Jan in Castle Gresley
ReplyDeleteMy Scottish granny used to sing Aunty Mary... but to the tune of "Cock o' the North".
DeleteJC
My Scottish husband used to sing Aunty Mary to his own tune. Lol. Gigi
DeleteJan, both of my grandmothers loved aunty Mary and her canary “ up the leg of her drawers” a great line
DeleteMy husband sang Hairy Mary, just remembered that. Gigi
DeleteIt's a misconception that as adults we should remember our childhood. The hippocampus (part of the limbic system) that helps form new memories and recall of past ones has a rapid growth rate of new neurons from birth onwards, spatial awareness and social conne tions. Thus, some childhood memories get pushed aside (not forgotten) and depending on our sensory stimuli, but more importantly, our sense of smell, through childhood later become our strongest memories. Tribal and other ethnic cultures where children are raised with healthy touch (hugs, massages, etc), families singing and playing music, and various daily scents of family, friends, cooking food, pets, etc. Have better childhood autobiographical recall than those who didn't. Childhood trauma is processed in another part of the brain and why, as adults, we don't always recall the memories. The brains way of protecting. Scents are being used to help with PTSD and the many dementia's.
ReplyDeleteInteresting
DeleteBut who said that ?
I agree with the smell memories.Nana’s cologne, the beach, Mom’s roast beef. A few years ago I went to a local art store and immediately thought of my Dad. He liked to do oil painting. The staff member said it was probably the smell of turpentine that jogged my smell memories.
DeleteThese are just two of the many articles and research on the subject...
Deletehttps://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/connections-between-smell-memory-and-health
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/dementia-together-magazine/ideas-help-person-dementia-feel-connected-using-scents-and-aromas
Some interestjng rwading here
https://www.thoughtco.com/jacobsons-organ-and-the-sixth-sense-602278
In my early twenties I went to a plant nursery and when I smelled a calendula I was suddenly in my grandmother’s garden.
Deleteweavinfool
Scent is more than memories, it's how they make us feel and the emotions they conjure up. Memories we may have forgotten, but feel like a door left ajar for us to remember.
DeleteOur memories and emotions are two aspects that make us who we are as people.
Some scents, like calendula, are signature scents that anchor us to our past, for good or bad. We each have a signature scent, that favourite perfume or cologne that people will remember and associate with us.
“Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay!
ReplyDeleteI'll take your pants away.
And while you're standing there,
I'll steal your underwear!"
Another version I love it
DeleteLast year I decided to study False Memory so I gathered lots of info - online and ordered books written on the subject. It was fascinating but it did leave me with the thought that I would no longer feel confident in serving on a jury.
ReplyDeletelol….i get that totally
DeleteI saw Danny La Rue once perform the song at Scarborough Floral Hall.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting boast lol
DeleteI didn’t have that kind of grandmother. What a great memory. I remember a lot of my childhood. Details that seem so unimportant, too.
ReplyDeleteShe was a delight and was my saviour to a sad home life
DeleteYou are clearly classier than me...We used to sing
ReplyDeleteTarara bum de ay
The teacher pumped today
She blew the school away
Now we're on holiday
Hadn't thought about it in years but now I'm smiling
There are so many versions I love it
DeleteI do recall that ditty but can't remember the words we used for our version. All too long ago now!
ReplyDeleteMake some up
DeleteWhat a sweet memory of your grandmother. Cali
ReplyDeleteI don’t have many memories that werent good about her
DeleteSounds like a fun grandmother. I had a wonderful grandma, too. I do have childhood memories, although, some of them come from watching the old family movies and seeing old photographs.
ReplyDeleteI never quite get over the fact that memories of my grandparents will die with Janet and I
DeleteMy Grandmother sang to me, also, but it was "Tur Alura, Lura, Tur Alura Lie, Tur Alura, Lura, Hush now, don't you cry. Tur Alura Lura, Tur Alura Lie, Tur Alura Lura, It's an Irish lullaby," She would sing to me in her lovely alto voice, as we lay together in a hammock in the shade on a hot southern Illinois summer afternoon trying to get me to nap so poor old granny could get some rest, too, from caring for a toddler. I am 84 and I still remember that. I didn't even know how to spell it, until just now, when spell-check corrected it for me.
ReplyDeleteTuralura….i remember that one too..and I’m not sure where xx
DeleteThere was an old song, very similar. The Umbrella Man, which started with,
DeleteToodle - luma luma
Toodle - luma luma
Toodle - oh lay
Any umbrellas, any umbrellas
To mend today?
That's the one I thought of. xx
I remember bits and pieces, but that sounds like a memorable moment:)
ReplyDeleteMy elder sister had a memory of her when she got stuck in a collapsed deck chair, the story was told to us as children and I do feel I was really there, how funny it was. My gran filled a sad childhood with warmth and humour
DeleteThe second line when we, my bros and I, were kids was always (far more innocent) "I'm drinking lemonade". Dunno why. Can't remember any more.
ReplyDeleteYo softie Raymondo
DeleteYes, I know THAT, JayGee - but I do have a tough-as-nails interior, if I ever find it. ;-)
DeleteMy Mum is currently in a cycle of remembering and singing bits of old war songs, and then bursting into tears. Then she's laughing again and five minutes later ... off we go again. We have one more VE day celebration to get through at her nursing home and then hopefully some other less upsetting memory may come to her.
ReplyDeleteThat’s an emotional rollercoaster for you my friend xx
DeleteSue, when my mum was at end of life care, I sang the old lullabys and songs she used to sing to me. She joined in and remembered lines I'd forgotten. Might be worth trying if she's upset. Hugs. xx
DeleteI'm glad that worked for you hh, but Mum literally cries all through the singing of the songs (whether it's her singing them or someone else) and even thinking about them sets her off. Mum never sang to me when I was small and always told me I had an awful singing voice, so I won't upset her even more.
DeleteOh, I'm sorry, Sue. I'm assuming, like my Mum, your Mum has dementia. Such a rollercoaster of emotions for all concerned. Wishing you strength and love. xx
DeleteThat's a fun memory. I remember the song from the school playground along with 'Jesus Christ superstar, walks like a woman and he wears a bra...'.
ReplyDeleteOh that was my favourite naughty ditty too
DeleteAll is remember of that ditty is the first two "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-a" lines but think your grandmother's version is too funny! Hope the memory made you laugh again.
ReplyDelete"Dulce et decorum est desipere in loco." or, translated from the Latin: "It is pleasant and proper to be foolish once in a while."
How was choir?
Hugs!
Next week is my first revisit, with chic Eleanor in tow
Deletemy grandma did all manner of weird things like that...... i had heard that she once pressed her naked arse against the glass door between "the room" and the living room, with a daffodil between her cheeks....... she also taught us a pretty sweary song..... I won't sully your comments section with such profanity
ReplyDeleteI would have paid good money to see that….lol I also have a story about a spinal injury patient and a daffodil
Delete🌈🩷
ReplyDeleteMade me smile and brought back many childhood memories. My bother and I loved our secret wording of the jimmy Ruffin song “ what becomes the brokenhearted,? ….our next line was paid a penny and then only farted. “ it was hilarious
ReplyDeleteOr singing Bananarama’s Venus substituting penis
ReplyDeletelol sorry the above was Joan from Tewkesbury.
DeleteMy grandmother never laughed she hated anything frivilous .
ReplyDeleteLee
A jewish matriarch?
Deletemy Bubby
Deletelee
Another one we sang as kids in Scotland was—
ReplyDeleteSkinny Malinky Big Banana feet,went to the pictures and fell through the seat! When the picture started skinny Malinkey farted,Skinney Malinky big banana feet!
Should be Skinny Malinky long legs big banana feet
ReplyDelete14 women, and only 4 men. What does that tell us?
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely memory, and it sparked one for me, my granny in our garden bouncing on a space hopper (those giant orange alien balls with big feelers to hold on to) my mother shouting at her to stop being so embarrassing as we could see her undies! Betty
ReplyDeleteOh, I can recall laughing at this one. Thanks for the memory, John. Xx
ReplyDeleteA show biz grandma. Everyone should have one:)
ReplyDeleteI remember my sister and I singing at the top of our voices "Ta ra ra boom di ay, my knickers flew away, they came back yesterday, I have them on today" then cackling like fish wives and started all over again. We would have been about 6 and 4. So funny to remember. Also my Nanny used to come and stay with us and one very hot summer we had a paddling pool in our garden which was a large garden. Us kids were running up to the paddling pool, jumping in one side and out the other side, repeat etc. Nanny said can I have a go... so she ran up to the paddling pool, jumped in, fell over and laid on the soft wall of the pool, all us kids could say was Nanny you're letting all the water out, whilst my Mum who was 7 months pregnant with our brother laughed so hard at Nanny she peed herself. I've never forgotten it to this day!!!! Makes me laugh just to think about it.
ReplyDeleteLo i
DeleteI'm so glad you gave us the video so I could put a melody to your grandmother's words! My grandmothers were way too staid for that kind of thing.
ReplyDelete