Actually scary nursery rhymes. Children's songs that give you the chills once you understand their meaning
Did you know that when you revisit the lyrics of nursery rhymes and children’s songs you casually hummed as a child, you may uncover chilling interpretations that send a shiver down your spine? Urban legends lurking beneath familiar melodies and unsettling messages that emerge from their historical context can completely change how these songs sound once you learn about them.
In this article, we explore nursery rhymes and children’s songs said to have frightening meanings, unraveling the mysteries embedded in their lyrics.
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Actually scary children's songs. Kids' songs that send chills down your spine once you understand the meaning (41–50)
Shōjōji’s Raccoon Dog Festival MusicSakushi: Noguchi Ujō / Sakkyoku: Nakayama Shinpei
Composed in 1924, this song may seem like a cheerful tune that brings to mind a raccoon dog drumming away on its belly with a pon-poko beat.
However, it turns out that the lyricist, Ujō Noguchi, actually based the lyrics on a ghost story called “Tanuki Bayashi.” They say you can hear festival music from nowhere in particular, and even if you walk toward the direction of the sound, you can’t identify its source.
While searching for where the sound is coming from, before you know it, you find yourself in an unfamiliar place—that’s the tale of Tanuki Bayashi.
It’s a lively, upbeat melody that you’d never guess was inspired by such a frightening ghost story.
How many are the moons?warabeuta
It opens with a gentle question to the moon, a seemingly cute nursery rhyme.
But if you listen to the story to the end, its cruel conclusion sends a chill down your spine.
What first seems like a tale of a woman’s errand gone wrong ultimately takes a terrifying turn, in which the dog that licked the oil is made into a drumhead.
The gap between the song’s innocent tone and its lyrics may be what creates its eeriness.
Now that you know the background, listen to it again.
You’ll likely find yourself wondering, “Why?” and “How could that happen…?” as all kinds of imaginings arise.
red dragonflySakushi: Miki Rofū / Sakkyoku: Yamada Kōsaku
A nostalgic children’s song that uses the yo scale and is also featured as an insert song in the films “Here Is a Fountain” and “The Red Dragonfly of Sunset.” The lyrics, written by essayist Rofū Miki, are based on his childhood memories, depicting the scene of the maid who raised him after his parents’ divorce leaving to get married.
Urban legends say the maid wasn’t married off but sold through human trafficking, or that the “red dragonfly” refers to the Zero fighter plane—interpretations that evoke the era’s backdrop—but even the true story alone is poignant enough.
Selected as one of the 100 Best Japanese Songs, it is a lyrical children’s song that every Japanese person knows.
The Spinning SongSakushi: Kayama Yoshiko/Shokyoku: Komori Akihiro
The hand-play song “Ito Maki no Uta” (The Spool-Winding Song).
With lyrics by Yoshiko Kayama and music by Akihiro Komori, this piece was created based on the Danish folk tune “The Shoemaker’s Polka.” The song depicts a journey to a little elf’s house and is designed to spark children’s imaginations.
There are multiple interpretations of the lyrics; some even read the latter part as suggesting that “the elf is caught in a pitfall and made into soup.” What do you think? Be sure to pay attention to the latter verses too, which are not often heard!
Red ShoesSakushi: Noguchi Ujo / Sakkyoku: Motoori Nagayo
A nursery rhyme that is still widely known today as a symbol of Yokohama.
Because of its lyrics, its wistful melody, and the historical context, it is often thought of as evoking human trafficking.
However, the prevailing account handed down is that it is based on a true story: a mother’s wish for her daughter—impoverished by hardship—to find happiness as the adopted child of an American missionary couple, and the girl who, before she could go to the United States, died of tuberculosis in an orphanage.
While there are many debates over how to interpret the lyrics, its beautifully melancholic melody has been loved across generations.