I remember seeing a show, possibly a made-for-TV movie in the early-'70s where a woman/girl is singing:
My hands are clean
My hands are clean
Hey nonny nonny nonny
I don’t remember the situation. I think she may have been mentally disturbed. I think her brother(?) had committed a murder and was nervous about being caught. He might have said something to her lilke, ‘You have blood on your hands too!’ prompting the girl’s song – or at least the verse to a song she was already singing.
Anyone know what the show was?
EDIT: Hm. I’m getting a vibe that it might have been an episode of Wild Wild West. Or maybe there was a similar scene in one.
Did you find an answer to this question? My brother and I watched the show in the early 70’s, I think. We were young and it was disturbing to us. We could not get it out of our heads and still say the phrase to this day.
My hands are clean
my hands are clean
Hey nonny nonny nonny
We always wondered later where we saw it. Many years later i was sitting in front the tele and saw it again. I think it is Hawaii 5-0 but can’t find it in any episode list. Interesting that it made a lasting impression on all of us.
Now that you’ve reminded me of it, I’m thinking it was a contemporary show and not TWWW. I’m getting a vague image in my head of the guy wearing a leather jacket, and the sister sitting in a bed. Again, I’m not at all sure.
Lady Macbeth’s problem is that her hands won’t come clean. Maybe she would’ve sung a song if she ever managed to get the blood off. The line is definitely not Shakespeare but the plot of the episode could be inspired by Macbeth.
I searched this phrase because it has stuck in my head over the years. My sister and I saw the show and were creeped out by it. To this day, some 40 years later, we like to say “nonny, nonny, nonnnny” to each other. It was a modern day show. The lady was in a rocking chair with a pair of scissors. It seems as though she was in a hospital or assylum. There were detectives walking around too. That’s what i can remember.
Wow I remember that as well and was somewhere around 10yrs old at the time. Right around the 1069 to 1071 time period. Creepy. Wasn’t there some secret passages at the institution. Something down the basement and a ventillation shaft outside the building. From what I remember it was a made for TV movie. I wish there were a way to search for these things.
Can’t help. But I will say around posts #6-12 the conversation began to give me a sense of déjà vu because of how closely it parallels the thread in Kris Straub’s CandleCove.
I saw the same show and have the same recollections. I think it was probably '71 or '72 as I think I was probably around 8 or 9 at the time. It’s amazing that this show had such an impact on kids of a certain age, yet no one remembers anything but the girl singing this ditty. I seem to recall that she was being accused of committing or witnessing some type of violent crime. Hope somebody will eventually recall the title.
An old woman in a wheelchair, a detective or something talking to her. She gets up and tries to stab or strangle someone. She’s still going “nonny nonny” as they restrain her. One of those weird things I saw on boobtube as a kid.
Yes, I think the brother killed someone and he was trying to make sure the sister wouldn’t talk. I’m pretty sure she didn’t kill anyone. (Pretty sure.) I can’t recall if the murder involved an inheritance, or if the brother was a thief who killed someone. Since he was trying to involve his sister, it kind of points to the former; but I don’t recall them having a lot of money, so it may have been a robbery gone wrong.
I’m sure the woman was in her 20s, and she was in a bed when she was singing. But I also remember her shouting ‘Nonny! Nonny! Nonny!’ while someone was trying to restrain her. I don’t recall if it was her brother or a cop.
