Why is The Alphabet song sung to the tune of Twinke Twinkle Little Star?

Factual Questions
1

I assume that TTLS came first, however, don’t quote me on that; I’m not sure. But even if it didn’t, then why is TTLS sung to the tune of The Alphabet Song then?

Say the ABCs right now in that way that you’ve learned them back in grade school. Listen to the tune. Is it now also Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?

So I was sitting at the bus stop today and this question popped into my head while I was passing the time by singing various nursery rhymes. After the recognition, I then tried singing the ABC song using other kid song methods.
I started out with:
Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques
ABCD EFGH

Dormez vous? Dormez vous?
IJK LMN

Sonnez les matines
OPQRST*
Sonnez les matines
UVWXY

Ding Ding Dong, Ding Ding Dong
Last comes Z, Last comes Z.

I tried:
Row, row, row your boat,
ABC D E

Gently down the stream.
FGHIJ

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
KLM NOP QRS TUV

Life is but a dream.
W X Y and Z
I even attempted:

My Bonny lies over the ocean
ABCDEFGHI!

My Bonny lies over the sea
JKLMNOPQ!

My Bonny lies over the ocean
RSTUVdouble youXY…

Oh bring back my Bonny to me…
And then at the end we have Z.

But none fit quite as well as Twinkle Twinkle.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
ABCDEFG
How I wonder what you are.
HIJK LMNOP

Up above the world so high,
QRS TUV
Like a diamond in the sky.
WX Y and Z
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Now I know my ABCs
How I wonder ? what you are.
Next time won’t you sing with me?

So why is this? Why did, whoever wrote the Alphabet Song, use THAT nursery rhyme of all of them? What’s the story behind it? Anyone know?

2

The archives.

3

Thank you. :slight_smile:

4

Don’t forget Baa Baa Blacksheep. I felt so cheated when I discovered all those songs were the same as a kid.

5

Now that I think about it, Frère Jacques and Where is Thumbkin are the same too…

6

Bastards! :mad: Here I thought I was a kid who knew stuff!

What about the Farmer in the Dell?

Looks around accusingly

Well, go ahead, burst my bubble. Go on I dare ya!

Does Frère Jacques/Thumbkin really count though? One’s in a different language. They’re aren’t the same “story”, but I dounno if I feel cheated by a song that was adapted to another language.

7

Uh, what about the Farmer in the Dell? I don’t know any other songs that go with that tune. I can sing Frere Jacques in 3 languages, though–it seems to be a popular one.

I always think it’s neat to find out about that stuff; it’s like a little extra bonus. So I guess I don’t feel cheated. Lots of other songs share tunes, too.

8

Dunno how common this is in other cultures, but I’ve noticed that some of my wife’s “kid songs” were Western kid songs with new lyrics added (she’s from China).

9

I once heard that British children use a different tune for their alphabet song–which makes sense, as “t, u, v” doesn’t rhyme very well with “y and zed.”

But I can’t remember how the melody goes, or even if there is one standard British alphabet melody.

10

[Hijack] No, it’s not really a child’s song, but

Amazing Grace, sung to the tune of the Gilligan’s Island Theme Song

[/highjack]

Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

11

What is the translation of the French in the Cecil column?

12

The translation is:


Shall I tell you, [my] mother,
What is causing my torment?
Ever since I saw Sylvester
Watching me with an air so tender,
My heart asks me all the time:
Can one live without a lover?

I tried to allow for meter in the translation, but I can’t get it to rhyme. Also, it’s literally “my heart tells me”, but I’m not sure how one can be told a question, so I changed that.

13

This is the way I learned it also, but in my father’s day (“day” meaning “childhood” here, not necessarily “prime of life”) it differed slightly after “How I wonder what you are”, thus–

Up above the world so high,

  • LMNOP (again) QRST*

Like a diamond in the sky

  • UVWXYZ *

So in the earlier version there is reiteration, but the flow is better and you get to lose that “and” at the end. Matter of taste, I guess, but I think I prefer the earlier. Anyway, my musical tastes have evolved since so it’s pretty academic.