Beemouse Laboratories

I was just outside sitting in the cool evening, looking at the beautiful waxing moon. A song my mom used to sing to me when I was little floated into my head… “Buffalo Gals”. I looked it up, and it seems that it was a song sung a lot by blackface minstrels in the mid-19th century. The part I remembered was only the chorus; when I read the lyrics, I remembered she had sung a couple verses too:

As I was walking down the street
Down the street, down the street
A pretty girl I chanced to meet
And we danced by the light of the moon

CHORUS:
Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight
Come out tonight come out tonight
Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight
And we’ll dance by the light of the moon

I danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking
And he knees was a-knockin’ and her shoes was a’rockin’
I danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking
And we danced by the light of the moon

Here’s a recording on YouTube of a cool dude singing the song.

Another song featuring the moon that my mom and dad used to sing is, “I went to the animal fair”. (”…The birds and the bees were there… the big baboon by the light of the moon was combing his auburn hair…” etc etc.) I’m not going to look it up, but I have a feeling the lyrics actually say “birds and the beasts”, hahaha.

My mother used to read to me the Owl and the Pussycat, by Edward Lear, which, along with The Cat in the Hat and Goodnight Moon (moon again!) was one of the things I requested the most:

III
‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Fascinating. I had no idea that all these things were connected and even still existed in my mind until I stepped outside and let my thoughts wander. I even remember being afraid of the moon for a while when I was little. I thought it was watching me when it peeked through the window at night. I’m pretty sure I started thinking that while I was in the foster home for a year when I was about 5.

I do still love the moon, though…