Il Était un Petit Navire
Oh There Was Once a Little Ship

Don't let the cheerful nursery-rhyme reputation fool you--this French favorite started life as a sailors' song with a surprisingly dark little story: a ship runs out of food, the crew draws straws to decide who gets eaten, and the youngest sailor is saved at the last moment by a miracle. Some historians think it may even echo the real and infamous 1816 wreck of the French ship Méduse. By the 20th century, though, French children had adopted it as a singalong, humming and clapping through the drama without a second thought. It's proof that a good tune can outlive its original, much stranger meaning.