8 Innocent Songs With Incredibly Disturbing Histories

2. Three Blind Mice Is About Burning People At The Stake

When it comes to children's nursery rhymes, things don't get much quainter than three blind mice. What could be dark and disturbing about a few small animals scurrying around and trying not to bump into things? The song dates back as far as 1609, published alongside music in the book Deuteromelia Or The Seconde Part Of Musicks Melodie and potentially authored by the book's editor, Thomas Ravenscroft. It's widely speculated that the song is a reference to the cruel reign of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England (or Bloody Mary as she's commonly known). Specifically, to an incident in which she executed three Protestant bishops. Their blindness, then, is actually a comment on their religious blindness, and is not supposed to be taken literally.