Pop Goes the Weasel

"Pop Goes the Weasel" is a jig, often sung as a nursery rhyme, that dates back to 17th century England, and was spread across the Empire by colonists. The song is also associated with jack-in-the-box toys (when the song gets to "pop" the "jack" pops up). The tune or melody is as follows, or a variation:

Lyrics

There are many different versions of the lyrics to the song. Most share the basic verse:

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,

Half a pound of treacle.

That’s the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

Or the alternative verses:

All around the Mulberry Bush,

The monkey chased the weasel.

The monkey stopped to pull up his sock, (or The monkey stopped to scratch his nose)

Pop! goes the weasel.

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,

Half a pound of treacle.

Mix it up and make it nice,

Pop! goes the weasel.

Up and down the city road, (also seen as Up and down the King's Highway)

In and out the Eagle,

That’s the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

For you may try to sew and sew,

But you'll never make anything regal,

That’s the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

Every time when I come home

The monkey's on the table,

Cracking nuts and eating spice

Pop! goes the weasel.

Every time when I come home

The monkey's on the table,

Take a stick and knock it off

Pop! goes the weasel.

Contemporary verses in the United States consist of mainly these two:

All around the mulberry bush (or cobbler's bench)

The monkey chased the weasel;

The monkey thought 'twas all in fun,

Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,

A penny for a needle—

That's the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

Origins and interpretation

Due to the obscure slang and cryptic reference "pop goes the weasel", there is considerable dispute over the rhyme's meaning. The original theme seems to have been a darkly humorous vignette of the cycle of poverty among workers in the East End of London. The "weasel" may refer to a spinner's weasel, a mechanical yarn measuring device consisting of a spoked wheel with an internal ratcheting mechanism that clicks every two revolutions and makes a "pop" sound after the desired length of yarn is measured. "Pop goes the weasel", in this meaning, describes the repetitive sound of a machine governing the tedious work of textile workers toiling for subsistence wages. In the context of the rhyme then the first three lines of each verse describe various ways of spending one's meager wages, with "pop goes the weasel" indicating a return to unpleasant labour. Alternatively (and, which is perhaps more likely for a poem from the East End of London), if "pop goes the weasel" is taken as Cockney rhyming slang, the "weasel" that goes "pop" is an item of value that the worker pawns, probably after spending the week's wages (always given on a Saturday). The "serious" Cockney uses "pop" to mean pawning or the redeeming of a pawned item, while the word "weasel" means "coat" (derived from "weasel and stoat"). Cockney slang also uses 'pop' to mean 'go away' ("Pop off!") or 'to hit' ("I'll pop you one!"). Another possibility is that "weasel" is a corruption of "whistle" and means "suit" (in this case being derived from "whistle and flute"). In either interpretation, the rhyme describes the pawning of the worker's only valuable items - the "Sunday best" clothing - after exhausting the week's wages on the food items such as rice and treacle, which, though cheap, were and are fundamentally useless to anyone if the buyer is poor and has nothing to eat them with. It is thought, however, that early "quack" doctors would have prescribed treacle as a sort of medicine, and gullible purchasing workers that were prone to illness due to exposure would doubtless have spent their savings on trying to maintain their and their children's health. "The Eagle" in the poem is more readily identifiable as a Public house on the City Road in London. It stands on the site of the former Royal Eagle Tavern Music hall and pleasure grounds. Needless to say, it too is a means by which money is lost. "Monkey" is believed to be a nineteenth century term for a public house drinking vessel. A "stick" is a shot of alcohol, while "knock it off" is to drink it. Therefore, this is a description of drinking in the pub. The later reference in the song to the monkey chasing people around the workplace might well describe longing for a drink while working, or perhaps while penniless right before payday. Alternatively, it could be simply to miss the point of the presence of other "animals" such as weasels and eagles within the rhyme, and that whoever added the "monkey" was simply trying to make it more nonsensical. Nevertheless, within the little-sung verse that goes:

Every time when I come home

The monkey's on the table,

Take a stick and knock it off

Pop goes the weasel

If taken literally, it too is a means by which one would doubtless lose money. However, if the monkey does indeed represent the alcohol, or the container for it, then its "eating" nuts and spice could be seen as its dominating the narrator's life and therefore taking the place of staple food. In either case, it demonstrates a somewhat expensive lifestyle, if the narrator is indeed to be recognised as poor working class. Sometimes the third line of the most common line is sung as That's the way the money goes round.

References in fiction

The Railway Series

The Railway Series by the Revd W. Awdry is not known for its songs, but the books' author chose to use the well-known rhyme format for a version that was probably a hidden lesson about boasting. In Duck and the Diesel Engine (vol 13 of the series), the visiting engine Diesel hauls a rake of condemned vans from a siding by mistake, and lurches forward ('pops') when a rusty coupling breaks. While Diesel clears up the mess he hears the trucks making fun of him with this song:^[1]

Trucks are waiting in the Yard;

Tackling them with ease'll,

"Show the world what I can do,"

Gaily boasts the Diesel.

In and out he creeps about,

Like a big black weasel.

When he pulls the wrong trucks out –

Pop goes the Diesel!

Some years later, Awdry reprised the song with another version in Oliver the Western Engine (vol 24). This time, the steam engine Oliver ends up bunker-down in the well of a turntable (hence the reference at the end of the song) when his ballast train runs out of control. After Oliver returns from repair, more trucks, led by S.C.Ruffey, tease him with this song:^[2]

Oliver's no use at all;

Thinks he's very clever.

Says that he can manage us;

That's the best joke ever!

When he orders us about,

With the greatest folly,

We just push him down the well –

Pop - goes old Ollie!

When the stories were filmed for the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV series, re-using the songs was an obvious move, with the Troublesome Trucks leading the singing. (NB - for the re-dubbed American version, some of the wording was changed - eg 'trucks' replaced by 'cars').

The Three Stooges

In the Three Stooges short subject Punch Drunks, Curly Howard is a mild mannered simpleton who goes into a fighting frenzy when he hears the song. Moe becomes his manager whilst Larry plays the tune on his fiddle that make him a champion boxer. The tune was played in the title credits of their Pop Goes the Easel. The gag was reused in the feature film The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze with Curly-Joe DeRita becoming combative when he hears the song.

Anthony Newley

A version recorded by Anthony Newley achieved number 12 in the UK charts in 1961

The Prisoner

"Pop Goes the Weasel" is also prominently featured in the 1960s television series The Prisoner. An instrumental version is part of the soundtrack of several episodes (most notably the premiere episode "Arrival"), and in "Once Upon a Time" the lead character Number Six, whose mind has been reverted to childhood, begins singing the song, but is goaded by his nemesis, Number Two, who turns the word "Pop" into an acronym for "Protect Other People", leading the two to yell "Why POP?" at each other. The "Pop Goes the Weasel" theme is further explored in the graphic novel Shattered Visage.

America Sings

America Sings was a former audio-animatronic show at Disneyland park. A cartoonish weasel would pop out of the top of the stage and say "Pop Goes the Weasel! Hee-hee-hee!" It was a recurring gag throughout the show, and a favorite among children.

I Am Weasel

I Am Weasel was a Cartoon Network series inspired by Pop Goes the Weasel.

Tell me your dreams

A novel by Sidney Sheldon incorporates the rhyme as a reminder of the main character's childhood (Ashley). Ashely's childhood forms the foundation for the present day in the novel, and every time Ashley recites a verse from the rhyme there is a flashback to her childhood.

The Backyardigans

In the Backyardigans Episode Save The Day, Tasha sings a song "I'll catch a Whopper!" to the tune. In addition, she whistles the tune several times, seemingly to herself, throughout the episode, which helps the other characters in the story to locate her. /* References in music */ "Pop goes the weasel" is a song by Mark Knopfler in his 2007 album Kill to get crimson.

Gullah Gullah Island

There was a song sung in Gullah Gullah Island entitled 'Ssh...It's a secret', which was sung to the tune of this song.

References

External links

• http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20050718_river18.76dc0a0.html
• http://www.museum.appstate.edu/exhibits/furniture/pages/weasel.shtml
• Extensive lyrics, with chords, on Kristin's site at MIT
• Children's mouseum presentation
• World Wide Words, Michael Quinion: POP GOES THE WEASEL (June 2004)
• Lords of acid interpretation
• A rockin' recording of "Pop Goes The Weasel" by Team Vico