Jingle bells, Batman smells: the close reading
The other day I heard Mallory singing a bit of Jingle Bells, except that the second line was something like “bah ma smehs”. Now she’s a lot more articulate than that, but some times picking up lyrics is hard for adults (witness the dozens of sites that list silly lyrics people thought they heard) so I thought I’d look into it.
As it turns out, someone (she wouldn’t say who) had taught her the old spoof song:
Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
Batmobile lost a wheel
And the Joker got away
So naturally I had to teach her the lyrics so she could sing it properly. It’s now one of her favourite songs. Eclipsing, much to my dismay, Ryan Adams’ Oh My Sweet Carolina. However it only became so following a close literary examination of the lyric. To whit:
Me: Jingle bells, Batman smells
Mallory: Why does Batman smell
Me: I think it’s hot inside his suit and he sweats a lot
Me: Robin laid an egg
Mallory: Why did Robin lay an egg?
Me: Sometimes you just have to do what you gotta do.
Me: Batmobile lost a wheel
Mallory: Why did Batmobile lose a wheel?
Me: Because it wasn’t put on right
Mallory: Why?
Me: Because they were in a hurry.
Mallory: Why were they in a hurry?
Me: Because Robin had just laid an egg and they were short on time.
Me: …and the Joker got away.
Mallory: Why did the Joker get away?
Me: Because Batman and Robin couldn’t chase him.
Mallory: Why?
Me: Because the batmobile lost a wheel.
Mallory: Why?
And on it goes.
