Omfg twice it got me twice

Omg wait! Come up with your own rhymes! How fun would that be? I'm gonna simmer on it and come back to this...

Oh this is good

Anyway. What do you think?

Thanks for spiraling with me. 💜✨

But that would be a PRETTY weird thing to write a song about! So maybe it's an adult (reinforced by the lyrics imply they have a choice to return or not, where as a child would be compelled) and the mom is in decline and it's just too much to take on. That's super real, tbh

I think as a kid when I LOVED Raffi I just assumed this was a child and that his mom was super goofy and silly and tried to make him laugh. Maybe the kid was autistic and took it too seriously?? Hahah hmmm much to consider

But, I mean, like:

"Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow
Back to my home, I dare not go
For if I do, my mother will say"

👀🤷‍♂️

Raffi said it was just a fun silly song for rhyming words. He even pointed out you could sing, "Down by the bay, where the water meets the land..." instead and open up a whole new world of willy rhymes.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, this theory is kind of a vibe.

Yo, also, there's this conspiracy theory that the song is about a kid who is scared to go visit his mom because she's in mental decline and keeps repeating all this weird shit to him. I mean, maybe, I guess?

Did y'all know Down By The Bay is such an old song that it's origins are considered a mystery? Like, Raffi took that shit and ran but he said it was an old song from like WWI or something. They don't even known if it's the same melody since it's considered lost to time

Like, was it too furry-esque? Risqué? Did they think it would encourage a wave of young furries to self discovery? I'm so intrigued