Lyrics omitted. The annotations below are reproduced by permission of David Dodd; the song lyrics themselves are copyrighted and are not reproduced here. Read them at the official source: dead.net/songs.
Recorded on In The Dark.
First performed September 17, 1982 at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. In the repertoire ever since.
There are many variations on the rhyme (interesting or unbelievable that they all should have devloped since the 1880's...) Here are a few:
"Ring-a-ring-r-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush!
We've all tumbled down."--The Annotated Mother Goose
"Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.The cows are in the meadow
Lying fast asleep,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all get up again."--The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book
"A ring, a ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Ash-a! Ash-a!
All stand still.The king has sent his daughter
To fetch a pail of water,
Ash-a! Ash-a!
All bow down.The bird upon the steeple
Sits high above the people,
Ash-a! Ash-a!
All kneel down.The wedding bells are ringing,
The boys and girls are singing,
Ash-a! Ash-a!
All fall down."--The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book
Ring a ring a rosies,
Pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
All fall down!
An essay on the influence of nursery rhymes, Grateful Goose, is available.
"Jones...2. slang. A drug addict's habit. 1968 Sun Mag. (Baltimore) 13 Oct. 19/4 Soon you're out to keep from getting the Jones. 1970 C. MAJOR Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 71 Jones, a fixation; drug habit; compulsive attachment."
No one seems to have a theory on the origin of the word, but it appears to have appeared quite recently in its current meaning, say about 1965.
"If all the world were paper,
And all the sea were ink,
If all the trees were bread and cheese,
What should we have to drink?"--Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, p. 436
And this note from a reader: