When a Muppet calls something weird, you know it is. Well, such is the case for the heart-racing, albeit brief nursery rhyme “Jack Be Nimble,” which “roving reporter” Kermit the Frog showcases below in a segment for Sesame Street. During it, Kermit dubs the verse—yes—weird as he walks off camera.
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But he’s right! The rhyme is a bit strange. Want proof? Let’s dive into the meaning and history here below.
Jumping Candlesticks?
In the 1800s, jumping candlesticks was a form of sport-premonition, often at weddings or other ceremonies. If the athlete (or groom) could leap over a lit candle and keep the flame alight, then that meant a rich future and good luck ahead. If one extinguished the flame, perhaps because one had too much to drink, that meant bad luck ahead, according to the tradition. One has to be able to do two things at once, of course: be spry in the world and keep the fires of home lit.
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Therefore, this nursery rhyme is rooted in an actual act an individual or group might partake in. Unlike, say, a cow jumping over the moon or a dish running away with the spoon.
The Meaning
Today, the most common version of the rhyme, which was first recorded in 1815 and later collected in nursery rhyme books, goes, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick
The name Jack, of course, is a simple placeholder, just a common male first name. But that’s when the excitement comes in. Jack is ready to show off. Will he make it? Yes, says the rhyme. Or at least, it’s implied. The verb “to be” used here makes it all the more interesting.
Is it Jack is nimble? As in someone is describing Jack’s qualities? Or is it a warning, a bit of advice to Jack. Jack! BE nimble! (Or else).
These kinds of double meanings give nursery rhymes their long lives. Either way, Jack thinks he’s nimble, thinks he’s quick and so he runs and leaps and jumps over the candlestick. Now, we aren’t told if the candlestick is still lit in the end. In this way, the rhyme merely outlines the stakes.
But it does it so well and so deftly that it gives great joy.
In Popular Culture
The nursery rhyme is so brief and so recognizable that it finds itself, at least in part, in plenty of pop culture places. In Don McLean’s 1971 hit, “American Pie,” he sings, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick, ‘Cause fire’s the devil’s only friend. There, McLean is also riffing on The Rolling Stones’ song, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
Others like Lindsey Buckingham and Snoop Dogg and Chubby Checker have referenced the rhyme in their songs, which include Buckingham’s “Holiday Road,” Snoop’s “My Medicine” and Checker’s “Limbo Rock.”
That nimble Jack, he’s always testing the limits of what’s possible. Just ask Kermit.
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