The name of the song where nursery rhymes are turned into a gospel song?

Answer 1

The name of the song is "Nursery Rhymes" but I don't know who wrote it. My father heard it at a church camp in Oklahoma when he was young. He played the guitar a little, but couldn't sing worth a flip. My mother, however, sings wonderfully. When I was a small child, my father was a Methodist pastor, and he would play the song while my mother sang it. Years later, (after my parents were long divorced), I heard Pastor Mike Purkee of Texarkana Christian Church sing it on a tape he'd recorded. I got my father to teach it to me on the guitar, and my mother to teach me the lyrics.

Verse 1:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,

a merry old soul was he

but even with a bowl and a pipe in his hand,

I'll bet he had the troubles of an ordinary man.

And Jack be nimble, and Jack be quick.

Jack couldn't make it over the candle stick

of life, to him, people only had names.

I guess he could not give playing...

...playing his games.

Chorus:

What is there that gives my life such meaning?

What is there that makes it all worth while?

The answer's found in just one man.

His name is Jesus Christ, my friend.

So ask him in, and you will find,

life is more than nursery rhymes.

Verse 2:

Little Boy Blue come and blow your horn.

Praise the Lord for your cows and your corn;

And Little Miss Muffett would have never ran away

if she'd only asked the Lord from some courage that day,

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

how does your garden grow and grow?

Silly girl don't you know it's from the Lord

that you even have a garden growing at all.

And after Humpty Dumpty went and had a great fall,

no one around could fix him up at all.

If he'd only had the Lord is his heart that day,

he wouldn't had to worry about it any old way.

Chorus:

What is there that gives my life such meaning?

What is there that makes it all worth while?

The answer's found in just one man.

His name is Jesus Christ, my friend.

So ask him in, and you will find,

life is more than nursery rhymes.

(Music changes to the song, "Mary Had a Little Lamb")

Mary had a little lamb,

little lamb, little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb,

His name is Jesus Christ.

(Alternate version I've heard:)

Mary had a little lamb,

little lamb, little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb,

He washed us white as snow.

I don't know who wrote the song, but that's how I remembered it being sung when I was a kid (and how my mom taught it to me in high school).

If you have any more information on the origin of the song, PLEASE contact me! I can be found on Facebook by searching jerryg@hydrashok.com