My Halloween special: The Itsy Bitsy Spider. A Creepy version of the nursery rhyme with my own extended lyrics + making of + mythology and folklore about spiders

It's been a little bit since I last posted but as you'll see it's been also a lot of work. :) This will be a long post. It features not only my Itsy Bitsy Spider music video, and its making of but also an extended poem and folklore and mythology about Spiders. So it's been a LOT OF WORK to put all this together, and yes it has its flaws but also was done in a bit of a hurry to meet Halloween deadline :) You know I simmer things slowly and this is why I was taking so long for my blog post. There will be some ghostly content the following days to celebrate All Hallow's Eve, tomorrow night (Halloween, Samhain) and All Saints Day (1st of November)

Halloween musical special: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Watch the music video

Every year I share a "spooky Halloween" special. I really hope you don't fear spiders... but if you have arachnophobia proceed with caution ;-). I just want to ask you to be gentle with spiders, they are mostly industrious architects, patient and harmless. Sure there are some dangerous species, but most do not deserve the bad reputation.

If you can take a second to comment on my channel (or share this post with your friends as halloween greeting) I'm grateful

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (The Complete Story) LYRICS

The very well known Itsy Bitsy spider (Incy Wincy in UK) is famous nursery rhyme (Roud Index 11586) and Children's game (mimicking the movements of the spider as she goes up and down a pipe). Etimologically "itsy bitsy" means "Charmingly small" Though already existing in the XIX century it was 1st published in 1910 as a Camping song and referred to as the classic "Spider song" in the book Camp and Camino in Lower California. There were though many other alternate versions and variations. Sometimes the spider climbs a teapot.

Extending the original lyrics with my original poetry

I have written an extended version, and here is the full poem featured in my recording.
I have used the original verse twice, but the rest of the words are written and extended by myself and are new and original. It follows the adventures of our itsy bitsy spider once she actually climbs that water spout.
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
and the itsy bitsy climbed up the spout again
The itsy bitsy spider spun a deadly trap
She's lurking from a corner with her beady eyes
Famished but patient, she sees how the moth flies
"She'd wrap it in a silken shroud
and suck it till it dries"
The itsy bitsy spider is starving in her web
Hunger was piercing and she could no longer wait
She let out a thread
and down the wall she went
So the itsy bitsy spider is on the move again
The itsy bitsy spider is in her secret lair
somewhere safe and hidden where she can lay her eggs
and rocks the silken cradle with her spooky legs
till tiny itsy bitsy spiders hatch within your bed

And rocks her silken cradle with her spooky legs refers about a cocoon of sack full of hatchlings

Why did I chose this nursery rhyme as Halloween special? The story of Nosferatu and Petusina

Above: "Nosferatu" the wolf spider

Sometimes uncanny coincidences happen, and I was happening to be humming this song one rainy right when a big chunky spider came out the water spout. I was shocked because of the synchronicity of events and I thought I was just tired and my mind playing tricks on myself, so I took a breath, went to my room and came back to my phone. There it was, a big hunting wolf spider, the size of half of my palm, looking at me from the tile. Since then it appeared many times. It is obviously a male (females have a bulgy abdomen) and wolf spiders don't weave cobweb but are hunters, but for the sake of our story he had to "play a part" ;-).

That's when a second spider came into the spotlight. She was a fake "black widow" perfectly playing the part "lurking from a corner with her beady eyes" always patiently waiting for prey on her cobweb.

The video mixes footage from both Nosferatu and Petusina, though also includes CCOO stock spiders footage that it's not them. Nosferatu is the one featured in many of the scenes.

Fast forwarding to present time, Petusina still goes out every night to wait on her web, but it's been many days since Nosferatu was last spotted. But I'm happy to think they are both featured in this spooky Halloween special and I had lots of fun observing these two for many weeks.

Blurry picture but the eyes...

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And some sketching inspired by "Nosferatu" ,🕷️pretty eyes

Plotting the music video and its sound

I first intended to make a very simple lyric video. The song is recorded almost acapella with distorting fx on the voice. I recorded some creaking, and pipes, and the shriek of my hammered dulcimer played out of tune. It also includes some distorted echoes and moaning vocals out of pitch to create this "wavy" illusion of a drone that just holds the leads voice. The accompaniment is minimal and almost only atmospheric support. I wanted full focus on the lyrics. You can enable CC subtitles in the video so far in English or Spanish.

I sketched some doodles, obviously inspired by my "bathroom" visitors. Nosferatu would be always on "the hunt" moving around and appearing sometimes in different rooms. Being a big "boy" as he is, and though I'm not afraid of spiders, it would always startled me. Petusina would be always waiting in her web.

My "ghost" self (either wrapped in white or black) is already a recurrent character. I used several sheer fabrics and a ragged trim fabric that resembled spider web. I wanted to have a "blindfolded" look, to give the impression of a shroud or "prey about to be digested" ;-) But truly it's not the first time you see my "ghost self" (Haunted, ghosts are gone, Off the Lane, The tipping point (cover)...) and won't be the rest. Most of these can be found in my "creepy lullabies" special youtube playlist.
For me the ghost represent my "invisible" self, and in this one symbolically when you feel about to be devoured by fear and feel immobilized by it. It all has its subtle nuances and connotations for those caring to "read" past beyond the lines.

For the video I'm both "predator" and "prey"

I made lots of silly doodles... but in the end they helped a lot to shape the whole timeline... this video is BEST to watch with SUBTITLES ENABLED :) as the imagery is also complimentary to the storytelling

I guess I dressed for Halloween a bit early but this is my "Black widow", "Spider Goddess" look
Yes that is a little prop plastic spider, I wish Nosferatu and Petusina were that big, but I wouldn't dare to bother them anyway. :). There is a lot of fake spider webs from Halloween decor too. I'm not particularly good at make up but I try to hint the extra eyes.

By the way all this imagery of shaping bedsheets as a ghost is heavily inspired by one of my favourite ghost tales of all time "Whistle and I'll come to you" by M. R. James, which one day will be a video and song in its on, but I chose to mix the imagery of both spider-tale and ghost-tale together so there is more than one thing happening in the video. This famous tale is the one who inspired the representation of ghosts with bed sheets.

As always find "fufunchis" in the videos

Remember every video hides some hidden "fufunchis". In this one you'll find my 3 rats (Tuula, Ritva and Taika) and Fievel the mouse. If you spot them let me know but don't share the time signature.

Here the most difficult one to spot :), you have other 3 to find...
Can you see "Ritva in this picture"?

Mythology about spiders: They are benevolent, wise and patient in many cultures

Spiders certainly gained a bad reputation for causing irrational fear in humans:
Spiders are not vilified in all cultures. In many different cultures spiders represent a variety of things
Most famous myth is Greek Arachne (that's why spiders are also called arachnids). She was a weaver of such skill that rose the jealousy of Athena who turned her into a spider.

In some of them they represent. Likely my favourite is the benevolent and wise Native American Goddess "SPIDER GRANDMOTHER" who actually wove her thoughts into a web bringing the the world into existence. she's believed to live in a hole but will emerge if needed, providing healing or wisdom.

Other North American tribes believed the Earth Maker assigned to different animals (bear, crow) the task of "observing the world" as sentinels but they failed. The spiders patiently on their webs proved themselves worthy and they were given extra pairs of eyes. That explains why spiders have eight eyes instead of too in their mythology.

Old Celtic Druids used Ogham Alphabet, which was believed to have originated found on the patterns of spider webs.

In Slavic folklore the Kikimora, the sleep disorder "sleep paralysis" is believed to be caused by a house spirit that enters a room through a keyhole & sits on the chest of a sleeper. This is similar in many cultures to explain this sleep disorder but Kikimora's figure is specificaly related to the spiders imagery. The video is heavily influenced by this too as I have sleep paralysis myself. One day I'll make an in depth most about it.

In Ghana (Africa) Anansi is a spider mythological figure portrayed as a trickster. But in many African countries they are portrayed as healers or mediators. Even Anansi himself, though a trickster is said to be the father of "oral tradition and storytelling"

Similarly the spider appears to be a trickster in other cultures. Some scholars even say that famous Norse God Loki is actually a spider and his name comes from Swedish dialect “locke” (meaning spider)

Meditating lynx spiders always seem to be still and chill in deep meditation, they belong to the genus Hamadruas, which takes name of Hmyadryad (Greek nymphs protector of trees)

Remember all my "spooky specials" are compiled into this "creepy lullabies" playlist on youtube

And grateful if you give a listen. I find that my "dark" songs always get less love than the uplifting fairy music. But these are ones I find to fun to make, and this is the time of the year when they are most appropriate. The playlist include already 25 tracks with eerie original lullabies, creepy nursery rhymes, soundtrack covers of Halloween classics (A Nightmare before Christmas, Hocus Pocus) and more...
MY HALLOWEEN MUSIC YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

You can also support purchasing this song

Of course you are listening to the full song in the video but if you want to support symbolically
It's free for all my patrons at patreon.com/yidneth
And there's a download on my bandcamp https://priscillahernandez.bandcamp.com

^{Above: Cover of Priscilla Hernandez "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (The Complete Story)}

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