Solomon Grundy

"Solomon Grundy" is a 19th century children's nursery rhyme, and was presented by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps in 1842. The poem is essentially a riddle in which the life of Solomon Grundy appears to take place in the process of a single week, the answer being that each day's events represent the seven ages of man.

:"Solomon Grundy,":"Born on a Monday,":"Christened on Tuesday,":"Married on Wednesday,":"Took ill on Thursday,":"Grew worse on Friday,":"Died on Saturday,":"Buried on Sunday.":"That was the end of":"Solomon Grundy."

The name "Solomon Grundy" is believed to have derived from the English food Salmagundi, which was integrated into the English language from the French in the 17th century, and is a salad of cooked meats, lettuce, anchovies and eggs, with other condiments. The name of the salad was corrupted in the 18th century to "Solomon Gundy", particularly in the United States. [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dujiiVP2KJIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=origins+%22Solomon+Grundy%22+-comic+rhyme#PRA1-PA326,M1 Freeman, Morton S. , "A New Dictionary of Eponyms", p 226] ]

References in popular culture

*The DC Comics character Solomon Grundy, a large, strong zombie supervillain, was named (in the debut story) after this nursery rhyme.
* In "", writer Jeph Loeb used the existing DC villain Solomon Grundy with an expanded version of the lyrics, which also included words about the weather rather than just his life:

:"Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday," :"Christened on a stark and stormy Tuesday,":"Married on a gray and grisly Wednesday,":"Took ill on a mild and mellow Thursday,":"Grew worse on a bright and breezy Friday,":"Died on a gay and glorious Saturday,":"Buried on a baking, blistering Sunday.":"That was the end of Solomon Grundy."

* In the "Justice League" episode "The Terror Beyond," which features Solomon Grundy's death, his grave is marked "Born on a Monday."

* Crash Test Dummies' "Superman's Song" refers to the comic book character: "Superman never made any money / Saving the world from Solomon Grundy"

In an animated segment from the very first episode of "Sesame Street", a cartoon Solomon Grundy washes a different part of the left side of his body every day of the week, but in the end, he's still half dirty.

"Solomon Grundy" is a short animated 3D film produced at the Savannah College of Art and Design in the fall of 2005 as a collaborative class project. This film is being showcased in a number of film festivals including the 2006 SIGGRAPH Animation Festival, where it received an honorable mention in the Fine/Art Experimental category. [ [http://www.chrismyers3d.com Myers, Chris] . " [http://www.solomongrundyfilm.com Solomon Grundy Film] ". Retrieved August 23, 2006.]

Comic artist and writer Kaori Yuki wrote a short story centered around the poem using characters from her series "God Child", which was published at the end of book five.

In Jasper Fforde's "The Big Over Easy", set in a fantasy version of Reading, Berkshire where characters from nursery rhymes live, Solomon Grundy appears as the antagonistic CEO of a giant company called Winsum & Loosum. He is married to Rapunzel.

The poet Philippe Soupault adapted this rhyme and called it "The Life of Philippe Soupault". [Stewart, Susan. "Nonsense: Aspects of Intertextuality in Folklore and Literature", Johns Hopkins, 1979. p. 191. ISBN 0-8018-2258-0]

Ian McDonald wrote a science fiction novella "The Days of Solomon Gursky" ("Asimov's Science Fiction" June 1998, reprinted a. o. in Mike Ashley's anthology "The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction", 2006 [isfdb title |82252|title=The Days of Solomon Gursky] ) whose title and structure are based on the nursery rhyme. (The hero's name coincides with Mordecai Richler's 1989 novel "Solomon Gursky Was Here".) It is about love, longing, nanotechnology, and the death and rebirth of the universe. The title character, Solomon Gursky, invents a way to resurrect the dead using nanotechnology. The story consists of seven chapters with the names of the days for titles that trace his life from the early 21st century through to the actual end of the universe and beyond: The many, and now completely fused, species of intelligent life throughout the universe construct a Tipler machine to record and recreate the entire universe.

Julian Symons wrote a murder mystery titled "The End of Solomon Grundy" (Harper & Row, 1964) in which the main character was named Solomon Grundy by a father with a tiresome sense of humor.

Musician Blaze Ya Dead Homie has a song on his album "" entitled "Timeline" that explains the life of Colton Grundy. The first half of the song is about Solomon Grundy, and how he could not die—he could just evolve into Colton.

Australian punk rock trio The Living End make reference to the nursery rhyme in their song "Dirty Man": "Like I was born on Saturday, got buried on Sunday."

In Opal Whiteley's diary, Solomon Grundy is the name of her pet pig. In the version published in 1994 ("The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow"), Chapter 24 is titled "A Wish Come True, and a Portrait of Solomon Grundy."

The 1986 Harold Ramis film "Club Paradise" had an archvillain named Solomon Gundy. He is the corrupt prime minister of St. Nicholas.

In the anime series "Shakugan no Shana", the nursery rhyme is used in the form of an offensive magical spell, aimed at the series main character.

The Bluetones 1998 single "Solomon Bites the Worm" paraphrases the rhyme: "Monday, Count all the teeth in my head / Tuesday, anointed by a man in a dress / Saturday I said my goodbyes / Sunday I'm food for the worms and the flies".

Henry Gibson, as one of his "Laugh-In" poems, did a version adapted to (then-modern) 1960's society:

:"Solomon Grundy born on Monday," :"Went to school on Tuesday,":"Grew a beard on Wednesday,":"Expelled on Thursday,":"Protested on Friday,":"Arrested on Saturday,":"Drafted on Sunday;":"And this was the end of Solomon Grundy."

The 1992 Canadian film "Buried on Sunday" is set on the fictional island of Solomon Grundy, Nova Scotia.

The 2007 film "The Solomon Grundy Show", directed by Malcolm Campbell, divides the traditional Grundy's daily identities among several characters.

Kansas City Rapper Tech N9ne mentions him in his song "Flipside" on his first major solo CD "The Calm Before the Storm."

Big Youth's album "Screaming Target" includes the track "Solomon Gunday." The DJ improvises over the "Anywhere is Nowhere" riddim, twisting the nursery rhyme into the story of a gunman who "Kill you on a Thursday/Rob it on a Wednesday". As it relates to Jamaican culture, Solomon Gundy is a fish pâté.

References