Well after several questions I thought I would explore for everyone the origin of the phrase 'The cheese stands alone'.
I learned it from the song 'The Famer in the Dell' in which the last verse is all about the cheese standing alone. In the song everyone 'takes' someone or something else except the cheese. Which is why (I think) thats the memorable part of the song. If you ever sang the song as part of a game you may remember the cheese due to your being picked last. You can play a game in which everyone stands in a circle singing. With each verse a new person gets to come into the middle of the circle. For example, the Farmer starts as 'it' and is in the middle, after this when the Farmer takes a wife he picks someone else from the circle to come into the middle. At the end of the song everyone is in the circle 'middle' except...the cheese. Then everyone else re-forms a circle around the cheese and sings about them standing alone. Which makes you wonder....what are we teaching our children?
If you are new to the phrase and have no idea about the song maybe you heard about it because you like to eat cheese. There is a cheese shop in NY (I think) called The Cheese Stands Alone. Obviously created by Wisconsin children who liked cheese or had a bad experience with the game....or possibly a good experience if the cheese became the farmer for the next round.
Hope you all enjoy singing this week about farmers, wives, children, cats, dogs, rats, and CHEESE!
