Sweet Thing

As children, many of us learn to sing, "If you''re happy and you know it, clap your hands." But despite the familiarity of this tune, few of us realize that what we''re singing is actually part of a pervasive - and centuries-old - musical scheme. This particular pattern, the "Sweet Thing" scheme, has generated a large group of songs spanning a broad range of topics, genres, and time periods, but a...