I agree with you, Charlie. In Cicely's poem, the "girls" are winds, and the spirit is playful.    In the newer lyrics, the girls are human beings doing a back-breaking job, and the image of that is nothing playful.

At the modern art museum near me I once saw a painting based on an old photograph. The painting was called "Mother and Daughter," and it showed two Chinese women, their backs bent almost double, hauling a barge. I estimate that the mother weighed maybe 110 pounds, and the daughter 85-90. Terrible!
I feel sure that they were in serious danger of ruined backs.

Let's stick with Cicely.