Daddy finger, daddy finger, what do you do?

[GeneD]

Daddy finger, daddy finger, what do you do?
Play guitar, play guitar. That's what I do.

Mommy finger, mommy finger, what do you do?
Exercise, exercise. That's what I do.

The above are the exerpts (?) from the well-known nursery rhyme (modified a bit though). What is unclear to me is the meaning of the phrase (?) "What do you do?". I thought that in the present simple it means "what's your job?", but the song suggests the meaning is broader. Or is the simple tense used for rhyme purposes? Personally, I would use the continuous in that context, but what do you say? Is it just a rhyme? Or is the present simple used not only for occupations? Or the both?

And "the" before "guitar" is optional, isn't it? Or is the rhyme to blame again?

 

[J&K Tutoring]

It may be useful to keep in mind that a nursery rhyme's 'audience' typically isn't very clear on the concept of having an occupation, so maybe it's not so critical to be clear and grammatical.

FWIW, I've never heard this "well-known" nursery rhyme.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've never heard it either.

 

[bhaisahab]

Neither have I.

 

[GeneD]

Then it's not as popular as I thought.

 

[GeneD]

I thought "as... as" and "so... as" are interchangeable. Now I'm trying to find a rule on it.