One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Lou Bega song whose lyrics begin "One, two, three, four, five", see Mambo No. 5.

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five"
Nursery rhyme
Publishedc. 1765

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five" (also known as "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" or "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught a Fish Alive" in other versions) is a

counting-out rhyme.[1] It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13530.[2]

Text and melody

A common modern version is:

\header { tagline = ##f } \layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } } global = { \key f \major \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \autoBeamOff } sopranoVoice = \relative c'' { \global a4 a g8 f f4 | c8 f a c c bes bes4 | bes bes8. bes16 a8 g g4 | f8 e d e g f f4 | a a8. a16 g8 f f8. f16 | c8 f a c c bes bes4 | bes bes8. bes16 a8 g g4 | f8 e16 e d8 e g f f4 \bar "|." } verseOne = \lyricmode { \set stanza = \markup \bold "1." One, two, three, four, five, Once I caught a fish a -- live. Six, se -- ven, eight, nine, ten, Then I let it go a -- gain. } verseTwo = \lyricmode { \set stanza = \markup \bold " 2." Why did you let it go? Be -- cause he bit my fin -- ger so. Which fin -- ger did it bite? This lit -- tle fin -- ger on my right. } \score { \new Staff \with { midiInstrument = "vibraphone" } { \sopranoVoice } \addlyrics { \verseOne \verseTwo } \layout { } \midi { \tempo 4=100 } }

One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?
Because he bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right.[3]

Origin

Illustration of the poem from the 1901 Book of Nursery Rhymes

This is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in

Mother Goose's Melody
around 1765. Like most versions until the late 19th century, it had only the first stanza and dealt with a hare, not a fish, with the words:

One, two, three, four and five,
I caught a hare alive;
Six, seven, eight, nine and ten,
I let him go again.[1]

The modern version is derived from three variations collected by Henry Bolton in the 1880s from America.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Iona and Peter Opie (1997) [1951]. The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 334–335.
  2. ^ "Roud Number 13530". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
  3. ISBN 9781931863650
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=One,_Two,_Three,_Four,_Five&oldid=1181505063"