Sunday, February 7, 2010

There is a hole in the bucket...


Harry Belafonte and Odetta Holmes

There's a hole in the bucket,
Dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a hole in the bucket,
Dear Liza, there's a hole.

Then fix it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
Then fix it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, fix it.

With what shall I fix it,
Dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I fix it,
Dear Liza, with what?

With a straw, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
With a straw, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, with a straw.

But the straw is too long,
Dear Liza, dear Liza
But the straw is too long,
Dear Liza, too long

Then cut it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
Then cut it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, cut it.

With what shall I cut it,
Dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it,
Dear Liza, with what?

With an axe, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
With an axe, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, an axe.

The axe is too dull,
Dear Liza, dear Liza
The axe is too dull,
Dear Liza, too dull

Then sharpen it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
Then sharpen it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, sharpen it.

With what shall I sharpen it,
Dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I sharpen it,
Dear Liza, with what?

With a stone, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
With a stone, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, a stone.

The stone is too dry,
Dear Liza, dear Liza
The stone is too dry,
Dear Liza, too dry

Then wet it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
Then wet it, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, wet it.

With what shall I wet it,
Dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet it,
Dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
With water, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, with water.

How shall I get it,
Dear Liza, dear Liza,
How shall I get it,
Dear Liza, how shall I?

In the bucket, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, dear Henry
In the bucket, dear Henry,
Dear Henry, in the bucket.

There's a hole in the bucket.
"There's a Hole in My Bucket" (or "...in the Bucket") is a children's song, along the same lines as "Found a Peanut". A popular version of the song was recorded in 1961 by Harry Belafonte and Odetta. They reached #32 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]
The song incorporates an infinite-loop motif. To fix the leaky bucket, you need straw. To cut straw, you need an axe. To sharpen the axe, you need a stone. To whet the stone, you need water. However, when the song asks how to get the water, the answer is "in a bucket" (implied to mean the only one available—the leaky bucket, which, if it could carry water, wouldn't need repair in the first place).

2 comments:

  1. I cant tell you how much I hate this song :-)) It has bad memories of school, of a crazy music teacher who taught us western classical music notations, Every Good Bird Drinks Fanta, O me Gawd....

    ReplyDelete
  2. i hate it too...
    it has NO melody, NO poetry, nothing, NADA going for it!
    but people can sing it..thats the whole point of this blog.
    i want US to sing songs and not just stare at screens.....

    ReplyDelete