"Three Little Fishies", also known as "Three Little Fishes", is a 1939 song with words by Josephine Carringer and Bernice Idins and music by

Saxie Dowell Horace Kirby Dowell (May 24, 1904 – July 22, 1974), known professionally as Saxie Dowell, was an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Dowell was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended the University of North Carolina, where he met Ha ...

. The song tells the story of three fishes, who defy their mother's command of swimming only in a meadow, by swimming over a dam and on out to sea, where they encounter a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

, which the fish describe as a whale. They flee for their lives and return to the meadow in safety. The song was a US No. 1 hit for Kay Kyser and His Band in 1939. It was released in the UK as a 78 by British comedian

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

, on the short-lived UK Harmony label, in 1949. It was revived in 2012 by

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

for inclusion in his 108-song box set, ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music''.

Other recordings

*A recording was made in 1939 by

Nat Gonella Nathaniel Charles Gonella (7 March 1908 – 6 August 1998) was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist, and mellophonist. He founded the big band The Georgians, during the British dance band era. Early life and career Gonella was bo ...

and The Georgians. It features in the compilation ''Children's Wartime Favourites'', issued in 2005 by River Records. *In 1953

Spike Jones and his City Slickers Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

recorded a version of the song featuring

George Rock George Rock (October 11, 1919 – April 12, 1988) was a trumpet player and singer with various bands before starring with Spike Jones, Spike Jones and His City Slickers. A man of large physical stature, Rock attended Illinois Wesleyan Univ ...

imitating the high child's

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

voice. *In 1961,

Buzz Clifford Reese Francis Clifford III (October 8, 1941 – January 26, 2018), known professionally as Buzz Clifford, was an American pop singer and songwriter. His biggest success came with his recording of "Baby Sittin' Boogie" (1961), which peaked at No. ...

released a version of the song as a single which reached #102 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart. *In 1963,

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

recorded it on their

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

album “Greatest Hits Volume 2”, although they never recorded it prior to this album. *In 1966

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

contributed the song to the children's album ''Children's Favourites'' by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and

Paul Hamlyn Paul Hamlyn, Baron Hamlyn, (12 February 1926 – 31 August 2001) was a German-born British publisher and philanthropist, who established the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in 1987. Early life He was born Paul Bertrand Wolfgang Hamburger in Berlin, Ger ...

. *The 1973 made-for-television movie ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

'' features the original version of the song at its introduction, being sung along to by protagonist

David Janssen David Janssen (born David Harold Meyer) (March 27, 1931February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967). Janssen also ...

while flying a

Hughes 500 500 may refer to: * 500 (number) * 500 BC * AD 500 Buildings and places * 500 Boylston Street of Boston * 500 Brickell in Miami * 500 Capitol Mall in Sacramento * 500 Fifth Avenue * 500 Renaissance Center, one of seven buildings in the GM Rena ...

helicopter for a fictional

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

radio station. Later incarnations of the film, on formats such as VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, have the song omitted and substituted by another

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

song of indeterminable title. *1980: in episode 17 of the 4th season of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'', the song is sung by a Muppet

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

, performed by

Jerry Nelson Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ' ...

, with Muppet fishes and a shark. *In a 1981 episode of ''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom ''Man About the House''. The story revolves around three single roomma ...

'', a misunderstanding occurs when Jack and Janet overhear a psychiatrist, played by

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

, repeatedly saying "boom, boom, dittum dattem..." while trying to remember the words to this song, to help him get through to a patient. Jack and Janet mistake him for the

mental patient A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and fear for Terri's safety on their date. *In "Force of Habit", the 15th episode of the 1982-1983 television show ''

Tales of the Gold Monkey ''Tales of the Gold Monkey'' is an American adventure (genre), adventure drama television series broadcast in prime time on Wednesday nights by American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 22, 1982, until June 1, 1983. Debuting the year fol ...

'', the main character, an ex-

Flying Tiger The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Ar ...

named Jake Cutter, played by

Stephen Collins Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor and writer. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven'' from 1996 to 2007. Afterwards, Collins played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC t ...

, sings the song in the middle of a storm to keep up morale in his plane. *In two episodes of ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomorp ...

'', ''A Splash Party Please'' from 1992 and ''Look at me, I'm 3!'' from 1993, the children perform the song with Barney and Baby Bop. *There is a version on the 1963

Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...

album ''Zany Songs of the 30s''. *A portion of the song was used by

Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels Mitch Ryder (born William Sherille Levise, Jr.; February 26, 1945) is an American musician who has recorded more than 25 albums over more than four decades. Career Ryder formed his first band, Tempest, when he was at Warren High School, and th ...

, in 1966, as part of their version of

The Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...

' "

Too Many Fish in the Sea "Too Many Fish in the Sea" is a 1964 hit song recorded by Motown singing group The Marvelettes. It was the group's first top 40 pop hit in almost a year, reaching #25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and was one of the first hit singles written by ...

". *

Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...

and the Do Re Mi Children's Chorus recorded a version of the song in 1965."

and the children sings songs from ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'' and other children's songs", released in 1965. *It has also been recorded in other languages, including

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

(as " Har du hørt historien om de tre små fisk"). * The

Kidsongs ''Kidsongs'' is an American children's media franchise that includes Kidsongs Music Video Stories on DVD and video, The Kidsongs TV Show, CDs of favorite children's songs, song books, sheet music, toys and an ecommerce website. It was created by ...

Kids, Professor Majorchord, and Dr. Smithsonian perform this song on '' Kidsongs: Play Along Songs'', although the third verse is omitted. *During her 1969 appearance on the Here’s Lucy episode “Lucy and the Andrews Sisters”,

Patty Andrews The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

sings this song during a medley of

Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

hits. *In 1995, this song was performed in ''Mickey's Fun Songs: Beach Party at Walt Disney World''. Canadian children's singers Sharon Lois and Bram recorded the song for their 1984 LP "Mainly Mother Goose"

References

External links

Lyrics
at lyricsfreak.com *: Frankie Howerd - "Three Little Fishes" / "I'm Nobody's Baby" (1949) {{Authority control 1939 songs 1939 singles 1961 singles Songs written by Saxie Dowell Mildred Bailey songs American children's songs Ray Stevens songs Buzz Clifford songs Columbia Records singles Songs about fish

Other recordings

See also

References

External links