"Itsy Bitsy Spider" (also known as "Incy Wincy Spider" in Australia and Great Britain, and several other similar-sounding names) is a popular nursery rhyme and

fingerplay Fingerplay, commonly seen in early childhood, is hand action or movement combined with singing or spoken-words to engage the child's interest. According to Erikson, many children develop autonomy and "want to learn and imitate the activities and ...

that describes the adventures of a

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

as it ascends, descends, and reascends the downspout or "waterspout" of a gutter system (or, alternatively, the spout of a

teapot A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or a herbal mix in boiling or near-boiling water, and for serving the resulting infusion which is called tea. It is one of the core components of teaware. Dry tea is available either in tea ba ...

or open-air reservoir). It is usually accompanied by a sequence of gestures that mimic the words of the song. Its Roud Folk Song Index number is 11586. Throughout this article, the North American title and lyrics are used to ensure consistency.

Lyrics

A commonly used version uses these words and gestures: Other versions exist.

Sources

The song can be found in publications including an alternative version in the book, ''Camp and Camino in Lower California'' (1910), where it was referred to as

he classic He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

"Spider Song." It appears to be a different version of this song using “blooming, bloody” instead of "itsy bitsy". It was later published in one of its several modern versions in ''Western Folklore'', by the California Folklore Society (1948), Mike and Peggy Seeger's, ''American Folk Songs for Children'' (1948). Lyrics as described in 1910, as being from the 'classic' "Spider Song":

Oh, the blooming, bloody spider went up the spider web, The blooming, bloody rain came down and washed the spider out, The blooming, bloody sun came out and dried up all the rain, And the blooming, bloody spider came up the web again.

The song is sung by and for children in countless languages and cultures. It is similar to the melodies of the children's songs "Sweetly Sings the Donkey" in the United States, and " Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer", "Ich bin ein kleiner Esel" (the German-language version of "Sweetly Sings the Donkey") and " Spannenlanger Hansel" in German-speaking countries.

Recordings

The popular nursery rhyme has been covered and sampled a number of times. *1980:

Patsy Biscoe Patsy Biscoe (born 21 March 1946) is an Australian children's television personality, singer and guitarist. She regularly appeared on children's national television shows, '' Here's Humphrey'' and ''Fat Cat and Friends''. She has released many ...

(as "Incy Wincy Spider") CD: ''50 Favourite Nursery Rhymes Vol. 1'', also available as 3-CD set ''150 Favourite Nursery Rhymes'' *1986: Carly Simon on the ''

Heartburn Heartburn, also known as pyrosis, cardialgia or acid indigestion, is a burning sensation in the central chest or upper central abdomen. Heartburn is usually due to regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) into the esophagus. It is the m ...

'' film and on the '' Coming Around Again'' album *1988: Carly Simon on the '' Greatest Hits Live'' album *1989:

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

on the ''

Dead Calm Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

'' soundtrack (as "Incy Wincy") *1991: Little Richard on the Disney CD ''For Our Children'', to benefit the

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing pediatric HIV infection and eliminating pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention and treatment programs. Founded in 1988 ...

*1994: Cedarmont Kids on Toddler Tunes *1995: Danish-Norwegian pop band

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

, then known by their original band name Joyspeed, released a single only " Itzy Bitzy Spider" *1996: Jack Hartmann on ''Rhymin' to the Beat'' *2001: Funkeymonkeys on their self-titled album *2002:

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership for ...

sampled the rhyme on their song "Eunuch Provocateur" from their extended play ''

Tremulant __NOTOC__ A tremulant (from Latin: ''tremulus'', "trembling"; french: tremblant, it, tremolo, es, temblor) is a device on a pipe organ which varies the wind supply to the pipes of one or more divisions (or, in some cases, the whole organ). Th ...

'' *2002:

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian, ( hy, Րաֆֆի, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is a Canadian singer-lyricist and author of Armenian descent born in Egypt, best known for his children's music. He developed his career as a " ...

sang this song on his ''Let's Play'' album by adding an additional verse *2002: Joey DeLuxe during the credits of ''

Eight Legged Freaks ''Eight Legged Freaks'' (originally titled ''Arach Attack'', under which it was released in some parts of Europe and other countries around the world) is a 2002 monster comedy film directed by Ellory Elkayem and starring David Arquette, Kari Wu ...

'' *2006: EliZe feat. Jay Colin released " Itsy Bitsy Spider" on the album '' In Control'' *2013:

Maziar Bahari Maziar Bahari ( fa, مازیار بهاری; born May 25, 1967) is an Iranian-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for '' Newsweek'' from 1998 to 2011. Bahari was incarcerated by the Iranian government fr ...

's company Off-Centre Productions created an animated version of the song featuring an animated mouse character named "Journo" *2021: Lyn Lapid (as "Itsy Bitsy") – single

References

Citations

General and cited sources