There's a Hole in My Bucket
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"There's a Hole in My Bucket" (or "...in the Bucket") is a children's song based on a protracted dialogue between two characters, Henry and Liza, about a leaky bucket. Various versions exist but they differ only slightly, all describing a "
deadlock In concurrent computing, deadlock is any situation in which no member of some group of entities can proceed because each waits for another member, including itself, to take action, such as sending a message or, more commonly, releasing a lo ...
" situation essentially as follows: Henry's bucket leaks, so Liza tells him to repair it. To fix the leaky bucket, he needs straw. To cut the straw, he needs a knife. To use the knife, he needs to sharpen it. But the
sharpening stone Sharpening stones, or whetstones, are used to sharpen the edges of steel tools such as knives through grinding and honing. Such stones come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and material compositions. They may be flat, for working flat edg ...
must be damp, so he needs water. But to fetch water, he needs the bucket, which has a hole in it. In honour of the song, people celebrate National Hole in My Bucket Day on
May 30 Events Pre-1600 * 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres ...
every year.


Lyrics

\addlyrics There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole. Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it. With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, dear Liza? With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, with what? With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw. The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza, 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 a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, a knife. The knife is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza, The knife 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. In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza? In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what? In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, in a bucket. But there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.


Origins and development

The earliest known archetype of this song seems to be in the German collection of songs ''Bergliederbüchlein'' (c 1700). It is set as a dialogue between a woman named ''Liese'', and an unnamed man. : In later German sources the song is reproduced under the title of ''Heinrich und Liese'' and credited as a folk song from
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
. In the 19th century it was sung as a
commercium song Commercium songs are traditional academic songs that are sung during academic feasts: commercia and tablerounds. Some very old commercium songs are in Latin, like '' Meum est propositum'' or '' Gaudeamus igitur''. In some countries, hundreds ...
and printed in the 1858 '' Kommersbuch''. The renowned song collection ''Deutscher Liederhort'' (3 volumes, 1856–1894) edited by
Ludwig Erk Ludwig Christian Erk (6 January 1807, Wetzlar – 25 November 1883, Berlin) was a German musicologist, music teacher, academic, composer and folk-song collector. Bibliography * Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Erk, Ludwig Christian. In: Biographisch- ...
and
Franz Magnus Böhme Franz Theodor Magnus Böhme (11 March 1827 in Willerstedt – 18 October 1898 in Dresden) was a German academic, musicologist, composer, folksong collector and writer on music history and folksong. Biography The son of a farmer, Böhme became ...
includes the song, relating it also to the
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
song ''Mooy Bernardyn'' ("Wat doet gy in het groene veld ?"). The German song became even more widespread when it was included in the famous
Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with n ...
songbook ''Der Zupfgeigenhansl'' in 1909. In George Korson's "Pennsylvania Songs and Legends" (1949) there is a song with meter closer to the modern English version and beginning thus: : This was collected in 1940, and is earlier than any known English-language version. This suggests that it might be a traditional "Pennsylvania Dutch" (i.e. German) song.
Ed McCurdy Edward Potts McCurdy (January 11, 1919 – March 23, 2000) was an American folk singer, songwriter, and television actor. His most well-known song was the anti-war " Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", written in 1950. Career Born to ...
recorded it in 1958 on "Children's Songs".
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
recorded it with
Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...
in 1960. It reached No. 32 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in September 1961. In his book ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singer's Songs, Stories, Seeds, Robberies'' (1993),
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
refers to it as an originally German song, "Lieber Heinrich". ''Songs Along the Mahantongo: Pennsylvania Dutch Folksongs'' (1951), by Boyer, Buffington, & Yoder, has a version : These German-American versions all have Henry as the foolish questioner and Lisa as the common-sense woman. An English version of the song existed by 1937, when it was quoted in the novel ''Starting Point'' by
Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...
. : In 1953,
Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a scho ...
wrote a parody named "There's a Hole in My Budget" satirising the British budget deficit, substituting the Prime Minister
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and Chancellor
Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...
for Henry and Liza, respectively. They rerecorded it in 1974, updating the characters to
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
and
Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...
. A
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
version (יש חור בדלי / "There is a hole in the bucket") was written by Israeli songwriter
Dan Almagor Dan Almagor ( he, דן אלמגור; born 1935) is an Israeli playwright who has adapted and translated over a hundred plays for the Hebrew stage, including Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors", "As You Like It", "Fiddler on the Roof," "The King a ...
and was recorded in 1961, sung by
Yossi Banai Yosef "Yossi" Banai ( he, יֹוסֶף "יֹוסִי" בַנָאי; April 13, 1932 – May 11, 2006) was an Israeli performer, singer, actor, and dramatist. Biography Banai was born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era, and grew up in the neighbor ...
and
Yona Atari Yona Atari ( he, יונה עטרי; December 4, 1933 – March 11, 2019) was an Israeli singer and actress. Biography Born in Sana'a and the first out of eight children, Atari and her family moved to Israel when she was three months old. She was ...
. In a 1963 (April 27th) episode of '' Saint Germain De Prés'', Dorus (Tom Manders) sang a Dutch version of the song on television. It was later released as single Philips 327 529 JF. In a 1966 episode of ''
The Dean Martin Show ''The Dean Martin Show'', not to be confused with the ''Dean Martin Variety Show'' (1959–1960), is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the s ...
'',
Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
and
George Gobel George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, ''The George Gobel Show'', broadcasting from 1954 to 1959 ...
sang a version of the song on television. It was also performed by
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
as Henry and
Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and thea ...
as Liza on ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
''. Czech lyrics were written by M. Bukovič, who stayed true to the English lyrics of the song and only translated it while keeping the rhyme. It was first sung by the band Fešáci in 1977 by their front man
Michal Tučný Michal Tučný (11 January 1947 – 10 March 1995) was a Czechs, Czech singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most popular Czech Country music, country singers and he is regarded as a legend of the Czech country music (he was often r ...
. This song is featured in ''
The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...
'' book '' Tank Engine Thomas Again'' in the story "Thomas Goes Fishing". This does not appear in the
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
episode. Chumbawamba included a version of one verse of this song titled "Knickers" in their 1999 album
WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...
. The first lines are sung by a Hybrid being in the science-fiction TV series ''
Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...
'', in the 2009 episode "
Islanded in a Stream of Stars "Islanded in a Stream of Stars" is the eighteenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined '' Battlestar Galactica''. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on March 6, 2009. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 3 ...
." It is a reference to an eternal, unresolvable cycle, an
infinite loop In computer programming, an infinite loop (or endless loop) is a sequence of instructions that, as written, will continue endlessly, unless an external intervention occurs ("pull the plug"). It may be intentional. Overview This differs from: * ...
, which is relevant to the show's themes. In the lead up to the
2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...
, a version of the song was used by the
Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
in an campaign ad to attack the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
over their alleged deficits and paying for them with new taxes while in government. The advertisement was widely ridiculed as ineffective.


References


Notes


Citations


External links


Folk Music Index – His to Hol
ingeb.org {{Authority control Traditional children's songs American folk songs German folk songs English folk songs English children's songs German children's songs Comedy songs Male–female vocal duets