"There's a Hole in My Bucket" (or "...in the Bucket") is a children's song, along the same lines as "Found a Peanut

Found a Peanut

'"Found a Peanut"' is a traditional song, often considered a children's song, in the United States, Australia and Canada. It is popular to sing on long trips, as it has a very repetitive format which is easy to memorize, and can take a long time to sing. It is sung to the tune of "Oh My Darling,...

". The song is based on a dialogue about a leaky bucket

Bucket

A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....

 between two characters, called Henry and Liza. The song incorporates an infinite-loop

Infinite loop

An infinite loop is a sequence of instructions in a computer program which loops endlessly, either due to the loop having no terminating condition, having one that can never be met, or one that causes the loop to start over...

 motif: Henry has got a leaky bucket, and Liza tells him to repair it. But to fix the leaky bucket, he needs straw. To cut the straw, he needs an axe. To sharpen the axe, he needs to wet the sharpening stone

Sharpening stone

Sharpening stones, water stones or whetstones are used to grind and hone the edges of steel tools and implements. Examples of items that may be sharpened with a sharpening stone include scissors, scythes, knives, razors and tools such as chisels, hand scrapers and plane blades...

. To wet the stone, he needs water. However, when Henry asks how to get the water, Liza's answer is "in a bucket". It is implied that one bucket is available — the leaky one, which, if it could carry water, would not need repairing in the first place.

Lyrics

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, 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 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 an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, with 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, hone it.

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, on what?

On 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.

Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Well 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?

try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, 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, bucket.

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 un-named man.

Wenn der Beltz em Loch hat - stop es zu meine liebe Liese Womit soll ich es zustopfen - mit Stroh, meine liebe Liese

When the jug has a hole - stop it up my dear Liese With what shall I stop it - with straw my dear Liese

In later German sources the song is reproduced under the title of Heinrich und Liese and credited as a folk song from Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

. In the 19th century it was sung as a commercium song

Commercium song

Commercium songs are traditional academic songs that are sung during academic feasts: commerciums and tablerounds.Some very old commercium songs are in Latin, like Meum est propositum or Gaudeamus igitur....

 and printed in the 1858 Kommersbuch

Allgemeines Deutsches Kommersbuch

The Allgemeines Deutsches Kommersbuch or Lahrer Kommersbuch is the most popular commercium book in Germany. It was first published in 1858 and came up to its 162nd edition in 2004. It is the German equivalent of the Flemish studentencodex....

. The renowned song collection Deutscher Liederhort (3 volumes, 1856–1894) edited by Ludwig Erk and Franz Magnus Böhme includes the song, relating it also to the Flemish

Flemish people

The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

 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

Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...

 songbook Der Zupfgeigenhansl in 1909.

In George Korson's

George Korson

George Korson was a folklorist, journalist, and labor historian....

 "Pennsylvania Songs and Legends" (1949) there is a song

Wann der Tschock awer en Loch hot Liewer Georgie Liewer Georgie, Wann der Tschock a wer en Loch hot? Dummer Ding, dann schtopp'n zu!

When the jug has a hole Dear Georgie, dear Georgie When the jug has a hole Stupid thing, then stop it up!

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

Ed McCurdy

Ed McCurdy was an American folk singer, songwriter, and television actor. His anti-war classic, "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" , inspired and gave hope to those in the peace movement.-Career:...

 recorded it in 1958 on "Children's Songs". Harry Belafonte recorded it with Odetta in 1960. It was in the UK charts in 1961. In his book "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (1993), Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger

Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...

 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

Was soll ich koche, liewer Hei, Liewer Heinrich, liewer Heinrich? Was soll ich koche, liewer Heinrich, Was Dann?

What should I cook, dear Henry, Dear Henry, dear Henry? What should I cook, dear Henry, Tell me what. (literally: What then?)

These German-American versions all have Henry as the stupid questioner, and Lisa as the common-sense woman.

In popular culture

The song in its best-known form is referenced as far back as 1949 in W. V. Awdry's story "Thomas Goes Fishing", from the book Tank Engine Thomas Again. When Thomas

Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...

 and his crew stop at a river bridge to fill his tank with water (the tank at the station being out of order) they are having to do so with a leaky bucket. The fireman begins to sing the song but is interrupted by the driver who urges him to forget about Liza and empty the bucket before any water is spilled over him.

Burl Ives

Burl Ives

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....

 recorded it in 1959 with the title "There's A Hole In My Bucket".

In 1961 a popular version of the song was recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 by Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

 and Odetta

Odetta

Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...

.
They reached #32 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

.

In 1961 the Israeli artists Yosi Banai and Yona Atari (sister of Shosh

Shosh Atari

Shosh Atari was an Israeli actress, born in Rehovot. She was the sister of Gali Atari.In the 1970s Atari joined Kol Yisrael and in the 1980s she was one of the stars of Reshet Gimel, where she was the host of the music hit programs - "Chadash, Chadish, U-mechudash", "Lohet", and other programs...

 and Gali Atari

Gali Atari

Avigail "Gali" Atari is an Israeli actress and singer.-Career:She first appeared on the international scene in 1971, when she represented Israel at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan with the songs "All free" and "Give love away"...

) has recorded it in Hebrew.

Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

incorporated the song as a comedic skit in the 1970s, with Henry and Liza portrayed by Muppets, except instead of straw, Liza prescribes fixing the hole in the bucket "with a stick".

Billy Joel

Billy Joel

William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

 incorporated some of the song's tune into his song "Two Thousand Years

River of Dreams

River of Dreams is the 12th studio album by Billy Joel, released in 1993. This is the last pop album made by Joel, and presented a much more serious tone as a whole, dealing with issues such as trust and long-lasting love; it was rumored that the themes of trust and betrayal, particularly certain...

".

The Dutch artist Tom Manders

Tom Manders

Antoon Manders was a Dutch artist, comedian and cabaret performer. In later role, he became better known as Dorus.-Biography:Although his birth was officially recorded as having happened on October 24, he was actually born on the 23...

 (Dorus) has recorded it in Dutch with the title "Er zit een gat in m'n emmer".

There is a children's book called "This is My Bucket" based upon this song.
The song also has a version where the man is named will you sillyhttp://www.kidsongs.com/lyrics/there-s-a-hole-in-my-bucket.html

The song is featured in Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen is a Juno-nominated Canadian singer/songwriter from Mission, B.C..In the summer of 2007 she placed third in the fifth season of Canadian Idol. She was also a part of the Canadian Idol Top 3 concert tour.-Career:...

's song, "Bucket", from 2008.

Michael Franti and Spearhead incorporated the opening lines into the chorus of their 1994 single "Hole in the Bucket".

External links

• Mudcat discussion
• Liewer Heinrich
• Folk Music Index - His to Hol