# Three Little Fishies > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Three_Little_Fishies > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Three_Little_Fishies.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Fishies > Source revision: 1337032808 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{More citations needed|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox song | name = Three Little Fishies | published = 1939 | genre = [children's song](/source/children's_song), [novelty song](/source/novelty_song), [Pop standard](/source/Traditional_pop) | composer = [Saxie Dowell](/source/Saxie_Dowell) | lyricist = Josephine Carringer, Bernice Idins | artist = [Kay Kyser and His Band](/source/Kay_Kyser) (original) | label = [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records) | misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|GEkBF0BUXIM|"Three Little Fishies"}}}} }} "'''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](/source/Saxie_Dowell). 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](/source/shark), 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](/source/Kay_Kyser) and his band in 1939.{{cite web |url=http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/fishies.htm |title=National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - Kids Pages - Three Little Fishies (Itty Bitty Pool) |publisher=Kids.niehs.nih.gov |date=2010-12-15 |accessdate=2014-06-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002000310/http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/fishies.htm |archivedate=2011-10-02 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.duchessathome.com/childrensongs/3littlefishies.html |accessdate=June 8, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918203102/http://www.duchessathome.com/childrensongs/3littlefishies.html |title=Three Little Fishies : Sung by Kay Kyser (#1 in 1939) : Words and music by Saxie Dowell|archivedate=September 18, 2009 }} It was released in the UK as a [78](/source/Gramophone_records) by British comedian [Frankie Howerd](/source/Frankie_Howerd), on the short-lived UK Harmony label, in 1949.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fowdCONhr0M |title=Frankie Howerd - Three Little Fishes / I'm Nobody's Baby (1949) |publisher=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) |date=2012-06-10 |accessdate=2016-07-16}} It was revived in 2012 by [Ray Stevens](/source/Ray_Stevens) for inclusion in his 108-song box set, ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music''. =={{anchor|Other recordings}} Other recordings and all releases of the original song== * A recording by [Hal Kemp and His Orchestra](/source/Hal_Kemp), with vocals by The Smoothies, was made in March, 1939, about a month before the Kay Kyser recording. * The song as sung by [Kay Kyser](/source/Kay_Kyser) and accompanied by his band, released in 1939. It was a US No. 1 hit. * A recording was made in 1939 by [Nat Gonella](/source/Nat_Gonella) and [The Georgians](/source/The_Georgians_(Nat_Gonella)). It features in the compilation ''Children's Wartime Favourites'', issued in 2005 by River Records.Catalogue no. RRD244/IWM, obtainable from the [Imperial War Museum](/source/Imperial_War_Museum), London. * [Billy Costello](/source/Billy_Costello_(actor)) recorded his own hilarious version of the recording in June, 1939. * 1949 the original version by Kay Kyser was released in the UK as a [78](/source/Gramophone_records) by British comedian [Frankie Howerd](/source/Frankie_Howerd), on the short-lived UK Harmony label. * On February 11, 1953 [Spike Jones and His City Slickers](/source/Spike_Jones) recorded a version of the song featuring the 34 year old [George Rock](/source/George_Rock) (who was renowned for his ability to sing with a [falsetto](/source/falsetto) voice) imitating the high voice of a very cute little girl.{{YouTube|fE_81urwm5k}}{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/old-macdonald-had-a-farm-mw0002523784 |title=Old Macdonald Had a Farm - Spike Jones & His City Slickers | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) |date= |accessdate=2016-07-16}}{{cite book | last = Popoff | first = Martin | author-link = Martin Popoff | title = Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948–1991 | publisher = Krause Publishing | edition = Seventh | date =August 5, 2010 | page = 637 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XUI1R7jJz2YC&pg=PA637 | isbn = 978-1440211317 | accessdate = September 29, 2015}} This version bears the alternative title ''Itty Bitty Poo''. * In 1961, [Buzz Clifford](/source/Buzz_Clifford) released a version of the song as a single which reached #102 on the [''Billboard'' pop chart](/source/Billboard_Hot_100).{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Three+Little+Fishes+by+Buzz+Clifford&id=75689 |title=Three Little Fishes (song by Buzz Clifford) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |date= |accessdate=2016-07-16}} * In 1963, [The Andrews Sisters](/source/The_Andrews_Sisters) recorded it on their [Dot Records](/source/Dot_Records) album “Greatest Hits Volume 2”, although they never recorded it prior to this album. * There is a version on the 1963 [Homer and Jethro](/source/Homer_and_Jethro) album ''Zany Songs of the 30s''. * [Ray Walston](/source/Ray_Walston) and the Do Re Mi Children's Chorus recorded a version of the song in 1965."[Ray Walston](/source/Ray_Walston) and the children sings songs from ''[Mary Poppins](/source/Mary_Poppins_(film))'' and other children's songs", released in 1965. * In 1966 [Jon Pertwee](/source/Jon_Pertwee) contributed the song to the children's album ''Children's Favourites'' by [EMI](/source/EMI) and [Paul Hamlyn](/source/Paul_Hamlyn). * A portion of the song was used by [Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels](/source/Mitch_Ryder_and_The_Detroit_Wheels), in 1966, as part of their version of [The Marvelettes](/source/The_Marvelettes)' "[Too Many Fish in the Sea](/source/Too_Many_Fish_in_the_Sea)". * During her 1969 appearance on the ''[Here's Lucy](/source/Here's_Lucy)'' episode “Lucy and the Andrews Sisters”, [Patty Andrews](/source/Patty_Andrews) sings this song during a medley of [Andrews Sisters](/source/Andrews_Sisters) hits. * The 1973 made-for-television movie ''[Birds of Prey](/source/Birds_of_Prey_(1973_film))'' features the original version of the song at its introduction, being sung along to by protagonist [David Janssen](/source/David_Janssen) while flying a [Hughes 500](/source/Hughes_500) helicopter for a fictional [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City) radio station. Later incarnations of the film, on formats such as [VHS](/source/VHS) and [DVD](/source/DVD), have the song omitted and substituted by another [big band](/source/big_band) song of indeterminable title. * 1980: In the [Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars) episode of ''[The Muppet Show](/source/The_Muppet_Show)'', the song is sung by a Muppet [eel](/source/eel), performed by [Jerry Nelson](/source/Jerry_Nelson), with Muppet fishes and a shark. * In a 1981 episode of ''[Three's Company](/source/Three's_Company)'', a misunderstanding occurs when Jack and Janet overhear a psychiatrist, played by [Jeffrey Tambor](/source/Jeffrey_Tambor), 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](/source/mental_patient) and fear for Terri's safety on their date. * On Wednesday 24th February 1982 BBC1's Children's TV Show 'Play School' covered this song, with Stuart McGugan (from 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' fame) providing the lyrics and puppetry. * In "Force of Habit", the 15th episode of the 1982-1983 television show ''[Tales of the Gold Monkey](/source/Tales_of_the_Gold_Monkey)'', the main character, an ex-[Flying Tiger](/source/Flying_Tiger) named Jake Cutter, played by [Stephen Collins](/source/Stephen_Collins), sings the song in the middle of a storm to keep up morale in his plane. * Canadian children's singers Sharon Lois and Bram recorded the song for their 1984 LP "Mainly Mother Goose" * Australian singer [Don Spencer](/source/Don_Spencer), a regular on both the [BBC version](/source/Play_School_(British_TV_series)) and the [ABC version](/source/Play_School_(Australian_TV_series)) of ''Play School'', included the song in his 1984 album ''Don Spencer from Play School Sings 21 Childrens' Favourites''. * BBC 2 Children's stalwart TV show 'Play Away', from Saturday, 21st January, 1984, covered the song with Floella Benjamin singing the lead. With Brian Cant, Linda Williams and Matthew Devitt on back-up. * In two episodes of ''[Barney & Friends](/source/Barney_%26_Friends)'', ''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](/source/Baby_Bop). * It has also been recorded in other languages, including [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) and [Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_language) (as "[Har du hørt historien om de tre små fisk](/source/%3Ano%3AHistorien_om_de_tre_sm%C3%A5_fisk)").{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} * The [Kidsongs](/source/Kidsongs) version (Play Along Songs; 1993) omits the third verse, whereas the [Disney Sing Along Songs](/source/Disney_Sing_Along_Songs) version (Mickey's Fun Songs: Beach Party at Walt Disney World; 1995) omits the second verse. * In 2005 the recording of 1939 by [Nat Gonella](/source/Nat_Gonella) and [The Georgians](/source/The_Georgians_(Nat_Gonella)) features in the compilation ''Children's Wartime Favourites'', issued by River Records.Catalogue no. RRD244/IWM, obtainable from the [Imperial War Museum](/source/Imperial_War_Museum), London. * In 2012 the original version by Kay Kyser was revived by [Ray Stevens](/source/Ray_Stevens) for inclusion in his 108-song box set, ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music''. * The American 'YouTube' channel [Cocomelon](/source/Cocomelon) Season 5 Episode 1, released 2023, features the melody of the song although the lyrics are changed to, "Down In The Jungle." ==See also== * [Nonsense song](/source/Nonsense_song) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/kay+kyser/three+little+fishes_20316196.html Lyrics] at lyricsfreak.com * {{youtube|fowdCONhr0M}}: Frankie Howerd - "Three Little Fishes" / "I'm Nobody's Baby" (1949) {{Kay Kyser}} {{Authority control}} Category:1939 songs Category:1939 singles Category:1961 singles Category:Songs written by Saxie Dowell Category:Mildred Bailey songs Category:American children's songs Category:Ray Stevens songs Category:Buzz Clifford songs Category:Columbia Records singles Category:Songs about fish Category:American novelty songs --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Three Little Fishies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Fishies) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Little_Fishies?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.