There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly explained

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Type:	song
Artist:	Burl Ives
Language:	English
Released:	1953
Genre:	Children's rhyme, nonsense song
Label:	Brunswick Records

"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" is a cumulative (repetitive, connected poetic lines or song lyrics) children's nursery rhyme or nonsensical song. Other titles for the rhyme include "There Was an Old Lady", "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" and "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly". An early documentation of the story appears in English author Dorothy B. King's 1946 book Happy Recollections.

Content

The song tells the nonsensical story of an old woman who swallows increasingly large animals, each to catch the previously swallowed animal, but dies after swallowing a horse. There are many variations of phrasing in the lyrics, especially for the description of swallowing each animal.

Shortly afterwards, the journal Hoosier Folklore published three versions of the story from different parts of the United States (Colorado, Georgia and Ohio) in its December 1947 edition. The editor calls it a "cumulative tale", and asks readers for information on its origins.^[1] All three versions begin with a lady swallowing the fly and end with her dying after swallowing a horse, but there are variations in what animals are swallowed and the rhymes for each animal.

Recording

In 1952, Rose Bonne (lyrics) and Canadian/English folk artist Alan Mills copyrighted a version of the song, respectively contributing lyrics and music. At that time it was entitled simply "I Know an Old Lady."^[2] A widely distributed version of the song was released on Brunswick Records in 1953, where it was sung by Burl Ives. Ives' rendition appears on his album, Folk Songs, Dramatic and Humorous—which debuted in late summer, 1953.^[3] According to the album liner notes, the song was "derived from an old ballad", rewritten by Alan Mills, and passed to Ives by Edith Fowke of CBC Radio.^[4] The 1961 illustrated book by Rose Bonne also indicates that the lyrics are hers, whereas the music was composed by Alan Mills.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Lyrics

The following is one version of the lyrics to demonstrate the song's cumulative nature:

In other media

• Pete Seeger released a version on the Birds Bugs and Little Fishes LP (Folkways Records FC7610) in 1955.^[8]
• In 1956, composer Alan Mills recorded a version for Scholastic Records released on his children's album Animals, Vol.1.^[9]
• In 1964, the National Film Board of Canada released the award-winning 5-minute cartoon I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, directed by Derek Lamb.^[10]
• Meredith Tax used this poetic form in her 1970 feminist poem There Was a Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie, in which the woman finally "throws up" the lies she swallowed.^[11] Pete Seeger performed the work during a 1980 concert at the Sanders Theater in Boston.^[12]
• In 1973, illustrator Pam Adams used the song and its title as the basis of a children's book.^[13]
• Bobby Darin performed the song in duet with 8-year-old Charlene Wong on an episode of The Bobby Darin Show in March 1973.^[14]
• The song was performed by Judy Collins and Statler and Waldorf with shadow puppets, on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.^[15]
• San Francisco-based punk rock band Flipper included a version of "The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" as the b-side of their 1982 "Get Away" single and subsequently on their 1988 compilation album Sex Bomb Baby.^{[16] [17]}
• In 1997, the song's lyrics were used as the text of a children's book by Simms Taback.^[18] This version is narrated and sung by Cyndi Lauper.

See also

• Chad Gadya, cumulative song
• The Twelve Days of Christmas, cumulative song
• The Rattlin' Bog, cumulative song

External links

• . Compilation containing the Judy Collins 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.

Notes and References

1. The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. Hoosier Folklore. December 1947. 6. 4. 153–156. 27649913. Martin. Lee. McIntosh. Eva H.. Newcomb. Mildred.
2. Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 6, Part 5B, No. 1, January–June 1952 (US Copyright Office), p. 86. The submission date is given as March 28, 1952. The 1954 edition relists it, providing the same date and giving Alan Mills as a pseudonym for Albert Miller.
3. Decca DL 5467, reviewed in Billboard, September 12, 1953, p. 36. The record label also indicates the Mills-Bonne credit.
4. https://www.discogs.com/master/961076-Burl-Ives-Folk-Songs-Dramatic-and-Humorous/image/SW1hZ2U6NTAyNzQ4NDM= Liner notes for Folk Songs Dramatic and Humorous, Decca DL 5467
5. M.B.K. . November 12, 1961 . Songs with Pictures [review of ''I Know an Old Lady,'' "words by Rose Bonne; music by Alan Mills; illustrated by Abner Graboff…"] ]. children's book review . Chicago Sunday Tribune, Magazine of Books (Books for Children) . Chicago. Chicago Tribune . Part 4, Section 2 . 34, col. 3 . June 9, 2016 .
6. Book: Bonne, Rose . Alan Mills, music; Abner Graboff, illustrations . 1961 . I Know an Old Lady . Skokie, IL . Rand McNally . registration .
7. For a further example remaining in print, see Book: Adams, Pam . 1973 . There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly . Classic books with holes . Swindon, UK . Child's Play (International) . 0859530213 . June 9, 2016 .
8. Web site: Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Fishes (Little and Big) . Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
9. Web site: Animals, Vol. 1. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
10. Web site: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly . onf-nfb.gc.ca . National Film Board of Canada . January 16, 2023.
11. Web site: There was a young woman who swallowed a lie. Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance archives. Duke University.
12. Web site: Pete Seeger . . 2019.
13. Web site: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly . . One of the Classic Books-with-Holes that have been around for 30 years..
14. Web site: The Bobby Darin Show . March 23, 1973. bobbydarin.net
15. Web site: 6/21/1977 – 'Judy Collins (MS)' . Jim Henson's Red Book . June 21, 2012 . Jim Henson.
16. Web site: Flipper – Sex Bomb Baby! . Discogs . 1987 . March 13, 2022.
17. Web site: Raggett . Ned . Flipper – Sex Bomb Baby! . AllMusic . Netaktion LLC . March 13, 2022.
18. Web site: 1998 Caldecott Medal and Honor Books. November 30, 1999 . American Library Association.