One, Two, Three, Four, Five
{{short description|Traditional nursery rhyme}}
{{For|the Lou Bega song whose lyrics begin "One, two, three, four, five"|Mambo No. 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = One, Two, Three, Four, Five
| cover =
| alt =
| type = Nursery rhyme
| written =
| published = {{circa}} 1765
| writer =
| composer =
| lyricist =
}}
"One, Two, Three, Four, Five" (also known as "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" or "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught a Fish Alive" in other versions) is a nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme.{{cite book|author=Iona and Peter Opie|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes|publisher=Oxford University Press|orig-year=1951|edition=2nd|year=1997|pages=334–335}}
It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13530.{{cite web |title=Search results: "Roud Number 13530" |url=https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:combined/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr:13530 |website=Vaughan Williams Memorial Library |publisher=English Folk Dance and Song Society}}
Text and melody
A common modern version is:
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because he bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zLadtLrU8oC&pg=PA76|title=Games Babies Play: From Birth to Twelve Months|last=Lansky|first=Vicki|author-link=Vicki Lansky|date=2009-02-01|publisher=Book Peddlers|isbn=9781931863650|page=76}}
{{Image frame|align=center|content=
\header { tagline = ##f }
\layout { indent = 0
\context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } }
global = { \key f \major \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \autoBeamOff }
sopranoVoice = \relative c'' { \global
a4 a g8 f f4 | c8 f a c c bes bes4 |
bes bes8. bes16 a8 g g4 | f8 e d e g f f4 |
a a8. a16 g8 f f8. f16 | c8 f a c c bes bes4 |
bes bes8. bes16 a8 g g4 | f8 e16 e d8 e g f f4 \bar "|."
}
verseOne = \lyricmode { \set stanza = \markup \bold "1."
One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish a -- live.
Six, se -- ven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go a -- gain.
}
verseTwo = \lyricmode { \set stanza = \markup \bold " 2."
Why did you let it go?
Be -- cause he bit my fin -- ger so.
Which fin -- ger did it bite?
This lit -- tle fin -- ger on my right.
}
\score {
\new Staff \with { midiInstrument = "vibraphone" }
{ \sopranoVoice }
\addlyrics { \verseOne \verseTwo }
\layout { }
\midi { \tempo 4=100 }
}
}}
Origin
File:BookOfNurseryRhymes67.jpg
"One, Two, Three, Four, Five" is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Mother Goose's Melody around 1765. Like most versions until the late 19th century, it had only the first stanza and dealt with a hare, not a fish:
:One, two, three,
:Four and five,
:I caught a hare alive;
:Six, seven, eight,
:Nine and ten,
The modern version is derived from three variations collected by Henry Bolton in the 1880s from America.
See also
{{Portal |Children's literature}}