Nick Nack Paddy Whack
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"This Old Man", Roud #3550
Written by
Traditional
Published
1906
Written
England
Language
English
Form
Nursery rhyme
"This Old Man" is an English language children's song, counting and nursery rhyme with a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3550.
Origins and history:
The origins of this song are obscure. The earliest extant record is a version noted in Anne Gilchrist's Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (1937), learnt from her Welsh nurse in the 1870s under the title "Jack Jintle" with the lyrics:
My name is Jack Jintle, the eldest but one,
And I can play nick-nack upon my own thumb.,
With my nick-nack and pad-lock and sing a fine song,
And all the fine ladies come dancing along., ,
My name is Jack Jintle, the eldest but two,
And I can play nick-nack upon my own shoe.,
With my nick-nack, etc.
The more familiar version goes like this:
This old man, he played one,
He played knick-knack on my thumb;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played two,
He played knick-knack on my shoe;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played three,
He played knick-knack on my knee;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played four,
He played knick-knack on my door;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played five,
He played knick-knack on my hive;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played six,
He played knick-knack on my sticks;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played seven,
He played knick-knack up in heaven;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played eight,
He played knick-knack on my gate;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played nine,
He played knick-knack on my spine;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home., ,
This old man, he played ten,
He played knick-knack once again;,
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.
A similar version was included in Cecil Sharp and Sabine Baring-Gould's English Folk-Songs for Schools, published in 1906. It was collected several times in England in the early twentieth century with a variety of lyrics. In 1948 it was included by Pete Seeger and Ruth Crawford in their American Folk Songs for Children and recorded by Seeger in 1953. It received a boost in popularity when it was adapted for the 1958 film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness by composer Malcolm Arnold as "The Children's Marching Song", which led to hit singles for Cyril Stapleton and Mitch Miller.
In popular culture:
The song was parodied in The Two Ronnies skit The Plumstead Ladies' Male Voice Choir, with funny verses such as: "Her old man, next to you/Needs a damn good talking to/Knick-knack, paddy-whack, now she's in the club/He's off boozing down the pub"; and "This old man, he played nine/He's as bad as your's or mine/Dick, Jack, Harry, Mack, Trevor, Doug or Mike/All old men are all alike.",
Columbo (Peter Falk) used to whistle this tune in several episodes.,
In the Cheers season eleven episode "The King of Beers", Norm awkwardly blows a job interview by complimenting his possible future boss's pants and singing "This Old Man", something Rebecca said she did when interviewing for her "dream job" at the House of Pancakes.,
Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot recorded a track on his album Nerdcore Rising by the name of "This Old Man". The track's refrain lines are done in the same meter and the lyrics describe an elderly rapper.,
The song is referenced by Korn in their song "Shoots and Ladders" along with many other nursery rhymes.,
Fiddler's Green sang a version of "This Old Man" on their 2009's Album "Sports Day At Killaloe" with eleven stanzas.,
In Mad Men Season 1 Episode 4 "New Amsterdam", Bertram Cooper whistles it after lecturing Don Draper on the company's need to keep Pete Campbell.,
The Wiggles covered this song with Sam Moran on Pop Go The Wiggles.,
Barney & Friends changes this song with "I Love You".,
The song was heavily sampled "This Old Man" by Destiny's Child in their song "Temptation" from their 1999 album, The Writing's on the Wall.,
Paddiwack Song by Ritchie Valens is a Rock and roll version of the song.
Source: Wikipedia
Text from this biography licensed under creative commons license
Source: Wikipedia
Text from this biography licensed under creative commons license

