There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
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"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" (or "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly") is a children's song with a cumulative structure.
[edit] Lyrics
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a spider, That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a bird; How absurd, to swallow a bird! She swallowed the bird to catch the spider That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a cat. Imagine that, she swallowed a cat. She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ... She swallowed the bird to catch the spider That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a dog. What a hog! To swallow a dog! She swallowed the dog to catch the cat... She swallowed the cat to catch the bird... She swallowed the bird to catch the spider That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a goat. Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat! She swallowed the goat to catch the dog... She swallowed the dog to catch the cat... She swallowed the cat to catch the bird... She swallowed the bird to catch the spider... That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a cow. I don't know how she swallowed a cow! She swallowed the cow to catch the goat... She swallowed the goat to catch the dog... She swallowed the dog to catch the cat... She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ... She swallowed the bird to catch the spider... That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed that fly— Perhaps she'll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a horse— She's dead, of course.
[edit] In other media
- The song's lyrics were used as the text of a book by Simms Taback
- The song's title is shared with a book by children's illustrator Pam Adams (ISBN 0-85953-727-7)
