This Old Man

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This Old Man is a nursery rhyme of unknown origin. The rhyme and its associated tune have become well-known in popular culture through several renditions and parodies. The rhyme was originally better known in the United Kingdom than the United States; however, this changed with the 1958 film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. In fact, the usage of the song in this film was so popular that it led to a hit single by Mitch Miller titled The Children's Marching Song.

Since then, there have been several other utilizations of the rhyme or its tune. One such usage was by the U.S. television show Columbo, which utilized the song as a motif. Another usage was by the children's television show Barney & Friends, which used the associated tune for its theme song. Yet another version was performed by Bob Dylan for For Our Children, Disney's charity album for pediatric AIDS. In addition, the thriller film Freeze also used a version of the song. The rap duo EPMD wrote the song Knick Knack Patty Wack in which they use the phrase 'Knick knack patty wack give a dog a bone'.

1 Rhyme
- 1.1 Extra Verses
2 Barney & Friends rendition
- 2.1 English version
- 2.2 Spanish version
3 External links

[edit] Rhyme

This old man, he played one;

He played knick-knack 'on my thumb' (or 'on a drum').

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a 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 a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played three;

He played knick-knack 'on my knee' (or 'on my tree').

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a 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, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played five;

He played knick-knack 'on my hive' (or 'on my knife').

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a 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, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played seven;

He played knick-knack 'up in heaven' (or 'on my oven' or 'with my pen').

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a 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, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played nine;

He played knick-knack 'on my spine' (or 'in a line').

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played ten;

He played knick-knack 'once again' (or 'on my pen' or 'on my hen').

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

[edit] Extra Verses

(Supplied by Jeffrey Hansford on January 17, 1971)

This old man, he played eleven;

He played knick-knack down in Devon (or 'up in heaven') .

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twelve;

He played knick-knack on my shelf.

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played thirteen;

He played knick-knack on my curtain.

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone;

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played fourteen,

He played knick-knack in the autumn.

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played fifteen,

He collects bronze coins marked 'Ich Dien'.

With a knick-knack, paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, ten add six,

He played knick-knack on my bricks,

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, ten add seven,

He played knick-knack in the Severn.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, ten add eight,

He played knick-knack on my plate.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, ten add nine,

He played knick-knack on my vine.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, ten add ten,

He played knick-knack on Big Ben.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty one,

He played knick-knack just for fun.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty two,

He played knick-knack in a queue.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty three,

He played knick-knack on my key.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty four,

He played knick-knack on the floor.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty five,

He played knick-knack doing a dive.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty six,

He played knick-knack up to his usual tricks.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty seven,

He played knick-knack in the tavern.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty eight,

He played knick-knack on my slate.

With a knick-knack paddy-whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played twenty nine,

He played knick-knack on my sign.

with a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played thirty,

He played knick-knack on my qwerty.

With a knick-knack paddy whack,

Give a dog a bone,

This old man came rolling home.

[edit] Barney & Friends rendition

[edit] English version

I love you, you love me

We're a happy family

With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?

I love you, you love me

We're best friends like friends should be

With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?

[edit] Spanish version

Te quiero yo, y tú a mí

Somos una familia feliz

Con un fuerte abrazo y un beso te diré "Mi cariño es para ti"

Te quiero yo, y tú a mi

Nuestra amistad es lo mejor

Con un fuerte abrazo y un beso te diré "Mi cariño yo te doy"

Note: At "yo te doy" in the Barney & Friends' Spanish version and at the second repeat of "you love me too" in the English version, there is a gradual slowing of tempo.