Bingo (song)

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Bingo is an English language children's song of obscure origin.

[edit] Lyrics

There was a farmer, had a dog, and Bingo was his name-O!

B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name-O!

Another slightly different version is:

There was a man who had a dog and Bingo was his name, oh!

B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name, oh!

The verse is normally sung six times. From the second to the sixth repetition, the participants substitute a successive number of hand-claps for each letter in the word "Bingo" as spelled out in the first. Usually the first letter is replaced (clap-I-N-G-O), then the second, and so on.

It's commonly used in primary education to illustrate rhythm theory, though it could also be used as a military cadence.

Note also that from the information in the song, it is not clearly stated whether Bingo was the name of the dog or of the farmer. Although, based on proper usage of grammar, one can assume Bingo is referred to as the dog's name.

[edit] References and Parodies

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On the Cartoon Network show Camp Lazlo, the theme song is to the tune of this song. It goes like this:

There were 2 scouts who made a friend and Lazlo was his name-O. L-A-Z-L-O, L-A-Z-L-O, L-A-Z-L-O, and Lazlo was his name-O. And then the trio went to camp and turned it upside down-O. L-A-Z-L-O, L-A-Z-L-O, L-A-Z-L-O, and Lazlo was his name-O.

A similar parody was used on The Emperor's New School episode "Kuzco Fever", with the following lyrics:

"There was an Emperor took a bath and Kuzco was his name-o; K-U-Z-C-O, K-U-Z-C-O, K-U-Z-C-O, and Kuzco was his name-o!"

A commercial for a virtual dog named Vmigo sings a parody of the Bingo song.

In The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Sax", in Bart's kindergarten days, he sang Bingo misplacing the claps, "B-I-(clap)-(clap)-O!"

British comedian Harry Hill parodies the song in a routine about a dog named Buster. He sings "B-U-S-T-E, R-B-U-S-T, E-R-B-U-S and Buster is his name"

A mini-game in "The Ride" edition of You Don't Know Jack features a game that involves finding words that start with the letter of various four-letter words. The background music is a punk rock remix of the Bingo song.