What are the lyrics to there was an old lady who swallowed a fly?

Answer 1

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a spider, That wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her; She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a 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 riggled and jiggled and tickled inside her, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a cat; imagine that to swallow a cat! She swallowed the cat to catch the bird, She swallowed the bird to catch the spider, that riggled and jiggled and tickled inside her She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady that 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 riggled and jiggled and tickled inside her, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a goat, she just opened her throat to swallow 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 riggled and jiggled and tickled inside her She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die! There was an old lady who swallowed a cow i dont know how she swallowed a cow, she swallowed a cow to catch tha 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 riggled and jiggled and tickled inside her she swallowed the spider to catch the fly i dont know why she swallowed a fly - prehaps she'll die there once was an old lady who swallowed a horse She's dead, of course

Answer 2

It's a nonsense song to entertain children, written in America in the early 20th Century.

In the song, the old lady goes on swallowing ever bigger and bigger animals in order to catch the ones she's already eaten after they themselves fail to catch the ones already inside her. She becomes massively fat, and in the end dies after swallowing a horse (possibly as a result of bursting).

It's a ridiculous song, partly because it's completely impossible to swallow anything bigger than a spider, and also because the old lady is very stupid if she thinks that the creatures inside her NEED to be caught rather than her just digesting them.

It has been taken up by some folk musicians, including Burl Ives, but was originally written just as a silly nursery rhyme for kids. However, some people have attributed deeper meanings to it, seeing it as a metaphor for unthinking greed and the persuit of unworkable policies and practices to resolve problems that can't be resolved that way. It has in the past been seen as an allegory for unwise political or economic behaviour, such as for example dealing with a financial crash by pumping more money into a nation's economic system, when this will have the opposite effect and just lead to money becoming increasingly worthless- or for dealing with a subject nation's demands for independence by cracking down on it militarily, when this will only lead to armed insurrection and war, and so on.