"There's a Hole in My Bucket" (or "...in the Bucket") is a humorous, classic children's folk song based on a protracted dialogue between two characters, Henry and Liza, about a leaky bucket. Various versions exist but they differ only slightly, all describing a "deadlock" situation essentially as follows: Henry's bucket leaks, so Liza tells him to repair it. To fix the leaky bucket, he needs straw. To cut the straw, he needs a knife. To use the knife, he needs to sharpen it. If the sharpening stone must be damp, he needs water. But to fetch water, he needs the bucket, which has a hole in it. In honour of the song, people celebrate National Hole in My Bucket Day on May 30 every year.

Lyrics

Origins and development

The earliest known archetype of this song seems to be in the German collection of songs Bergliederbüchlein (c 1700). It is set as a dialogue between a woman named Liese, and an unnamed man. stop es zu meine liebe Liese Womit soll ich es zustopfen – mit Stroh, meine liebe Liese. stop it up my dear Liese With what shall I stop it – with straw my dear Liese. In later German sources the song is reproduced under the title of Heinrich und Liese and credited as a folk song from Hesse. In the 19th century it was sung as a commercium song and printed in the 1858 Allgemeines Deutsches Kommersbuch. The renowned song collection Deutscher Liederhort (3 volumes, 1856–1894) edited by Ludwig Erk and Franz Magnus Böhme includes the song, relating it also to the Flemish song Mooy Bernardyn ("Wat doet gy in het groene veld ?"). The German song became even more widespread when it was included in the famous Wandervogel songbook Der Zupfgeigenhansl in 1909. In George Korson's "Pennsylvania Songs and Legends" (1949) there is a song with meter closer to the modern English version and beginning thus: Liewer Georgie Liewer Georgie, Wann der Tschock a wer en Loch hot? Dummer Ding, dann schtopp'n zu! Dear Georgie, dear Georgie When the jug has a hole 'Stupid thing, then stop it up! This was collected in 1940, and is earlier than any known English-language version. This suggests that it might be a traditional "Pennsylvania Dutch" (i.e. German) song. Ed McCurdy recorded it in 1958 on "Children's Songs". Harry Belafonte recorded it with Odetta in 1960. It reached No. 32 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1961. In his book Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singer's Songs, Stories, Seeds, Robberies (1993), Pete Seeger refers to it as an originally German song, "Lieber Heinrich". Songs Along the Mahantongo: Pennsylvania Dutch Folksongs (1951), by Boyer, Buffington, & Yoder, has a version Liewer Heinrich, liewer Heinrich? Was soll ich koche, liewer Heinrich, Was dann? Dear Henry, dear Henry? What should I cook, dear Henry, Tell me what. (literally: What then?) These versions all have Henry as the foolish questioner and Liza as the common-sense woman.

Further adaptations

An English version of the song existed by 1937, when it was quoted in the novel Starting Point by Cecil Day-Lewis. There's a hole in my bucket, Sister Liza, Sister Liza! There's a hole in my bucket, Sister Liza, a hole! In 1953, Flanders and Swann wrote a parody named "There's a Hole in My Budget" satirising the British budget deficit, substituting the Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chancellor Rab Butler for Henry and Liza, respectively. They rerecorded it in 1974, updating the characters to Harold Wilson and Denis Healey. In the lead up to the 2022 Australian federal election, a version of the song was used by the Liberal Party of Australia in an campaign ad to attack the Australian Labor Party over their alleged deficits and paying for them with new taxes while in government. The advertisement was widely ridiculed as ineffective. Harry Belafonte & Odetta performed the song on "Tonight With Belafonte (1959)." A Hebrew version (יש חור בדלי / "There is a hole in the bucket") was written by Israeli songwriter Dan Almagor and was recorded in 1961, sung by Yossi Banai and Yona Atari. In a 1963 (April 27th) episode of Saint Germain De Prés, Dorus (Tom Manders) sang a Dutch version of the song on television. It was later released as single Philips 327 529 JF. In a 1966 episode of The Dean Martin Show, Dean Martin and George Gobel sang a version of the song on television. It was also performed by Jim Henson as Henry and Rita Moreno as Liza for a 1976 episode of Sesame Street. Czech lyrics were written by M. Bukovič, who stayed true to the English lyrics of the song and only translated it (using the names Lojza and Líza as his title) while keeping the rhyme. It was first sung by the band Fešáci in 1977 by their front man Michal Tučný. This song is featured in The Railway Series book Tank Engine Thomas Again in the story "Thomas Goes Fishing". This does not appear in the TV series episode. Chumbawamba included a version of one verse of this song titled "Knickers" in their 2000 album WYSIWYG. The first lines are sung by a Hybrid being in the science-fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica, in the 2009 episode "Islanded in a Stream of Stars." It is a reference to an eternal, unresolvable cycle, an infinite loop, which is relevant to the show's themes.

Citations