"Three Little Fishies", also known as "Three Little Fishes", is a 1939 song with words by Josephine Carringer and Bernice Idins and music by
Saxie Dowell. The song tells the story of three fishes, who defy their mother's command of swimming only in a meadow, by swimming over a dam and on out to sea, where they encounter a
shark, which the fish describe as a whale. They flee for their lives and return to the meadow in safety.
The song was a US No. 1 hit for
Kay Kyser and his band in 1939.[1][2] It was released in the UK as a
78 by British comedian
Frankie Howerd, on the short-lived UK Harmony label, in 1949.[3] It was revived in 2012 by
Ray Stevens for inclusion in his 108-song box set, The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music.
Other recordings and all releases of the original song
A recording by
Hal Kemp and His Orchestra, with vocals by The Smoothies, was made in March, 1939, about a month before the Kay Kyser recording.
The song as sung by
Kay Kyser and accompanied by his band, released in 1939. It was a US No. 1 hit.
A recording was made in 1939 by
Nat Gonella and
The Georgians. It features in the compilation Children's Wartime Favourites, issued in 2005 by River Records.[4]
1949 the original version by Kay Kyser was released in the UK as a
78 by British comedian
Frankie Howerd, on the short-lived UK Harmony label.
On February 11, 1953
Spike Jones and His City Slickers recorded a version of the song featuring the 34 year old
George Rock (who was renowned for his ability to sing with a
falsetto voice) imitating the high voice of a very cute little girl.[5][6][7] This version bears the alternative title Itty Bitty Poo.
During her 1969 appearance on the Here's Lucy episode “Lucy and the Andrews Sisters”,
Patty Andrews sings this song during a medley of
Andrews Sisters hits.
The 1973 made-for-television movie Birds of Prey features the original version of the song at its introduction, being sung along to by protagonist
David Janssen while flying a
Hughes 500 helicopter for a fictional
Salt Lake City radio station. Later incarnations of the film, on formats such as
VHS and
DVD, have the song omitted and substituted by another
big band song of indeterminable title.
In a 1981 episode of Three's Company, a misunderstanding occurs when Jack and Janet overhear a psychiatrist, played by
Jeffrey Tambor, repeatedly saying "boom, boom, dittum dattem..." while trying to remember the words to this song, to help him get through to a patient. Jack and Janet mistake him for the
mental patient and fear for Terri's safety on their date.
On Wednesday 24th February 1982 BBC1's Children's TV Show 'Play School' covered this song, with Stuart McGugan (from 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' fame) providing the lyrics and puppetry.
In "Force of Habit", the 15th episode of the 1982-1983 television show Tales of the Gold Monkey, the main character, an ex-
Flying Tiger named Jake Cutter, played by
Stephen Collins, sings the song in the middle of a storm to keep up morale in his plane.
Canadian children's singers Sharon Lois and Bram recorded the song for their 1984 LP "Mainly Mother Goose"
Australian singer
Don Spencer, a regular on both the
BBC version and the
ABC version of Play School, included the song in his 1984 album Don Spencer from Play School Sings 21 Childrens' Favourites.
BBC 2 Children's stalwart TV show 'Play Away', from Saturday, 21st January, 1984, covered the song with Floella Benjamin singing the lead. With Brian Cant, Linda Williams and Matthew Devitt on back-up.
In two episodes of Barney & Friends, A Splash Party Please from 1992 and Look at me, I'm 3! from 1993, the children perform the song with Barney and
Baby Bop.
The
Kidsongs version (Play Along Songs; 1993) omits the third verse, whereas the
Disney Sing Along Songs version (Mickey's Fun Songs: Beach Party at Walt Disney World; 1995) omits the second verse.
In 2005 the recording of 1939 by
Nat Gonella and
The Georgians features in the compilation Children's Wartime Favourites, issued by River Records.[10]
In 2012 the original version by Kay Kyser was revived by
Ray Stevens for inclusion in his 108-song box set, The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music.
The American 'YouTube' channel
Cocomelon Season 5 Episode 1, released 2023, features the melody of the song although the lyrics are changed to, "Down In The Jungle."