"Three Little Fishies", "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" & "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" Have The Same Tune!

MrRJDB1969, Jan 9, 2010

"THREE LITTLE FISHIES ~ The Smoothies ~ Hal Kemp & his Orchestra~ recorded on March 28,1939- released in May 1939~ Victor Records. The group originated as Babs & Her Brothers in the early 1930's and became The Smoothies in approx. 1938. As The Smoothies, they were the featured vocal group with Hal Kemp & his Orchestra and it was while with Kemp's orchestra that the song THREE LITTLE FISHIES was first introduced. ... The up beat , THREE LITTLE FISHIES, was also recorded by Kay Kyser & his Orchestra on the Columbia Records label, also in 1939 and is probably the better known version of the song. However, The Smoothies version is still excellent. THREE LITTLE FISHIES was composed by tenor saxophonist / vocalist / composer / lyricist, Saxie Dowell, who was a member of Hal Kemp's orchestra before forming his own orchestra around the end of 1939. He was also the composer of the well known novelty tune PLAYMATES."... **** Edited by Azizi Powell This pancocojams post documents the fact that the tune for the 1939 American Jazz song "Three Little Fishies" is the tune (but not the same tempo) for the rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky", and the rhyme/song "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes". The Addendum to this post presents my thoughts about the similarities and differences between these three compositions. The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to Saxie Dowell, the composer of the "Three Little Fishies" song and thanks to the probably millions of unknown creators of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" or "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" songs. -snip-
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the recreational rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky". There are LOTS of pancocojams posts about this rhyme. One of those posts is https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/part-i-of-some-examples-of-down-by_22.html "Part I of Some Examples Of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Rhymes With Geographic Locations (A - J)" , The link for Part II is given in that post. Click the tag below for other pancocojams posts about this rhyme.

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW7WNoImYM0 -- for a YouTube example of Kay Kyser & his Orchestra's recording of "Three Little Fishes" ("Itty Bitty Poo") in 1939. Also, click https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/6164203/Kay+Kyser/Three+Little+Fishies for the lyrics for Kay Kyser's version of "Three Little Fishies" song.

In addition, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/12/examples-of-down-in-jungle-where-nobody.html for a pancocojams post entitled "Examples Of "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" Videos, Songs & Rhymes".

****SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Down by the Banks (Girl Scout Game)

Girl Scout Troop 7579,  Nov 7, 2021
"DOWN BY THE BANKS

Have the players make a circle and put their right hand on top of the person to their right’s hand, and their left hand under the hand of the person to the left. When ready - start singing this song, while one person claps their right hand to the person on their left, and it is passed around the circle. When the song ends, whoever receives the final clap is out, or if the person takes her hand out and the person gets their own hand they are out. Continue the game until only one person is left. 

Song:

Down on the banks, Of the Hanky Panky,
Where the bull frogs jump, from bank to banky
with an: Eep!  Ipe!  Oop!  Op! 
Eases off the lily with a Kerplop!

Optional second verse:

Pepsi cola, ginger ale,
Ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale, ginger ale.
Pepsi cola, ginger ale,
Seven up, seven up, seven up, you're out!"

**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - Down In The Jungle KIDDIE MUSIC
Christina Fernandez, October 28, 2011 **** ADDENDUM The compositions "Three Little Fishies", "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" and "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" each prominently feature the word "down" in their lyrics.

** Almost all examples of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that I've heard online* have the same tune, but a slower tempo, as "Three Little Fishies". *I've collected children's recreational rhymes mostly from African American children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and some of its surrounding neighborhoods from 1980 to 2007. However, I've never heard/saw any examples of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" besides those examples that I've watched on YouTube. (I received an email example of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" from a woman who identified herself as Black and who wrote that she used to live in the same Pittsburgh neighborhood (East Liberty) that I live in. So it's not like African Americans (and other people) in Pittsburgh don't know this rhyme. It's jus ironical, given my decades long interest in this rhyme, that I've never seen it done in person. The "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" song/rhyme also uses the same tune as "three Little Fishies", but with a different tempo than that song uses. (For what it's worth, I also have had no direct experiences with "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" song/rymes. ** Each of these compositions originated in the United States. (I've read that the "Down In The Jungle" is a British nursery rhyme. However, t haven't come across any other information about the history of that nursery rhyme, with or without early examples. I think those statements about "Down In The Jungle" being a British nursery rhyme refer to this verse: "Way down South where nobody goes (or "where bananas grow").
A grasshopper (or "an ant") stepped on an elephant's toe.
The elephant said with tears in his eyes,
"Pick on somebody your own size!" -end of example- That "stepped on an elephant's toe" rhyme isn't the same rhyme as the compositions about animals deep in the jungle washing their clothes or picking their nose. However, it seems very likely that the "washing clothes/picking nose" verses are folk processed creations that evolved from the "Down In The Jungle...stepped on the elephant's toe" composition. Also, it seems to me (from my informal Google searches) that most of the examples of the "Deep In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" rhymes/songs with their "animals washing clothes/picking nose verses are from the United States. ** Each of these are secular (non-religious) compositions that are sung or chanted for fun and are mostly (now- in 2023) considered to be children's songs or rhymes. Here's one difference between "Three Little Fishies" and the other two compositions: The lyrics for "Three Little Fishies" is relatively stable with only minor differences in recording. In contrast, there are LOTS of versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" and a lot of versions of "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes". Also, new versions of the words for both of those two compositions-but especially for "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" are still being made. Here are two more differences between "Three Little Fishies" and the other two compositions: Some verses to versions of "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" are included in a small number of versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky". However, I haven't (yet) come across lines from "Three Little Fishies" that are found in any "Hanky Panky" or "Down In The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" rhymes. Also, "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" is chanted with some accompanying hand activity such as performing a partner or three person hand clapping routine or a group hand slapping/ tag your out game). However, with the exception of the verses of that song that are included in some "Hanky Panky" rhymes, the "Down in The Jungle Where Nobody Goes" and "Three Little Fishies" are sung without any accompanying hand clapping or hand slapping. What do you think are the similarities and differences between these songs/rhymes? Please share your thoughts about this subject and your experiences with these songs/rhymes in the comment section below. Additions and corrections are welcome! **** Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome.