Henry?        Oh, Henry?

Yes, Liza!

Don't fetch the water...

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

        Well, fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        Well, fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it. 

With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

        With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

        Cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        Well, cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

        With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, an axe.

The axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

        Sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        Well, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, hone it.

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

On what shall I hone it, dear Liza, with what?

        On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, on a stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

        Well, wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        Well, wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

        Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, use water.

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?

        In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,        In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, in a bucket.

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

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.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

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 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:

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 was in the UK charts in 1961. In his book "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (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

These German-American versions all have Henry as the foolish questioner and Lisa as the common-sense woman.

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.^[1]

Czech lyrics were written by M. Bukovič,^[2] who stayed true to the English lyrics of the song and only translated it while keeping the rhyme. It was first sung by the band Fešáci in 1977 by their front man Michal Tučný.{{Relevance inline|date=January 2017}}

A Hebrew version was written by Israeli songwriter Dan Almagor and was recorded in 1961, sung by Yossi Banai and Yona Atari.{{Citation needed||date=January 2017}}{{Relevance inline|date=January 2017}}

In a 1966 episode of The Dean Martin Show, Dean Martin and George Gobel sang a version of the song on television. {{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/the-dean-martin-show/george-gobel-vikki-carr-phil-harris-209599/|title=George Gobel / Vikki Carr / Phil Harris|publisher=TV.com}}. It was also performed by Jim Henson as Henry and Rita Moreno as Liza on Sesame Street.

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.

References

External links

• Folk Music Index – His to Hol
• "Wenn der Pott aber nu en Loch hat" / "There's a hole in the bucket", ingeb.org