"Three Little Fishies"

Kay Kyser & Company

Sometimes a Song as I have said before, is a novelty. And in mid-century music, that’s always a good thing. As you know I take my song cue as much as possible from our word or theme of the week here at Word & Song. But Tony got me into a fine kettle of fish this time around, with his entry in Figuratively Speaking. What song could I choose to meet this challenge? Well, there was only one contender. “Three Little Fishies” was a number-one hit on the Billboard charts in 1939, selling millions of copies for Big Band leader, Kay Kyser, and his talented trillers, Harry Babbitt, Ginny Simms, sax-player, Sully Mason, and the immensely popular cornet player and comedian, Ish Kabibble.

Those of my readers who know this song must already be smiling. I recall singing it to my now-grown kids when they were “little fishies,” and for myself I don’t recall what age I was when I first heard the tune, but I was small. My mother and father were “little fishies,” themselves, back in 1939 — that magical year when “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” and an array of other great films hit the silver screen — and when this tune first jingled over the radio airwaves into homes across America. And I now must stop to issue our patented

!!!! DIFFERENT UNIVERSE ALERT !!!

Why is that? For one thing, Kay Kyser and his band, his singers and entertainers, were not in the business of performing music for little children, though you’d think so if you stumbled upon this tune now, on Youtube, knowing nothing about it, or if your first experience with the song was hearing it was sung by The Muppets. No, “Three Little Fishies” was most definitely not written for kids only, but was one of those novelty tunes for people of all ages that once upon a time just about everyone in the world could and did enjoy.

In 1939 the US was not (yet) at war, big bands were (excuse the pun) in full swing, and this little ditty — with lyrics purchased from a trio of college girls by jazz saxophonist and songwriter, “Saxie” Dowell — reflected the lightheartedness of the era. No fewer than eight big bands, including Hal Kemp’s (for whom Saxie played his horn) and Glen Miller’s, recorded this song that same year. But Kyser’s was the best-loved performance of the lot, as evidenced by its selling millions of records for his band and staying at the top of the charts week after week after week.

It goes without saying that Kyser was talented, but I don’t think his band could rival the likes of Glen Miller or Benny Goodman. For sheer musicianship, those were tough acts to beat. Nevertheless, Kay Kyser had eleven number one hits in the 20’s and 30’s and he launched the singing careers of a host of performers. What made his version of the “Three Little Fishies” so love, I think, was Harry Babbit’s “Little Audrey” (animated cartoon character) falsetto voice, which some of you might recognize from his vocal on the Spike Jones hit, “All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” complete with a toothless lisp!

Kay Kyser was by all accounts a good-hearted man, a graduate of my and Tony’s Alma Mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was widely known among his fellow musicians as “the Ol’ Professor of Swing.” When the war began, he was among the first US entertainers to travel to entertain the troops, which he did in company with Lucille Ball. And for two years his show topped Bob Hope in popularity among the servicemen. I hope to talk more about Kay Kyser in another Sometimes a Song.

To best enjoy this song, read along with the lyrics below as you listen. The singers play a round-robin with the verses, and all of them ham it up. But Harry Babbitt sings the “little fish” voice to perfection. Notice to the “adaptation” of the verses, and the funny word-play on “dam” near the end. If you’ve never heard the song, you are in for a treat.

---

Down in the meadow in a little bitty pool
Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too.
"Swim" said the mama fishie, "Swim if you can,"
And they swam and they swam all over the dam.

Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
And they swam and they swam all over the dam.

"Stop" said the mama fishie, "you will get lost."
The three little fishies didn't want to be bossed.
The three little fishies went off on a spree,
And they swam and they swam right out to the sea.

Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
And they swam and they swam right out to the sea.

"Whee!" yelled the little fishies, "Here's a lot of fun!
We'll swim in the sea till the day is done."
They swam and they swam, and it was a lark,
Till all of a sudden they saw a shark!

Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Till all of a sudden they saw a shark!

"Help!" cried the little fishies, "Gee! look at all the whales!"
And quick as they could, they turned on their tails,
And back to the pool in the meadow they swam.
And they swam and they swam back over the dam!

Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
And they swam and they swam back over the dam!