The system may have got you but it won't get me

January 6, 2010 1:40 PM

"Big A Little A bouncing B...." Help me find the original source for this childrens rhyme.

I know it was used by the group Crass but is there any more to it?

Does anyone know the original lyrics? I'm looking for the entire sing-a-long. I believe it may be solely British in origin and something learned in pre-school perhaps. Some searching on Google only brings me back to Crass.

posted by cazoo to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

I am pretty sure I had a children's book with this rhyme in it, long, long ago.
posted by mkb at 1:48 PM on January 6, 2010

Best answer: This is the version I've read (via Iona Opie's nursery rhyme books): "Great A, little a, bouncing B; the cat's in the cupboard and can't see me."

You can see more versions and illustrations here.
posted by mogget at 1:49 PM on January 6, 2010

Best answer: From here:

There was an old woman
lived under a hill.
And if she's not gone
she lives there still,

My home is a 'house.

n my house is a cupboard.
In my cupboard is a cat.
In my cat is an a.

Big A, little a, bouncing b,
The cat is in the cupboard,
and can not see me.
posted by pintapicasso at 1:51 PM on January 6, 2010

Response by poster: Excellent! Thank you guys so much!
posted by cazoo at 1:57 PM on January 6, 2010

Interesting. The version I learned turned it into a pun: "Great A, little a, bouncing b / the cat's in the cupboard and she can't C." I was surprised to see versions with the pun left out. Alas, I can't remember the source for mine, so I can't tell you if it's older or newer than the others given here.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:24 PM on January 6, 2010