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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Hey, rub-a-dub-dub, rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And how do you think they got there?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
They all jumped out of a rotten potato,
It was enough to make your mum stare.
Hey, rub-a-dub-dub, rub-a-dub-dub,
Three mates in a tub,
And who do you think they were?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
And all of them had gone to the fair.
Hey, rub-a-dub-dub, rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
Turn them out, knaves all three.
Oh, rub-a-dub-dub, rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub, they all went out to sea.
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
The seahorse gave the butcher a fright,
The ocean roll gave the baker a bite,
And the candlemaker's head grew real light.
For who but a fool would think it was cool
To take a tub to sea?
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Rub a Dub Dub" is a traditional nursery rhyme first recorded in print in the early nineteenth century, though an earlier version appeared in a 1798 chapbook. In the oldest known text, the rhyme tells of "three maids in a tub" being observed at a fair — a reference to a peep show, a common fairground attraction in which people paid to look through a viewing hole at scenes within a box. The three men who replaced the maids in later versions — butcher, baker, candlestick-maker — have a cheerful alliterative quality that made them far more memorable.
The phrase "rub a dub dub" itself is thought to be an imitation of the sound of a drum roll, connecting the rhyme to fairground announcements.
This arrangement takes considerable liberties with the traditional text, expanding the story across four verses and sending the three tradesmen out to sea in their tub — an adventure that goes predictably badly. The seahorse, the ocean roll, and the general impracticality of travelling by bathtub give the extended version a logic all its own. The original question — what on earth were they doing in a tub in the first place? — is never quite satisfactorily answered.
