There's a Hole in the Middle of the Sea
A cumulative nonsense song that stacks up hole, log, frog and flea
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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
There's a hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a hole, there's a hole,
There's a hole in the middle of the sea.
There's a log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a log, there's a log,
There's a log in the hole in the middle of the sea.
There's a bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a bump, there's a bump,
There's a bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea.
There's a frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a frog, there's a frog,
There's a frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea.
There's a fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a fly, there's a fly,
There's a fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea.
There's a wing on the fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a wing on the fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a wing, there's a wing,
There's a wing on the fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea.
There's a flea on the wing on the fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a flea on the wing on the fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea,
There's a flea, there's a flea,
There's a flea on the wing on the fly on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the middle of the sea.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"There's a Hole in the Middle of the Sea" is a cumulative children's song in the same tradition as "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" and "This Is the House That Jack Built." The song begins with a simple image — a hole in the sea — and with each successive verse adds another element: a log in the hole, a bump on the log, a frog on the bump, and so on until a flea sits perched at the top of a long and increasingly absurd chain.
The charm of the song is in the repetition. By the final verse, children are reciting a string of seven nested elements in sequence, which demands concentration and rewards memory. The rhythm keeps the chain manageable, and the building momentum of each verse makes the final line feel like an achievement.
The origins of the song are uncertain; it appears to have circulated as an oral tradition in American and British folk culture before being recorded in published collections. This recording pairs the song with a rock arrangement that keeps the energy up across all seven verses, making the increasingly long refrains feel brisk rather than laborious.
