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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Bingo!
There was a farmer had a dog
And Bingo was his name-o
B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o
There was a farmer had a dog
Bingo was his name-o
*-I-N-G-O, *-I-N-G-O, *-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o
There was a farmer had a dog
Bingo was his name-o
*-*-N-G-O, *-*-N-G-O, *-*-N-G-O
Bingo was his name-o
There was a farmer had a dog
And Bingo was his name-o
*-*-*-G-O, *-*-*-G-O, *-*-*-G-O
Bingo was his name-o
There was a farmer had a dog
Bingo was his name-o
*-*-*-*-O, *-*-*-*-O, *-*-*-*-O
Bingo was his name-o
There was a farmer had a dog
And Bingo was his name-o
*-*-*-*-*, *-*-*-*-*, *-*-*-*-*
And Bingo was his name-o
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
BINGO is one of the most widely sung children's songs in the English-speaking world, and one of the most brilliantly designed. The song tells of a farmer whose dog is named Bingo, and with each verse, one letter of the name is replaced by a clap — until by the final verse, all five letters have become claps, and children are practically shouting silence in triumphant unison.
The earliest known printed version of BINGO dates to 1787, in a Scottish publication called "The Musical Museum." Whether the clapping game existed in oral tradition before that is unknown, but the song has been a fixture of children's culture in Britain, America and beyond for over two centuries.
The genius of the song is its combination of literacy and physical play. By attaching letters to actions, it makes spelling kinetic and memorable — children who have sung BINGO a dozen times genuinely remember how to spell it. The gradual removal of letters also teaches anticipation and counting, making it a rich educational tool dressed up as pure entertainment. Few children's songs achieve so much so effortlessly.
