Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
The irresistible bedtime countdown with bouncing monkeys and a very patient doctor
Listen
Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
(Miss Rebecca in a Reggae Dub stylie)
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and
bumped his head
So Momma called the doctor
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Four little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and
bumped his head
So Momma called the doctor
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Three little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and
bumped his head
So Momma called the doctor
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Two little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and
bumped his head
So Momma called the doctor
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
One little monkey jumping on the bed
He fell off and
bumped his head
So Momma called the doctor
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
No little monkeys jumping on the bed
So they jumped onto the sofa instead!
(Easy now, take five!
You gotta feel it! Relax)
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" is one of the best-loved counting-down songs in the English-speaking world, combining a classic mathematical countdown with a narrative of delightful, repeated disobedience. The monkeys will not stop jumping; they keep falling off and bumping their heads; Mama keeps calling the doctor; the doctor keeps issuing the same futile warning. It is a comedy of escalating persistence.
The song's humour is deeply rooted in children's experience. Jumping on beds is one of the most universally forbidden activities in childhood, and therefore one of the most appealing. The monkeys are doing exactly what every child is told not to do, and they are suffering the predictable consequences (bumped heads), and yet the cycle begins again with one fewer monkey. It is a small, contained narrative of rule-breaking, consequence, and indomitable spirit.
The doctor's repeated instruction — "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!" — is simultaneously a warning, an acknowledgement of futility, and a comic refrain. Children singing along are effectively joining in with the doctor's exasperation, which gives them an unusually sophisticated position: knowing better than the monkeys, while also wishing they could jump on the bed.
The song first appeared in published form in the 1980s, though it may have circulated earlier as a playground or classroom rhyme. It has since become one of the most recorded children's songs in the world, appearing in dozens of languages and musical styles.
Our version gives it a reggae dub flavour — exactly the kind of playful, unexpected arrangement that the Nursery Rhymes Collections is celebrated for.
