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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Here's the church and there's the steeple,
Open the door and see all the people.
Here's the parson going upstairs,
And here he is now, saying his prayers.
Ta loola, ta looley, ta loolay loo ley,
Sleep through the night 'till the following day,
Ta loola, ta looley, ta loolay loo ley,
Ahh, ahh, ahh.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Here's the Church" is a traditional fingerplay rhyme that has been taught to children across the English-speaking world for generations. The actions are its whole point: interlace your fingers with knuckles facing outward to make the "church", extend the index fingers together to form the "steeple", then turn your hands over and open them to reveal the "people" (your wriggling fingers). The actions teach dexterity and spatial thinking while the words provide a simple narrative frame.
The rhyme is almost certainly pre-Victorian in origin, though its precise first recording is difficult to pin down. It belongs to the tradition of fingerplay rhymes — "This Little Piggy", "Round and Round the Garden" — that use the hands as props for storytelling and that create an intimate, one-to-one experience between the person reciting and the child listening.
Our arrangement weaves the fingerplay verse into a gentle lullaby, adding a melodic ta-loola chorus that carries the song into softer, sleepier territory. The combination works surprisingly well: the fingerplay engages a young child's attention, while the lullaby refrain eases them gradually towards rest. It is a song that works both as an interactive playtime rhyme and as a quiet, settling piece at the end of the day.
