Michael Finnegan
There was an old man named Michael Finnegan — begin again
Listen
Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,
He had whiskers on his chinnegan,
The wind blew them off but they grew in again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan.
I know a man named Michael Finnegan,
He went fishing with a pinnegan,
Caught a fish and dropped it in again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan.
I know a man named Michael Finnegan,
Climbed a tree and barked his shin again,
Slid back down and scraped his skin again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan.
I know a man named Michael Finnegan,
He kicked up an awful din again,
Because they said he could not sing again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan.
I know a man named Michael Finnegan,
He grew fat and then grew thin again,
Then he slept and had to begin again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Michael Finnegan" is a circular or infinite song — a song specifically designed to loop back to its beginning so that it can be sung indefinitely, or until the singers agree to stop. The singer finishes each verse with "poor old Michael Finnegan", and the instruction to "begin again" at the end of the first verse is both a description of Finnegan's condition and a literal instruction to the performers.
The song belongs to a tradition of cumulative and circular folk songs found across many cultures, designed for communal singing where the point is entertainment and endurance rather than arrival at a conclusion. Children find these songs particularly satisfying because the joke — the song never ends — is built into the structure itself.
Michael Finnegan's troubles accumulate but never quite overwhelm him: his whiskers grow back, he keeps fishing, he climbs more trees, he sleeps and wakes and begins again. There is something gently heroic about his persistence, even if persistence is all he really has.
The rhyming on "innegan" throughout — chinnegan, pinnegan, in-again, din-again, thin-again — gives the song its distinctive rhythm and its slightly absurd quality. The invented words like "chinnegan" and "pinnegan" (a small pin or the pole used in fishing) are characteristic of the folk song tradition of bending and stretching language to fit a rhyme scheme.
