Inchworm (song) facts for kids

"Inchworm," also known as "The Inch Worm," is a famous song. Danny Kaye first sang it in the 1952 movie Hans Christian Andersen. Frank Loesser wrote this song.

What the Song is About

The song talks about an inchworm. It has a "business-like mind." The singer feels the inchworm is too busy measuring things. It doesn't stop to see the beautiful flowers around it. The song suggests we should enjoy the beauty of life.

The main lyrics are:

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

That’s all you have on your business-like mind

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

How can you be so blind?

Other parts of the song say: "Measuring the marigolds, you and your arithmetic / You’ll probably go far." And also: "Seems to me you’d stop and see / How beautiful they are."

The Arithmetic Chorus

Frank Loesser also wrote a special part for the song. It is a counterpoint chorus. This means it can be sung at the same time as the main song. This part has become very popular as a children's song. It uses simple math:

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two

In the movie, children sing this math part. They sing it over and over in a classroom. Meanwhile, the character Hans Christian Andersen watches an inchworm. He sings the main part of the song. Loesser enjoyed creating songs with these kinds of musical challenges.

Famous Recordings of "Inchworm"

Many singers have recorded "Inchworm." These include Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Rachelle Ferrell, and Anne Murray. Other artists are Kenny Loggins, John Lithgow, and Doris Day.

The John Coltrane Quartet also played it often. Their instrumental version is on the album Coltrane.

David Bowie said this song inspired his 1980 song "Ashes to Ashes":

Ashes To Ashes wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t have been for Inchworm. There’s a nursery rhyme element in it, and there’s something so sad and mournful and poignant about it. It kept bringing me back to the feelings of those pure thoughts of sadness that you have as a child, and how they’re so identifiable even when you’re an adult.

Bowie felt the song had a sad, touching feeling. It reminded him of childhood emotions.

"Inchworm" in Film and TV

The song "Inchworm" has appeared in many shows:

• A recording by Danny Kaye was used on Captain Kangaroo. It played during a shadow puppet part.
• It was performed on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Charles Aznavour sang it twice on The Muppet Show. Once by himself, and once with Danny Kaye and the Muppets.
• The American children's show Curiosity Shop also featured the song.
• In the TV series Quantum Leap, Al (Dean Stockwell) sang it as a lullaby.
• It was used in a 1995 episode of the UK show BBC Horizons. This was during a part explaining "assemblers" by Eric Drexler.
• The song was briefly in the British school drama Grange Hill. The school choir sang it during practice.
• It was featured at the end of an episode of Northern Exposure.
• There is also a Hebrew version of the song. Children and a male singer performed it.
• In 2010, the band The Leisure Society performed the song. It was for a children's music album called "Sing Me to Sleep - Indie Lullabies."
• The song was sung as a lullaby in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.
• A slightly changed version of "Inchworm" appears in the video game Paper Mario. It is in the opening and closing parts.

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics