A Sailor Went to Sea

"A Sailor Went to Sea" is a traditional children's nursery rhyme, clapping game, and skipping rhyme. It was initially called 'My Father Went to Sea', before becoming more widely known as 'A Sailor Went to Sea'.

Lyrics
A first verse of A Sailor Went To Sea goes as:


 * A sailor went to sea, sea, sea
 * To see what he could see, see, see.
 * But all that he could see, see, see
 * Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.

While saying "sea", aquatic waves are mimed with the hand; while saying "see", the hand is brought to the eye to mime a "seeing" gesture.

Further verses typically replace "sea/see" with other words, such as "chop", "knee", "bed", or "pick", "toes", with appropriate gestural substitutions.

In popular culture

 * In 1994, VeggieTales parodied the song in its second episode, "God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!" during a parody of Gilligan's Island. The crew members sing "Some Veggies Went To Sea" in an attempt to entertain their passengers.
 * In 2016, the song appeared in "Gloriana", episode 10, season 1 of the Netflix drama The Crown.
 * In 2022, the song was a recurring motif in Molly of Denali episode "Unsinkable Molly Mabray." The protagonists sing the song multiple times while constructing a boat and during fantasy sequences.