Old MacDonald Had a Farm - Chords, Lyrics and Origins

Origins

Several different version’s of Old MacDonald Had a Farm appear at different times - the earliest in an eighteenth century opera.  ‘MacDonald’ is sometimes spelt ‘McDonald’, and sometimes becomes ’MacDougal’ or ’Missouri’.  But apart from these somewhat different sets of lyrics dating from different eras and featuring different farmyard animals, not a great deal seems to be known about the origins of this nursery rhyme / children’s song.  It is part of the Road Folk Song Index.

Chords

G                      C       G
Old MacDonald had a farm,

G   D  G
E I E I O,

G                             C       G
And on his farm he had a cow,

G   D  G
E I E I O,

G
With a moo moo here,

G
And a moo moo there,
       
G
Here a moo, there a moo,

G
Everywhere a moo moo,

G                      C       G
Old MacDonald had a farm,

G   D  G
E I E I O.




G                      C       G
Old MacDonald had a farm,

G   D  G
E I E I O,

G                             C       G
And on his farm he had a pig,

G   D  G
E I E I O,

G
With an oink oink here,

G
And a oink oink there,
       
G
Here an oink, there an oink,

G
Everywhere an oink oink,

G                      C       G
Old MacDonald had a farm,

G   D  G
E I E I O.

Lyrics

Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a cow,
E I E I O,
With a moo moo here,
And a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo moo,
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a pig,
E I E I O,
With a oink oink here,
And a oink oink there,
Here a oink, there a oink,
Everywhere a oink oink,
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a duck,
E I E I O,
With a quack quack here,
And a quack quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack,
Everywhere a quack quack,
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a horse,
E I E I O,
With a neigh neigh here,
And a neigh neigh there,
Here a neigh, there a neigh,
Everywhere a neigh neigh,
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a lamb,
E I E I O,
With a baa baa here,
And a baa baa there,
Here a baa, there a baa,
Everywhere a baa baa,
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some chickens,
E I E I O,
With a cluck cluck here,
And a cluck cluck there,
Here a cluck, there a cluck,
Everywhere a cluck cluck,
With a baa baa here,
And a baa baa there,
Here a baa, there a baa,
Everywhere a baa baa,
With a neigh neigh here,
And a neigh neigh there,
Here a neigh, there a neigh,
Everywhere a neigh neigh,
With a quack quack here,
And a quack quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack,
Everywhere a quack quack,
With a oink oink here,
And a oink oink there,
Here a oink, there a oink,
Everywhere a oink oink,
With a moo moo here,
And a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo moo,
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E I E I O.