Jim Henson, who was the voice of Ernie, a cheerful orange Muppet On Sesame Street, was instrumental in bringing the song to life. The producers saw it fit to name the song after Ernie’s rubber duck, which he affectionately named Rubber Duckie. The name stuck, and the only way for the music to go was up!

By September 1970, the song had made it to number 16 on Billboard Hot 100 and was making the headlines. It was no surprise that Rubber Duckie was nominated for the Grammy Award in 1970 for best children’s recordings. Today, Rubber Duckie is still very much a fan favorite both as a baby toys nursery rhyme and as a tory!

The Rubber Duckie

Well, here I am in my tubby again
And my tubby’s all filled with water and nice fluffy suds
And I’ve got my soap and washcloth to wash myself
And I’ve got my nifty scrub brush to help me scrub my back
And I’ve got a big fluffy towel to dry myself when I’m done
But there’s one other thing that makes tubby time the very best time of the whole day
And do you know what that is?
It’s a very special friend of mine my very favorite little pal

Rubber duckie you’re the one
You make bath time lots of fun
Rubber duckie I’m awfully fond of you

Rubber duckie joy of joys
When I squeeze you, you make noise
Rubber duckie you’re my very best friend it’s true

Oh, every day when I make my way to the tubby
I find a little fellow who’s cute and yellow and chubby

Rub-a-dub-dubby
Rubber duckie, you’re so fine
And I’m lucky that you’re mine
Rubber duckie, I’m awfully fond of you

Hey, rubber duckie would you like me to scrub your back with my little nifty scrub brush?
You would okay, how’s this?
Hey, you want me to scrub behind your ears?
Oh, I see you don’t have any ears, do you?
Well, how about your tummy?
Scrub his little duckie tummy
Oh, he’s ticklish oh-hoo

Oh, every day when I make my way to the tubby
I find a little fellow who’s cute and yellow and chubby

Rub-a-dub-dubby!
Rubber duckie, you’re so fine
And I’m lucky that you’re mine

Rubber duckie, I’d like a whole pond of
Rubber duckie, I’m awfully fond of you

The song is usually sung while the baby sits gently on top of the parent’s knees and is being moved up and down. The song becomes faster as it progresses. During the last verse “You don’t fall in” the knees are opened and the baby is lifted with the hands so as not to fall in. If the longer version is sung, when the lyrics say “don’t fall over”, baby should lean sideways and kept from falling over.

Trot Trot To Boston Lyrics

Trot trot to Boston,  
Trot trot to Lynn,  
Watch out little baby,  
Or you might fall in!

Alternatively the song may continue like this:

Trot, trot to Boston,  
Trot, trot to Dover, 
Watch out baby 
You don’t fall over!

Trot, trot to Boston,  
Trot, trot to Town, 
Watch out baby 
You don’t fall down!