Lyrics
I hear thunder, I hear thunder, Hark don't you? Hark don't you? Pitter-patter raindrops, Pitter-patter raindrops, I'm wet through, So are you.
#I Hear Thunder at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Sung in
- English
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- author and first record not documented; sung to the "Frère Jacques" tune
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, traditional
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
How to sing it
- On "I hear thunder", cup a hand to your ear, then drum on the floor or your knees.
- On "pitter-patter raindrops", flutter your fingers down like falling rain.
- On "I'm wet through, so are you", give a big shiver, shake the raindrops off, and point at a friend.
Meaning and origin
This is a whole weather system packed into one short song. It starts with a rumble — I hear thunder — asks whether you can hear it too, and then the rain arrives, pattering down until everyone is thoroughly soaked, the listener included. Children act the whole thing out: an ear cocked for the thunder, fingers fluttering down like raindrops, and a big shiver at the end on “I’m wet through, so are you”.
Its cleverness is that it borrows a melody every child already half-knows — the tune of “Frère Jacques”. Fitting new words to a familiar round makes it instantly singable, which is exactly why it thrives in nurseries and playgroups. No author is recorded for the words, and no source consulted says when they were first written down; Mama Lisa’s World files the rhyme under England as an English version of “Frère Jacques”, and this page follows that. Like most such action songs it has simply been handed down — a tiny storm you can conjure indoors on any dry afternoon.
Common questions
- What is "I Hear Thunder" about?
- A little rainstorm. The singer hears thunder, then the rain comes pattering down — pitter-patter raindrops — until everyone is soaked "through", you included. Children act it all out, listening for the thunder and fluttering their fingers as the rain.
- What tune is "I Hear Thunder" sung to?
- To the melody of "Frère Jacques" (the same tune as "Are You Sleeping, Brother John?"). The words are simply fitted to that well-known round, which makes it very easy for small children to pick up.
- Who wrote "I Hear Thunder", and where is it from?
- No author is recorded, and none of the sources consulted gives a date or a first printing. Mama Lisa's World lists it among the nursery rhymes of England as "an English version of Frère Jacques", which is the basis for the country given here.
