1. I have a little dreidel,
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready,
Then dreidel I shall play!

Chorus:

Oh - dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready,
Then dreidel I shall play!

2. It has a lovely body,
With legs so short and thin,
And when my dreidel’s tired,
It drops and then I win!

Chorus

3. My dreidel’s always playful,
It loves to dance and spin,
A happy game of dreidel,
Come play now, let’s begin!

Chorus



Playing with the dreidel (a spinning top with four sides, and a Hebrew letter printed on each side) is a traditional Hanukkah game played in Jewish homes all over the world.

The meaning of the lyrics to the Yiddish and English versions is largely the same. However, in English the singer sings about a dreidel, whereas in Yiddish the singer is the dreidel. In the Yiddish version, the dreidel is made out of “blay”, which is lead, which is historically accurate, and in the English version it is made of clay.

Professor of Music and Jewish Studies at Northeastern University, Joshua Jacobson, claims the song was originally in Yiddish and the opening line was “I made it out of lead.”  

Samuel Grossman is said to have penned the English lyrics, and Samuel Goldfarb, a Jewish liturgical composer employed by the Bureau of Jewish Education between 1914 and 1929, wrote the melody for the English version.