When I became a mom, everyone told me to sing to my son. The problem? I could hum a tune, but the words fell out of my head the moment he looked at me. I knew “Twinkle, Twinkle,” and that was the whole setlist.
If you are stuck in the same humming loop, start here. This is a working list of 40 nursery rhymes with actions, sorted by what a child can actually do: lap rhymes for babies who cannot sit up yet, hand and body rhymes for toddlers, and longer dance songs for preschoolers.
Every entry gives you the lyrics and the exact moves, so you can start one mid-diaper-change and know what to do with your hands.
Why Nursery Rhymes Matter for Development
Nursery rhymes are more than a way to fill the ten minutes before dinner. The rhyme is doing literacy work, and the actions are doing everything else.
Here is what each half of the habit builds:
- Rhyme feeds early reading: Noticing that “star” and “are” end the same way is phonological awareness, the skill children later use to blend and decode words. In one preschool study, children taught nursery rhymes explicitly scored significantly higher on rhyme awareness than a control group (1).
- Actions build two kinds of motor control: Finger plays like Itsy Bitsy Spider ask for small, precise thumb-and-finger work. Jumping, marching, and stomping songs work the big muscles instead. Most children need both, and a mixed setlist covers them without a plan.
- Turn-taking games are tracked milestones: Peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake are not filler. Both appear on the CDC’s developmental checklists as things most babies do in their first year, so singing them is rehearsing a skill your pediatrician asks about.
- Repetition teaches sequence: Nearly every song here runs a small story or a countdown. Children learn what comes next, then start calling it out before you get there, which is memory and prediction doing push-ups.
- Songs give feelings a name: “If You’re Happy and You Know It” attaches an emotion to a physical action. That link is where talking about a mood starts, instead of only melting down in one.
- Singing beats screens for connection: Face-to-face singing gives a child your eyes, your voice, and your hands at once. Clapping, tickling, and bouncing add touch on top, which is why these rhymes calm a fussy baby when a video does not.
5 Simple Action Rhymes for Babies Under 1
Babies cannot jump, march, or follow a dance sequence, so most action song lists skip the first year entirely. These five work anyway, because you supply the movement: your hands, your knees, your voice. Each one fits a changing table, a lap, or the five minutes before a nap.
1. Round and Round the Garden
A tickle rhyme built on suspense. Long before a baby can say any of the words, they learn what is coming at the end, and the pause before the tickle is the part they are actually laughing at.
The Actions
Trace a slow circle on your baby’s open palm with one finger. Walk two fingers up their arm on “one step, two step,” then tickle under the arm on the last line. Stretch the pause a little longer each time you do it.
Lyrics
Round and round the garden,
Like a teddy bear.
One step, two step,
Tickle you under there!
2. Peekaboo
Barely a song, and still the most useful thing on this page. Laughing at peek-a-boo is one of the social milestones the CDC expects most babies to reach by 9 months (2), so this chant doubles as a quiet check that object permanence is landing.
The Actions
Cover your face with your hands or a muslin, wait a beat, then drop them and say the line. Once your baby reaches for the cloth themselves, let them do the hiding and act surprised every single time.
Lyrics
Peekaboo, peekaboo,
I see you!
Peekaboo, peekaboo,
I see you!
3. Two Little Dicky Birds
A finger play about things disappearing and coming back, which is the exact question a baby this age is working on. It also gives you two named characters to point at, so it stretches further than its four lines suggest.
The Actions
Hold up both index fingers as the birds. Flick one hand behind your back on each “fly away,” then bring it back on “come back.” Slow it right down; the reappearance is the joke.
Lyrics
Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall,
One named Peter, one named Paul.
Fly away, Peter! Fly away, Paul!
Come back, Peter! Come back, Paul!
4. Row, Row, Row Your Boat
The first song that lets a baby move with you rather than watch you. It suits the stage where they can sit propped but cannot go anywhere yet.
The Actions
Sit facing your baby, hold their hands, and rock gently forward and back in time. Once they can sit unaided, add the “if you see a crocodile” verse and tip them backwards on “scream,” which usually gets you asked for it again.
Lyrics
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
5. Where Is Thumbkin?
A naming song for fingers, sung to the Frère Jacques tune you already know. It gives an older baby something to copy that is smaller than a clap.
The Actions
Start with both hands behind your back. Bring out one thumb, then the other, and make them bob at each other for the “how are you” line. Hide them again on “run away,” and work through pointer, tall man, ring man, and pinkie.
Lyrics
Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am! Here I am!
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away. Run away.
20 Best Nursery Rhymes With Actions for Toddlers
These 20 are the ones worth learning first. They suit the stage where a child can stand, copy a hand shape, and hold a sequence of two or three moves in their head, roughly from the first birthday onward.
1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
The one everybody already knows, based on a 19th-century poem by Jane Taylor. The tune is slow enough to sing at half speed, which makes it the easiest one to use as a wind-down before sleep.
The Actions
Hold your hands up and open and close your fingers like flashing stars. When you sing “up above the world so high,” point to the sky. Make a diamond shape with your fingers for the diamond line.
Lyrics
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
A high-energy song that teaches body awareness. It works well in groups and gets children naming body parts while their hands are already on them.
The Actions
Use both hands to touch the body parts as you sing them. Start slow, then speed up with each verse to make it a fun challenge.
Lyrics
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes,
Knees and toes,
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes,
Knees and toes,
And eyes, and ears, and mouth, and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes,
Knees and toes.
3. Itsy Bitsy Spider
A four-line story with a setback and a recovery in it. Kids like the drama of the rain, and the climbing move is the best finger exercise on this list.
The Actions
Touch your thumb to the opposite index finger and climb them up for the spider. Wiggle your fingers down like falling rain. Sweep your arms out to make a big sun.
Lyrics
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout,
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
4. Are You Sleeping? (Frère Jacques)
Sung to the tune of Frère Jacques, this one works for quiet time or for waking a child gently. It is also the tune Where Is Thumbkin uses, so learning it once buys you two songs.
The Actions
Pretend to sleep with hands under your cheek. Then, mime pulling a bell rope when the “morning bells” ring.
Lyrics
Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John,
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing,
Ding, ding, dong! Ding, ding, dong!
5. The Wheels on the Bus
The workhorse of the toddler setlist for anyone who loves vehicles. The verse structure repeats, so a child can learn it fast, and you can invent new verses for as long as the car journey lasts.
The Actions
Roll your arms for the wheels. Swish your hands back and forth for wipers. Mime honking a horn. Move your hand like a mouth opening and closing for the doors.
Lyrics
The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round
Round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the townThe horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep…
The doors on the bus go open and shut…
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish…
The driver on the bus says, ‘move on back’…
The people on the bus go up and down…
The baby on the bus goes ‘waa waa waa’…
The Mommy on the bus says, ‘shh, shh, shh’…
The Daddy on the bus says I Love you…
6. Five Little Monkeys
Humor meets counting in this classic. Each verse takes one away, so children hear subtraction happen while they are laughing at it.
The Actions
Hold up five fingers. Bounce your hand up and down for “jumping.” Tap your head when a monkey falls. Wag your finger sternly for the doctor’s lines.
Lyrics
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
(Repeat counting down: four, three, two, one).
7. This Little Piggy
The bonding rhyme for a diaper change or the end of a bath. It ends in a tickle, so it also buys you thirty seconds of cooperation during the awkward part.
The Actions
Start with the big toe and wiggle each toe individually for each line. On the final “wee, wee, wee,” run your fingers up your child’s legs and tickle their tummy.
Lyrics
This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy cried, “Wee, wee, wee,” all the way home.
8. A Sailor Went to Sea
A clapping game that builds rhythm and coordination. It gets faster and more tangled as the verses stack up, which is most of the fun.
The Actions
Ideally, clap hands with a partner. If you are solo, salute for “sailor,” make waves with hands for “sea,” and tap your knees for “knee.”
Lyrics
A sailor went to sea sea sea
To see what she could see see see
But all that she could see see see
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea sea sea
(Repeat verses replacing “sea” with “chop” and “knee”).
9. Hickory Dickory Dock
An easy way in to numbers and clock faces. Because the number changes every verse but nothing else does, a toddler can join in on the counting long before they follow the rest.
The Actions
Swing your arm like a pendulum (tick-tock). Run your fingers up your arm like a mouse. Clap once for “one,” twice for “two,” and so on. Run fingers down when the mouse runs down.
Lyrics
Hickory dickory dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck 1.
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock.
(Repeat for 2, 3, and 4).
10. Sleeping Bunnies
A parent favorite, because it asks a child to lie still first and only then lets them go. That stop-and-start structure is self-regulation practice dressed up as a game.
The Actions
Curl up on the floor and pretend to sleep during the slow singing. When the tempo changes to “Wake up!”, jump up and hop around like a bunny.
Lyrics
See the little bunnies sleeping till it’s nearly noon.
Shall we wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still, are they ill?
Wake up, little bunnies!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop,
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop,
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop,
Wake up, little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
11. If You’re Happy and You Know It
The song that names an emotion and then hands the child something to do with it. That pairing is why it survives in nurseries everywhere, and why it works on a grumpy afternoon.
The Actions
Follow the lyrics: clap hands, stomp feet, shout “hooray,” or pat your head. The final verse combines all three movements.
Lyrics
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (Clap-clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (Clap-clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (Clap-clap)(Verses continue: stomp your feet, shout “Hooray!”, do all three).
12. I’m a Little Teapot
Short, stout, and hard to forget. The tipping move asks a child to shift their weight to one side on purpose, which is harder than it looks at two.
The Actions
Place one hand on your hip (handle) and stick the other arm out crooked (spout). Bend sideways to “pour” when you get steamed up.
Lyrics
I’m a little teapot, short and stout.
Here is my handle, here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout,
Tip me over, and pour me out!
13. Little Bunny Foo Foo
A mischievous story-song with a naughty bunny, a fairy, and a running count of warnings. Toddlers track the warnings closely, which makes it a surprisingly good song for talking about consequences afterwards.
The Actions
Make bunny ears with fingers. Make a “scooping” motion for picking up field mice. Wag a finger for the Good Fairy.
Lyrics
Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest,
Scooping up the field mice,
And bopping them on the head.Down came the Good Fairy, and she said,
“Little Bunny Foo Foo, I don’t want to see you,
Scooping up the field mice,
And bopping them on the head.
(The fairy gives chances until turning him into a goon).
14. Old MacDonald Had a Farm
An early childhood staple that pairs an animal name with its sound. Let your child pick the next animal and you have a song that runs as long as you need it to.
The Actions
There are no strict rules here, but acting out the animals is best. Flap wings for ducks, stomp for cows, or roll in mud for pigs.
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.
15. Open Shut Them
The best one on this list for teaching opposites: open and shut, big and small, fast and slow. The moves are small enough that even the youngest babies watch it through.
The Actions
Open hands wide, then close them tight into fists. For “creep them,” walk your fingers up your baby’s chest to their chin, but do not let your fingers go inside their mouth!
Lyrics
Open shut them, open shut them.
Give a little clap, clap, clap.
Open shut them, open shut them.
Put them in your lap, lap, lap.
(Verses continue: Big and small, Please/No Thank You, Fast/Slow, Peek-a-boo).
16. The Hokey Pokey
Known as the “Hokey Cokey” in the UK. It is the first song most children meet that asks for a specific side of the body, so it doubles as left-and-right practice.
The Actions
Stand in a circle. Put the specific limb (right foot, left hand, etc.) into the circle, shake it, and turn your whole body around.
Lyrics
You put your right foot in,
You put your right foot out,
You put your right foot in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey,
And you turn yourself around,
That’s what it’s all about!
(Repeat with left foot, right hand, left hand, head, whole self).
17. Pat-a-Cake
Usually the first clapping game a child meets, and the CDC lists playing games like pat-a-cake among the things most children do by their first birthday. If your toddler already claps along, that box is ticked.
The Actions
Clap hands together. Mimic “rolling” dough and “patting” it flat. Draw a letter “B” in the air (or your child’s initial).
Lyrics
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it and pat it and mark it with a “B,”
And put it in the oven for baby and me.
Top Learning Tip
Switch out the letter “B” for the first letter of your child’s name to personalize the rhyme.
18. Five Little Ducks
Slightly sad, since the ducks keep disappearing, but they all come back at the end. It counts down from five to zero, so it teaches subtraction and a small lesson about waiting.
The Actions
Hold up five fingers. Wiggle them away for “far away.” Make a quacking motion with your hand for Mother Duck. Show four fingers, then three, etc.
Lyrics
Five little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
But only four little ducks came back.
(Repeat counting down until “Sad mother duck” calls them all back).
19. Wind the Bobbin Up
A nursery staple in the UK and an easy one to use anywhere, because the second half asks a child to point at four real things in whatever room you are standing in.
The Actions
Roll hands over each other (winding). Pull hands apart (pull). Clap. Point to the specific objects in the room as they are named.
Lyrics
Wind the bobbin up,
Wind the bobbin up,
Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap.
Wind it back again,
Wind it back again,
Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap,
Point to the ceiling,
Point to the floor,
Point to the window,
Point to the door,
Clap your hands together, 1, 2, 3,
And place them gently upon your knee.
20. Ring Around the Rosie
You have probably heard that this rhyme is secretly about the plague. It is not, and you can stop repeating it at playgroup: the earliest known printing is Kate Greenaway’s Mother Goose in 1881, centuries after the outbreaks it supposedly describes, and folklorists treat the plague reading as a modern invention. What it actually is: the first group game most children play, holding hands with people they have only just met.
The Actions
Hold hands in a circle and walk around. On “ashes” (or a-tishoo), sneeze. On “all fall down,” collapse to the ground safely.
Lyrics
Ring a ring o’ roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.Cows in the meadow,
Eating buttercups,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all jump up.
15 Action Songs for Preschoolers
These 15 are longer, faster, and more demanding: real dance sequences, cumulative verses, and moves that stack up until the whole body is involved. They suit roughly 18 months to 5 years.
They also do useful work on a bad-weather day. Federal guidance asks adults caring for children aged 3 to 5 to encourage active play throughout the day, aiming for at least three hours across the day (3). Four of these back to back is ten minutes of it, indoors, with no equipment.
1. Shake Our Sillies Out
The reset button for a grumpy or wired child. It names the excess energy instead of arguing with it, then walks them down to a yawn by the last verse.
The Actions
Shake your whole body. Nod your head. Clap your hands. Jump up and down. Finally, stretch and yawn to calm down.
Lyrics
We’re going to shake, shake, shake our sillies out
Shake, shake, shake our sillies out
Shake, shake, shake our sillies out
Wibble our wobbles away.
(Repeat with: Nod our noddies out, Clap our crazies out, Jump our jiggles out, Yawn our sleepies out).
2. I Had a Little Turtle
Tiny Tim is a chaotic turtle, and preschoolers love him. The hand play is small and contained, so it works at bath time or in a circle without anyone needing floor space.
The Actions
Make a fist with the thumb sticking out (turtle). Wiggle the thumb. Make a “pop” sound by clapping hands together or popping a finger from your cheek.
Lyrics
I had a little turtle.
His name was Tiny Tim.
I put him in the bathtub,
to see if he could swim.
He ate up all the bubbles.
He drank up all the soap,
And now he’s home, sick in bed,
with bubbles in his throat.
Bubble, bubble, bubble… POP!
3. Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Another countdown song, and a rare one that slips in words like “speckled” and “delicious.” Preschoolers pick up both after two or three rounds without anyone explaining them.
The Actions
Crouch down like frogs or use five fingers on a log (your other arm). “Jump” one finger into the pool. Rub your tummy for “delicious.”
Lyrics
Five green and speckled frogs
sat on a speckled log
eating some most delicious bugs
(Yum yum!)
One jumped into the pool,
where it was nice and cool.
Now there are just
4 green speckled frogs.
(Repeat counting down).
4. Five Little Peas
The quiet one on this list. It builds tension slowly and releases it in a single clap, which makes it a good choice when you want engagement without a wound-up room.
The Actions
Clench a fist (the pod). Slowly unfurl fingers as the peas grow. Clap loudly on “POP.”
Lyrics
Five little peas in a pea-pod pressed,
One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest.
They grew, and they grew… and did not stop,
Until one day the pod went… POP!
5. Tooty-Ta
A cumulative dance song that adds one absurd position per verse and keeps every previous one. By the end you are standing in a ridiculous shape, which guarantees laughter and quietly trains working memory.
The Actions
Add one motion per verse and keep doing it: Thumbs up, elbows back, feet apart, knees together, bottoms up, tongue out, eyes shut, turn around.
Lyrics
A Tooty Ta, A Tooty Ta, A Tooty Ta Ta
Thumbs up!
(Repeat chorus adding: Elbows back, Feet apart, Knees together, Bottoms up, Tongue out, Eyes shut, Turn around).
6. Up and Down
A pop-style track built on one pair of opposites. It is good preparation for the longer group dances children meet at parties and in kindergarten.
The Actions
Reach high, crouch low, and shake your body. Follow the specific lyrics for each movement.
Lyrics
Put your hands up in the air
What’s up in the air?
(Chorus: Up up up up up, Down down down down down).
7. One Little Finger
The gentlest entry point for a two or three year old. It is slow, repetitive, and asks for one finger at a time rather than a whole-body move.
The Actions
Wiggle one finger. Point it up and down. Touch the specific body part mentioned (head, nose, chin, arm, leg, foot).
Lyrics
One little finger, one little finger, one little finger.
Tap tap tap.
Point your finger up.
Point your finger down.
Put it on your head. Head!
(Repeat for nose, chin, arm, leg, foot).
8. Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down
A seasonal song about weather and yard work. Sing it on the walk home in October and the raking verse turns into something they want to try for real.
The Actions
Wiggle fingers downward like falling rain/leaves. Mime raking with a big stick. Jump up and down for “jumping in the leaves.”
Lyrics
Autumn leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down.
Autumn leaves are falling down, red, gold, and brown.
We will rake them in a pile…
We are jumping in the leaves…
9. Super Simple Disco
Dance moves taught one at a time and then strung together. Children have to listen for the cue rather than copy you, which is harder and more useful than it sounds.
The Actions
Point fingers up and down. Roll hands (wheels). Point thumbs back. Finally, combine all moves into a sequence.
Lyrics
Hey everybody… Let’s dance!
Point up. Point down.
Roll your hands.
Point your thumbs back.
(Sequence combines all moves).
10. Me!
A self-affirmation song that works down the body from face to toes. Useful when a child is learning to name parts of themselves rather than point at yours.
The Actions
Point to the body parts as you sing them. Jump, wiggle, and point during the chorus.
Lyrics
This is my head. These are my eyes.
This is my nose. These are my ears.
(Chorus: Sing along with me, Jump along with me).
(Continues to neck, chest, stomach, legs, knees, feet).
11. The Jellyfish
Cumulative like Tooty-Ta, but with an ocean theme and a call-and-response opening. Good for a group, since everyone has to wait for the line before copying it.
The Actions
Start with arms up. Stick wrists together. Glue elbows together. Knock knees together. Wiggle like a jellyfish.
Lyrics
Repeat after me.
Arms up.
Wrists together.
The jellyfish, the jellyfish, the jellyfish, the jellyfish.
(Add: Elbows together, Knees together, Feet together, Head back).
12. Brain Break
Written for teachers who need to break up a long sitting stretch. It runs about a minute, which is short enough to use between two quiet activities without derailing them.
The Actions
Clap, stretch high, touch toes, run in place, march, and wave hands.
Lyrics
Clap! Clap!
Now it’s time for a brain break.
Stretch up high! Reach for the sky!
Bend down low! Touch your toes!
Run! Run!
March! March!
13. The Goldfish (Let’s Go Swimming)
A Laurie Berkner Band song with a running joke: the fish keep doing human things, then catch themselves. Children love spotting the mistake before the “wait a minute” line lands.
The Actions
Make swimming motions. Pretend to sleep. Pretend to shower, ride a bike, and brush teeth. Then wag a finger and say, “Wait a minute!”
Lyrics
Let’s go swimming. Let’s go swimming.
Yeah, let’s go swimming. Let’s go swimming.
Let’s go swimming in the bottom of the ocean.
(Verses: Taking a shower, Riding bicycles, Brushing teeth).
14. Get Yo Body Movin’
A hip-hop track for the child who has decided nursery rhymes are for babies. The moves are the same skills as everything above, dressed differently.
The Actions
Dip down low. Push arms forward. Bounce knees. Pull arms back.
Lyrics
Get get yo body body mo mo moving
Everybody here let me see you dip
Let me see you push it
Let me see you bounce
Let me see you pull it.
15. Jiggle Your Scarf
A sensory song that gives small hands something to hold. No dance scarf? A napkin, a tissue, or a dish towel works exactly as well.
The Actions
Shake the scarf. Turn around. Touch the ground. Freeze when the music stops.
Lyrics
Jiggle your scarf
Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle
Jiggle and turn around
Jiggle and touch the ground
Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle, and FREEZE!
Tips for Singing Nursery Rhymes
You do not need a good voice for any of this. Your child likes your voice because it is yours, and the actions carry the song anyway. A few things make the difference between a rhyme that lands and one that gets ignored:
- Slow down and leave a gap: Pause right before the tickle, the pop, or the fall. The wait is what children find funny, and the gap is also where they get their chance to join in. Racing to the end skips the best part.
- Sing it far more times than feels reasonable: Toddlers want the same song because they are still mastering it. The tenth round is the one where they finally do the action on cue, and they cannot get there on a fresh song every time.
- Attach songs to moments: One song for tidying up, one for the car seat, one for the last five minutes before bed. The song becomes the signal, which cuts the arguing more than any explanation does.
- Get down to eye level: Sit on the floor and face them. They are copying your hands, so your hands have to be in their line of sight, not above their head.
- Hand over the props: A scarf, a wooden spoon, a puppet, or a soft toy revives an action song that has gone stale. Let the toy do the moves for a round and watch the interest come back.
- Follow their lead when they change it: If your child invents a new verse or a wrong action, use theirs. A child who is directing the song is doing more language work than one who is copying it correctly.
FAQs
In Conclusion
You do not need all 40 of these. Pick three: one lap rhyme for the changing table, one hand rhyme for the car, and one big-movement song for the late-afternoon slump. Sing those three until you are sick of them, then add a fourth. That is how a setlist gets built, and it is a lot easier than remembering the lyrics to everything at once.
