Sing along
Lyrics
(Hey!)
(Are you ready?)
(Let us spin!)
Oh look at me a happy little spinning top
(Hey!)
I dance around so quickly and I never stop
I am a wooden dreidel brand new through and through
Just spin me all around I'll give a twist for you
(Go!)
(Spin!) Dreidel dreidel dreidel love to whirl and spin
(Whirl!)
The house is bright and glowing let the fun begin
And every night is brighter a warm and cheerful glow
For everyone who watches my letters as I go
(Yeah!)
Oh dreidel dreidel dreidel house is spinning round
(Ho!)
We're following your footsteps dancing on the ground
Bring joy to all the children sliding on the floor
And like the Earth be spinning forever more and more
(Spin!) Dreidel dreidel dreidel love to whirl and spin
(Whirl!)
The house is bright and glowing let the fun begin
And every night is brighter a warm and cheerful glow
For everyone who watches my letters as I go
(Clap your hands!)
Nun! Gimmel! Hey and Shin!
(Spin it!)
Watch it turn around and see who's gonna win
(Hooray!)
Hanukkah is shining beautiful and bright
Let us all be dancing deep into the night
(Are you ready?)
(Let us go!)
(Spin!) Dreidel dreidel dreidel love to whirl and spin
(Whirl!)
The house is bright and glowing let the fun begin
And every night is brighter a warm and cheerful glow
For everyone who watches my letters as I go
(Happy Hanukkah!)
Spin spin spin all through the day
(Woo!)
Holiday is here to stay
Happy Hanukkah
(Yeah!)
(whispered)
Happy Hanukkah
Behind the song
The song’s story
Four letters on a spinning top
A dreidel brings a game to the Hanukkah table. The letters named in this song (nun, gimel, hey and shin) are familiar from diaspora tops. Israeli versions commonly replace shin with peh. The small object carries both play and a way of remembering the festival.
NLI holiday collection
A tradition becomes a new song
Walter J. Kin wrote the music and English words of this Dreidel. It is not the separate song I Have a Little Dreidel. A shared holiday object can inspire many compositions; recognizing the tradition does not make their lyrics or authors interchangeable.
Our recording & notes
The invitation is to join in
The spinning, repeated calls and easy movement give children a way into the celebration. Our song is a new piece of that living holiday repertoire, made for singing together rather than for explaining every historical theory about the game.
Our recording & notes
About this recording
Walter J. Kin’s original song lets the dreidel introduce itself. The wooden spinning top dances, calls out to the room and invites children to follow its movement.
Spoken interjections, clapping prompts and the names of the letters make the recording participatory. The published lyric keeps those calls, the repeated refrains and the whispered Happy Hanukkah ending.
Why we consider this song Jewish or Jewish-themed
We consider it Jewish holiday repertoire because Hanukkah, the dreidel and its named letters are the center of the song, not decorative references.
For us, a child joining a game, a movement and a refrain is also joining a tradition. This is an original English song about that experience, not presented as a translation of an older dreidel song.
Credits & source
- Music, lyrics and production
- Walter J. Kin (RIGLI)
- Performance
- Riglis Band
From our YouTube description
