[Sticks]

The lyrics were used as a defiant dig at the allegedly ineffectual Luftwaffe. On 13 November 1939, soon after the outbreak of the Second World War and also soon after the song was premiered, Germany launched its first air raid on Britain, on flying boats that were sheltering in Sullom Voe, Shetland. Two rabbits were supposedly killed by a bomb drop, although it is suggested that they were in fact procured from a butchers' shop and used for publicity purposes.

Until recently, the song was a popular nursery rhyme still sung by children in many parts of Britain, although its popularity has declined substantially over the past few decades.

The song later influenced one by the popular band Pink Floyd. The first track on the album Dark Side of the Moon, "Speak to Me/Breathe", included the lyrics "Run, rabbit. Run." The same lyrics are also included in Bankrobber by The Clash.

* Walter H. Thompson's tv biography "I Was Churchill's Bodyguard" rates the song as Winston Churchill's favorite as Prime Minister.