Top 10 Fingerplay Songs to Develop Fine Motor Skills An instrument of torture for compressing the thumb a thumbscrew. “Frère Jacques” (/ˌfrɛərə ˈʒɑːkə/), also known in English as “Brother John”, is a nursery rhyme of French origin. The song is set to the tune of the popular French nursery rhyme “Frere Jacques” or its English version “Are you sleeping, Brother John”.
The song was popularized by Barney from the PBS series Barney & Friends.