The first appearance as written reference to this song was in the Kutsukoburi no Uta (a suite of waka with acrostic technique) in which the syllables of Ametsuchi no Uta were quoted, picked up in a Shikashu (a private poetry collection) "MINAMOTO no Shitago's Poetry Book"(established during the middle to end of Heian period) written by MINAMOTO no Shitago (911-983).
文献上の初出は源順（みなもとのしたごう。911生-983没）の私家集である『源順集』（平安中後期成立）所収の沓冠（くつこうぶり）歌。