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LARRY THE POLAR BEAR
(Fred Small)

In nineteen thirty-two at a zoo in Los Angeles,
A polar bear named Larry performed for the crowd.
They'd cheer aloud.
He'd go slipping and sliding, jumping and diving.
The people would laugh. They took his photograph.
Larry was born at the zoo.
He never knew, as he grew older,
Anything colder
Than Los Angeles,
Which is warmer than Alaska,
Where Larry's parents were born.

CHORUS: Larry the polar bear,
He'd never harm a hair on a child's head.
He'd do tricks for them
At the Los Angeles zoo,
As he'd been taught to by his keeper Fran.

Fran would teach him new tricks:
A funny pose,
Scratching his nose.
He knew there'd be a fish at the end.
Fran was his friend.

One day she said, "Larry, you'll be in the movies,
With real movie stars and a few simple tricks,
And lots of fish,
To be filmed on location in Alaska."

And so they rehearsed for Larry's big scene:
He's supposed to be mean
And growl at a woman who was rescued by a man who scared him away.
It was stupid,
But fun to do.
The director would frown,
And jump up and down,
Kind of like the chimps at the zoo.

CHORUS

At last came the day of the trip.
They put Larry in a crate,
Twelve foot by eight,
And he sailed aboard a steamship.
The journey was long
And boring.
Fran would visit.
She'd talk to him
And bring him his favorite fish.
Then the noise and the rumbling stopped,
And they lowered him down,
Set the crate on the frozen ground,
And opened it

Fran said, "Larry, we're here.
It's time for your tricks."
And Larry appeared.

He looked out at the gray Bering Sea.
He squinted and puzzled,
Put his nose to the wind,
And the scent of the seal made him tremble.
He smelled the fox in its lair,
And the weasel and hare,
Felt lichen and snow 'neath his paws,
And he looked at the tundra and ice,
Looked at the loon in the sky and he ran.

Slowly at first,
Kind of lumbering.
He ran,
Gathering speed,
Gathering memories from within,
Old and dim,
Growing stronger,
To run and to swim,
To dive and to float,
The cold at his throat,
But warm inside,
'Neath the fur and hide,
Ocean and ice all around him.
He ran.
He ran.
He ran.
And he swam away.

[As sung by Fred Small on "Heart of the Appaloosa," Rounder CD 4014, 1991.]