Lyr Req: Little White Duck (Burl Ives)

Subject: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From:
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 03:58 AM

Looking for the absolute lyrics for this song, which begins: There's a little white duck, swimmin in the water, a little white duck, doin what he oughter: he swam right past the lily pad, he swam right past and he said I'm Glad i'm a little white duck, swimmin in the water: quack, quack, quack. ...and so it goes with a frog (ribit) and a snake - but i can't remember what the snake says/does - seems to me something ambiguous happens with the snake to suggest the demise of the duck & frog.

anybody out there into burl ives? it was one of his standards...

thanks interplanetjanet

Subject: RE: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From: Gene Graham
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 09:04 PM

The Great Burl Ives - what a story teller and actor.

THE LITTLE WHITE DUCK - Recorded by Burl Ives - Written by Walt Barrows and Bernard Zaritzky

There's a little WHITE DUCK - sitting in the water/ A little WHITE DUCK - doing what he oughter/ He took a bite of a lily pad; flapped his wings and he said;/ "I'm glad - I'm a little WHITE DUCK - sitting in the water/ Quack (quack) quack (quack) quack (quack) (quack)."

There's a little GREEN FROG - swimming in the water/ A little GREEN FROG - doing what he oughter/ He jumped right off of the lily pad/ That the little DUCK bit, and he said;/ "I'm glad - I'm a little GREEN FROG - swimming in the water/ Glump (glump) glump (glump) glump (glump) (glump)."

There's a little BLACK BUG - floating on the water/ A little BLACK BUG - doing what he oughter/ He tickled the FROG on the lily pad/ That the little WHITE DUCK bit and he said;/ "I'm glad - I'm a little BLACK BUG floating on the water/ Chirp (chirp) chirp (chirp) chirp (chirp) (chirp)."

There's a little RED SNAKE - laying in the water/ A little RED SNAKE - doing what he oughter/ He frightened the DUCK and the FROG so bad/ He ate the little BUG and he said;/ "I'm glad - I'm a little RED SNAKE laying in the water/ Wriggle (swish) Wriggle (swish) Wriggle (swish) (swish)."

Now there's nobody left - sitting in the water/ Nobody left - doing what he oughter/ There's nothing left but the lily pad/ The DUCK and the FROG ran away;/ I'm sad - 'cause there's nobody left sitting in the water/ Blue (oooh) blue (oooh) blue (oooh) (oooh).

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LITTLE WHITE DUCK (from Burl Ives)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 10:05 PM

Aw, darn! I just finished typing it offline. Well, here's the version from "Rise Up Singing." It's just a tad different:

THE LITTLE WHITE DUCK
words: Bernard Zaritzky
Music: Walt Barrows
Copyright, 1950, Calgems-EMI Music

There's a little white duck
Sitting in the water
A little white duck
Doing what he oughter
He took a bite of a lily pad
Flapped his wings and he said,
"I'm glad I'm a little white duck
Sitting in the water"
Quack! Quack! Quack!

There's a little green frog
Swimming in the water
A little green frog
Doing what he oughter
He jumped right off the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said,
"I'm glad I'm a little green frog
Swimming in the water"
Glug! Glug! Glug!

There's a little black bug
Floating on the water
A little black bug
Doing what he oughter
He tickled the frog on the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said,
"I'm glad I'm a little black bug
Floating on the water"
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

There's a little black snake
Playing in the water
A little black snake
Doing what he oughter
He frightened the duck and the frog so bad
He ate the bug and he said,
"I'm glad I'm a little black snake
Playing in the water"
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Now there's nobody left
Sitting in the water
Nobody left
Doing what he oughter
There's nothing left but the lily pad
The duck and the frog ran away -
I'm sad 'cause there's nobody left
Sitting in the water"
Boo! Hoo! Hoo!

Subject: RE: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From: Gene Graham
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 01:18 AM

Hi Joe..well, I'm glad you posted...your last verse with BOO HOO HOO is what Burl sings on the record...I just didn't pay close enough attention to my scribbling and typing...however, Burl's version does have the sound effects, Quack/Glump/Chirp/Wriggle (NOISES in the parenthesis)...

Two heads are better than one!

Subject: RE: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From: rich r
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 03:55 PM

Now if you really want to impress your friends, the following instructions are from the book, "Eye Winker, Tom Tinker, Chin Chopper: Fifty Musical Fingerplays" by Tom Glazer (yes, the same Tom Glazer that was a folk singing contemnporary of Burl Ives) 1973. Doubleday.

v. 1: Fold hands and place in front. On "he took a bite" remove one hand and quickly close fingers against thumb. Cross thumbs and wiggle hands (flapping wings).

v. 2: Make swim-motion with one hand up and down. Throw same hand out suddenly, then back to swimming motion.

v. 3: Wave pinky, then tickle motion with forefinger, then wave pinky again.

v. 4: Extend and undulate one arm. Make "eating" motion with fingers and thumb of same hand, then back to first motion.

v. 5: Shrug, while both arms are out, palms up, and look sad.

rich r

Subject: RE: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From: Susan of DT
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 05:52 PM

Worse yet - picture a group of four-year-old ballerinas dancing this. On our knees, flapping our arms. I did not fall in love with ballet.

Subject: RE: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From: Gene Graham
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 06:22 PM

Hello again Joe...I got to thinking about your remark about where you got the lyrics....and that makes me feel awful!...AND it just occurred to me... I have the 1992 RISE UP SINGING book and and "SHORE 'NUFF"...The Little White Duck is listed on page 173.....Oh, well, Burl Ives' record was just an arm's length away..so I grabbed for it first..

Subject: Little white duck, little green frog
From: Jean
Date: 13 Aug 98 - 12:07 AM

Looking for lyrics to a song the with verses above, and possibly more verses.....I think it was sung by Burl Ives. "There's a little white duck, sittin' in the water..." etc. Hope somebody can help. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Little white duck, little green frog
From: alison
Date: 13 Aug 98 - 03:52 AM

Hi

Try http://www.kididdles.com/, it's a great site for kids songs.

From memory, (this was actually on "Play School" here this morning but I wasn't paying much attention.

There's a little white duck swimming in the water
A little white duck doing what he oughta
He took a (?bite?) of a lily pad
?(smiled to himself) and he said I'm glad that I'm a
Little white duck..........

There's a little green frog....... (basically the same)

Slainte

Alison

Subject: RE: Little white duck, little green frog
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Aug 98 - 04:06 AM

Kididdles is indeed a great site, but they've deleted a number of songs due to copyright fears. We have them right here at Mudcat, of course....
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Little white duck, little green frog
From: Barbara
Date: 13 Aug 98 - 04:14 AM

If you can wait till later today, I can look it up in my daughter's Raffi book.
Alison's got the gist of it.
Each verse builds on the previous, and has a sound:

There's a little white duck, floating in the water
There's a little white duck, doing what he oughter
He took a bite of a lily pad,
and he shook his wings and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little white duck, floating in the water,
Quack, quack, quack.

There's a little green frog, swimming in the water
There's a little green frog doing what he oughter
He jumped right off of the lily pad
that the little duck bit and he said, I'm glad
I'm a little green frog, Swimming in the water,
Glunk, glunk glunk.

And then there's a little black bug that buzzes, and finally a little red snake that hisses, eats the bug and scares everyone else away, and
There's nobody left,....
scared the frog and the duck so bad and he ate the bug... I'm sad that there's nobody left....boo, hoo hoo.
If no one else posts, I put it in tomorrow.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Burl Ives: A Little White Duck
From: Jean
Date: 13 Aug 98 - 01:08 PM

Many, many thanks to all!!