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Animal Songs

In Mudcat MIDIs:
The Beastiary (Bestiary)
Johnny Doolan's Cat (Johnny Dolan's Cat)
SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)


JenEllen 21 Dec 99 - 07:05 PM
McGrath of Harlow 21 Dec 99 - 08:13 PM
Roger in Baltimore 21 Dec 99 - 11:14 PM
MK 21 Dec 99 - 11:32 PM
_gargoyle 22 Dec 99 - 03:12 AM
JenEllen 22 Dec 99 - 02:38 PM
MMario 22 Dec 99 - 02:52 PM
dick greenhaus 22 Dec 99 - 03:49 PM
Susanne (skw) 22 Dec 99 - 04:48 PM
MMario 22 Dec 99 - 04:53 PM
Jenny 22 Dec 99 - 05:11 PM
Jeri 22 Dec 99 - 05:22 PM
Jeri 22 Dec 99 - 05:36 PM
emily rain 22 Dec 99 - 07:11 PM
_gargoyle 22 Dec 99 - 07:39 PM
Mary in Kentucky 22 Dec 99 - 08:04 PM
Barry Finn 22 Dec 99 - 08:51 PM
T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird) 22 Dec 99 - 11:22 PM
paddymac 22 Dec 99 - 11:34 PM
frank m. 22 Dec 99 - 11:41 PM
Jon Freeman 22 Dec 99 - 11:57 PM
JamesJimFolk 22 Dec 99 - 11:57 PM
_gargoyle 23 Dec 99 - 12:50 AM
Liz the Squeak 23 Dec 99 - 02:42 AM
MudGuard 23 Dec 99 - 02:54 AM
Liz the Squeak 23 Dec 99 - 08:32 AM
Wincing Devil 23 Dec 99 - 09:43 AM
Okiemockbird 23 Dec 99 - 09:52 AM
Okiemockbird 23 Dec 99 - 10:12 AM
Midchuck 23 Dec 99 - 10:17 AM
margaret 23 Dec 99 - 10:24 AM
Blackcat2 23 Dec 99 - 11:17 AM
JenEllen 23 Dec 99 - 03:37 PM
MudGuard 26 Dec 99 - 02:15 PM
Hoolet 26 Dec 99 - 02:42 PM
Marymac90 26 Dec 99 - 06:15 PM
bseed(charleskratz) 27 Dec 99 - 04:34 AM
bseed(charleskratz) 27 Dec 99 - 04:48 AM
dwditty 27 Dec 99 - 11:36 AM
Blackcat2 27 Dec 99 - 11:40 AM
Wordwitch 27 Dec 99 - 01:13 PM
JenEllen 27 Dec 99 - 02:50 PM
McGrath of Harlow 27 Dec 99 - 02:57 PM
BK 27 Dec 99 - 04:53 PM
BK 27 Dec 99 - 05:09 PM
Tim Salt 27 Dec 99 - 05:30 PM
T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird) 29 Dec 99 - 09:32 AM
JenEllen 29 Dec 99 - 08:32 PM
Susan A-R 29 Dec 99 - 10:33 PM
Victoria 29 Dec 99 - 10:37 PM
JenEllen 30 Dec 99 - 01:43 AM
Susan A-R 30 Dec 99 - 09:46 PM
kendall 21 Feb 00 - 06:27 PM
Osmium 21 Feb 00 - 06:39 PM
Osmium 21 Feb 00 - 07:05 PM
Molly Malone 22 Feb 00 - 12:15 PM
Bert 22 Feb 00 - 12:51 PM
GUEST 22 Feb 00 - 01:31 PM
Amos 22 Feb 00 - 01:56 PM
Gypsy 22 Feb 00 - 06:34 PM
JenEllen 22 Feb 00 - 06:38 PM
Osmium 22 Feb 00 - 07:11 PM
GutBucketeer 23 Feb 00 - 12:01 AM
Joe Offer 05 Sep 04 - 12:51 AM
GUEST,Observer 05 Sep 04 - 04:04 PM
GUEST,.gargoyle 05 Sep 04 - 07:16 PM
Joe Offer 06 Sep 04 - 06:47 PM
GUEST,Murkey 06 Sep 04 - 07:02 PM
Jen M 06 Sep 04 - 08:44 PM
GUEST,.gargoyle 07 Sep 04 - 12:43 AM
Jen M 07 Sep 04 - 07:01 AM
rumanci 07 Sep 04 - 10:57 AM
Muttley 21 Apr 07 - 11:34 AM
Muttley 21 Apr 07 - 11:42 AM
GUEST,Jennifer 22 Jun 07 - 12:53 PM
Rog Peek 22 Jun 07 - 01:35 PM
Debbie in Utah 22 Jun 07 - 07:59 PM
Joe_F 22 Jun 07 - 08:53 PM
LeTenebreux 14 Jan 08 - 09:37 AM
GUEST,Bill Ladmer 24 Aug 08 - 10:43 PM
Jim Carroll 25 Aug 08 - 02:54 AM
VirginiaTam 25 Aug 08 - 03:21 AM
GUEST 25 Aug 08 - 04:50 AM
GUEST,greg 19 Nov 08 - 08:19 PM
maple_leaf_boy 19 Nov 08 - 09:02 PM
GUEST 04 Jan 09 - 12:30 AM
SPB-Cooperator 04 Jan 09 - 03:50 AM
GUEST,koko 28 Aug 10 - 11:45 AM
GUEST,koko 28 Aug 10 - 11:48 AM
MorwenEdhelwen1 27 May 11 - 01:06 AM
wysiwyg 04 Mar 16 - 07:50 PM
CupOfTea 05 Mar 16 - 06:20 PM
keberoxu 06 Mar 16 - 03:08 PM
keberoxu 09 Mar 16 - 05:03 PM
keberoxu 13 Jun 17 - 01:42 PM
keberoxu 13 Jun 17 - 04:59 PM
Joe_F 13 Jun 17 - 06:01 PM
GUEST,LynnH 14 Jun 17 - 01:33 PM
Senoufou 14 Jun 17 - 01:46 PM
keberoxu 19 Jun 17 - 12:47 PM
eftifino 20 Jun 17 - 09:11 AM
keberoxu 16 Apr 20 - 01:02 PM
Jim Dixon 20 May 21 - 01:40 PM
Jim Dixon 21 May 21 - 05:17 PM
Jim Dixon 26 May 21 - 06:20 PM
Jim Dixon 29 May 21 - 07:17 PM
Jim Dixon 30 May 21 - 06:13 PM
Jim Dixon 30 May 21 - 10:51 PM
John MacKenzie 31 May 21 - 07:03 AM
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Subject: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 21 Dec 99 - 07:05 PM

Planning a benefit concert for our local Humane Society. Looking for good animal songs. They don't have to be squeaky clean ;) Jen

[Some song titles in this thread have been converted to links by a Mudelf.]


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Dec 99 - 08:13 PM

Well if you go to the DT Lyrics search thingy at the top of the page, and click search buy keywords, there are 260 songs listed under animal. That's probably rather more than you want. But you can search by individual animals.

Cats, sharks, dogs...

I'd sing The Cat Came Back or The Body in the Bag if I had just one song to sing.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 21 Dec 99 - 11:14 PM

Oh, definitely the cat came back. The Humane Society will understand.

Roger in Baltimore


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MK
Date: 21 Dec 99 - 11:32 PM

Black Bird


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Subject: Lyr Add: BESTIARY (from Burl Ives)
From: _gargoyle
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 03:12 AM

It is very hard to imagine that this one is not in the DT...searched but could not find this old classic.

The Bestiary
Key of D
2/4 time

/D/Alliator, Hedgehog, /G?/Anteater, /D/Bear
/A7/Rattlesnake, /D/Buffalo, /E7/Anaconda, /A/Hare.
/D/Bullfrog, Woodchuck, /G/Wolverine, /D/Goose
/A7/Whip-poor-will, /D/Chipmunk, /E7/Jackal /A7/Moose,/D/

Mud-turtle, Whale, Glow-worm, Bat
Salamander, Snail, Maltese cat
Black squirrel, Raccoon, Opossum, Wren.
Red Squirrel, Loon, South Guinea hen.

Polecat, dog, wild otter, rat,
Pelican, hog, dodo, bat,
Eagle, kangaroo, sheep, duck, widgeon,
Conger, armadillo, beaver, seal, pigeon.

Reindeer, blacksnake, ibis, nightingale,
Martin, wild drake, crocodile, quail.
House-rat, touse-rat, white bear, doe,
Chickadee, peacock, bobolink, crow.

This is a REAL doozy to memorize, (harder than "I've Been Everywhere") but it is WELL worth it.

Perfect for a family setting where the performer and audience are comfortable with each other...Because of the simple rhyme scheme the audience begins to anticipate the ending of the couplet....and can be encouraged to shout out (after the first two examples) what they perceive to be the matching word....the singer nods approval or corrects.

This one is a great deal of fun...perfect for your animal shelter setting.

What is your production date?


Click to play


Bestiary is from "Song in America -Our Musical Heritage" Burl Ives, Arrangement by Albert Hague, New York 1962 p 52.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 02:38 PM

Loved the ideas...where can I find the Cat Came Back? Gargoyle's Beastiary is going to be a "must sing". In response, the concert is planned for March third. We've got a local guy up here that does folk radio, and is like a human jukebox, should be a fine night to howl!


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MMario
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 02:52 PM

Garg? you have a tune for that?


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 03:49 PM

The Cat Came Back is in DigiTrad.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 04:48 PM

What about 'Dead Puppies (aren't much fun)'? Or even 'Billy the Squid' on which there is a hilarious thread hidden away in the Mudcat archives (c. last summer). :-) - Susanne


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MMario
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 04:53 PM

Billy the Squid


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jenny
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 05:11 PM

Forgot about Dead Puppies...Kind of along the same lines as "The cat got dead", another gem.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 05:22 PM

Here's BODY IN THE BAG. I've heard this sung a few times, but still can't remember the whole tune. Also, in the fourth verse, where it says: "But do you want a room?"'
I've heard it sung "But do you parlez-vous?"

TONGUE TWISTER
I wish there was a tune for THE NEIGHBOUR'S CAT
And this one is far from squeaky-clean, but it's very funny: DOGS MEETING - an explanation of why dogs smell each other's butts.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 05:36 PM

Ack - and there's one that'll leave the rolling on the floor if you can find the lyrics. It's called "Don't Pet The Dog," by John Robert Hadley. I seem to recall a discussion on it in here, but I don't recall the name of the thread. Maybe somebody else can help. It's on this tape, which looks interesting. There's a sound (wav) file here


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: emily rain
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 07:11 PM

how about the newer, all animal version of mole in the ground?

do you know "I'm Proud to Be a Moose" by someone who's name i never learned?

then there's LITTLE BROWN DOG

and the peter paul and mary version thereof: AUTUMN TO MAY


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Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY DOOLAN'S CAT (from Burl Ives)
From: _gargoyle
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 07:39 PM

Another fun one - also not able to find it in the DT....

JOHNNY DOOLAN'S CAT
As recorded by Burl Ives

You may have seen some wonders
But we'll bet our Sunday hat
You haven't seen as big a one
As Johnny Doolan's Cat.

You needn't contradict us.
If you do, you'll get us vexed,
For we know there's not an equal
In this world or in the next.

They say a cat has seven lives,
But this has many more;
Unto our certain knowledge,
It's already had a score.

They've often tried to drown it
Or to kill it with a knife
But all in vain, for Doolan's cat
Will not depart this life.

And it's still alive and prowling (meow)
Still alive and howling (Meow)
Still alive and growling (MEOW)
Is Johnny Doolan's Cat.

I will work out the tunes to both of these.


Johnny Doolan's Cat is from "Something to Sing About - The Personal Choices of America's Folk Singers" collected and arranged by Milton Okun, Choice of Burl Ives, The Macmillan Company, London, 1968, p40.


Click to play


Version in DT (click)
Sheet music exists for:
JOHNNY DOOLAN’S CAT
Words by George Horncastle, music by John Cooke.
Published in London by Francis, Day & Hunter, 1890.
“Sung by Rhodes & Conley.”
First line: “You may have seen some wonders”


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Subject: Lyr Add: MIDNIGHT RUN
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 08:04 PM

Only us Yorkie lovers understand this one...To the tune of Jingle Bells.

Stomping thru the snow,
Just me and my Yorkie.
Over the fields we go,
Just so she will pee.

Darkness all around,
We know she won't obey.
Her nose is anchored to the ground
Sniffing all the way. Hey!

Midnight Run
Where's the sun?
Can't we make this quick?
When I think we're almost done
She finds something to lick. Ick!

Midnight Run
Ain't this fun?
The snow is glistening bright.
When she turns around and looks at me
Her beard is full of white.

I can't suppress a yawn
When she finally picks a spot.
On my neighbor's lawn
She turns and takes a squat.

She's not quite done it's clear,
Impatience makes me sigh
When I see my Yorkie disappear
in a snow drift two feet high.


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Subject: Lyr Add: CONGO RIVER / THE MONKEY'S WEDDING
From: Barry Finn
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 08:51 PM

Here's a beast of a shanty, from the Carribean, it's in the DT (Congo River 2), these are extra verses. Also known as the Monkey's Wedding. Barry

Who do you think do the music form them
Calliali (sp?) Band with a drumfish playing

Butterfish get up to sneak a piece
Baboon say leave me cake alone

Who do you think do the cermonony
Blackfish King do the cermonony

Who do you think do the music form them
Calliali (sp?) Band with a drumfish playing

Butterfish get up to sneak a piece
Babboon say leave me cake alone

Monkey get up to share some rice
Babboon say leave me rice alone

Where do you think go for holiday
Out on a raft in Montego Bay

What do you think that they do on the water
Monkey & Babboon fight till the slaughter

What do you think they had for supper
Blackfish tail & a dip of the scupper


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Subject: Lyr Add: SING SAID THE MOTHER (from Cecil Sharp)
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 11:22 PM

This one isn't in the DT

Sing, said the mother
Source: Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil J. Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1917.

1. Over in the meadows in the nest in the tree
Lived an old mother birdy and her little birdies three.
Sing, said the mother; we sing, said the three.
So they sang and were glad in the nest in the tree.

2. Over in the meadows in the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother toady and her little toady one.
Hop, said the mother; we hop, said the one.
So they hopped and were glad in the sand in the sun.

3. Over in the meadows in a sly little den
Lived an old mother spider and her little spiders ten.
Spin, said the mother; we spin, said the ten.
So they spun and caught flies in their sly little den.

I have a recording of this with ten verses, but these three are the only ones I can provide provenance information for.

T.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: paddymac
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 11:34 PM

Don't overlook the cat fart thread, wherein resides a marvelous little ditty of the same name. [The Cat Farts Serenade] Maybe it's most funny to cat lovers. Cats and I seem to have a mutual toleration pact, but I still think the song is hilarious.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: frank m.
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 11:41 PM

don't forget "four wet pigs"


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Subject: Lyr Add: OVER IN THE MEADOW
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 11:57 PM

I have these words for Over in the Meadow from the Faber Book of Nursery Verse.

Over in the meadow in the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother turtle and her little turtle one
Dig said the mother We dig said the one
So they dug all day in the sand in the sun

2: where the stream runs blue / fish/fishes/swim/swam

3: in a hole in a tree /owl owls / Tu-hoo/ Tu-hooed

4: by the old barn door/ rat/little ratties/ gnaw/gnawed.

5: in a snug behive/ bee/bees/ buzz/ buzzed.

6: in a nest built of sticks/ crow/crows/caw/cawed

7: the gras grows so even/ frog/froggies/ jump/ jumped

8: by the old mossy gate/lizard/lizards/bask/basked

9: by the old scotch pine/duck/ducks/quack/quacked

10: in a cosy we den/beaver/beavers/beave/beaved

Jon

PS No Unicorns yet?


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JamesJimFolk
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 11:57 PM

"All God's Critters got a place in the choir," by Bill Staines -

Chorus "All God's Critters got a place in the Choir,
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands or feet, or anything they got, now.

I'm sure it's on a folk website somewhere, but can get you the verses, if you like.

Jim


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: _gargoyle
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 12:50 AM

Thanks Mr. Freeman,

The lyrics were buried in a section of four-year-old's-memory-recesses of my brain...

The tune and lyrics have tumbled out refreshed after all these years.

THANX....

When I find the midi cord (tomorrow?) the three tune can be added.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 02:42 AM

How about some hymns?

Gladly, my cross-eyed bear

or Just as I am, without one flea......

I learnt this one from my father, the only clean song he ever taught me....

THE TALE OF A GUINEA PIG

How can you tell if a guinea pig is pleased if he hasn't got a tail to wag?
All other animals you will find, have got a little tail stuck on behind.
If they'd only put a tail on a guinea pig, and finished off a decent job,
The price of the animal would then go up, from a guinea up to 30 bob.

(guinea = £1 and 1 shilling, pre-decimal coinage, so they tell me. Bob is an abbreviation for a shilling.) Can't write the tune, but it goes well as a monologue.

LTS


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MudGuard
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 02:54 AM

There is the funny Bodhran Song which is about a goat. It did not yet find its way into the database but can be found here:
The Bodhran Song
MudGuard


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 08:32 AM

From what I remember of it, it isn't particularly funny for the goat, remember what bodhrans are made of>>>>!

LTS


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE GNU SONG^^
From: Wincing Devil
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 09:43 AM

Flanders And Swann did a whole series of amimal songs. My Favorite is "I'm a GNU!"

A year ago last thursday, I was strolling in the zoo
When I met a man who thought he knew the lot
He was laying down the law about the habbits of baboons
And the number of quills a porcupine has got
So I asked him "What's that creature's name?" and he answered "That's a helk!"
And I'd have gone on thinking that was true
If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame,
And remarked-"I ain't a helk-I'm a gnu!

I'm a gnu-I'm a gnu
The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo
I'm a gnu, how do you do?
You really oughtta g-know w-who's w-who
I'm a gnu-spelt G - N - U
I'm not a camel or a kangaroo
So let me introduce, I'm neither man nor moose
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!"

I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea
Whence I travelled on to Aston-under-Lyne
On the second night I stayed there I was wakened from a dream
Which I'll tell you all about some other time
Among the hunting trophies on the wall above my bed
Stuffed and mounted was a face I thought I knew
A bison? An okapi? Could it be a hartebeast?
Then I seem to hear a voice: "I'm a gnu!

I'm a gnu, a g-nother gnu
I wish I could g-nash my teeth at you
I'm a gnu, how do you do?
You really oughtta g-know w-who's w-who
I'm a gnu-spelt G - N - U
Call me bison or okapi and I'll sue
Nor am I in the least like that dreadful hartebeast
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!"


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Okiemockbird
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 09:52 AM

J. Freeman, thanks for the source info.

When I sing verse five, I don't sing "old mother bee and her little bees five", I change it to "honey bee queen and her worker bees five." More zoologically correct.

Could "Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts" by considered an animal song ?

T.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Okiemockbird
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 10:12 AM

JenEllen, are you new to the Mudcat, or have you been posting under another name ? If you're new, then welcome. If you're a long-time regular, hi anyway. T.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Midchuck
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 10:17 AM

There's always "The Castration of the Strawberry Roan," which I believe can be found in Digitrad - an "animal song" in at least two senses of the word. Probably not what you'd do at a children's party. I'm afraid I know some children who would demand to hear it again and again...


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: margaret
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 10:24 AM

Robin Williamson did a funny song called, I think, "Zoo Blues," in which all manner of animal puns are used to tell of the demise of a relationship, along the lines of "when I had the bucks, my deer, you were so fawn, but now my doe is gone and you're so colt to me. . ." It runs along very quickly and I admit to finding myself singing it with alarming frequency while driving in the car.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Blackcat2
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 11:17 AM

oddly enough most (if not all) of my fav. animal songs are about their demise. Can't understand why - I really do like animals a lot, I was even going into Zoology years ago until that first semester of fruit fly larvae dissection.

Anyway, here's my list, though whether these are appropriate for the Humane Society is debatable.

Somebody's Moggie [He's Nobody's Moggy Now] (Eric Bogle)
Dead Skunk (Loudon Wainwright III)
Dead Puppies (Aren't Much Fun) (Ogden Edsl)
Fish Heads (Barnes & Barnes)
The Unicorn (Shel Silverstein)

oh well . . .

I like Three Drunk Newts too - and they don't die from what I can remember :-)

pax yall


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Subject: Lyr Add: MARKING UP MY WINTER WONDERLAND
From: JenEllen
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 03:37 PM

Hey all; Thanks for the glorious noise. Emily and Gargoyle, thanks for the songs. OkieMockingbird, we may have to resort to "greasy grimy gopher guts"..lord help us..and I think it's John McCutcheon. One of those kids' albums anyway, that does a smash-up version of "Over In the Meadow" with kids included. Will look for "Castration of the Strawberry Roan"...I am a veterinary technician, and it is myself and fellow techs putting together this show. Blackcat2, we have been FORBIDDEN to even mention the Unicorn song (bg), Dan would have fits. We'll end up with nothing but "Dead Techs Aren't Much Fun"...At least we have some cool stuff to work with now. Including the only clean song Liz's dad ever taught her (ebg). Adding to the pile, for Mary's Yorkie, this is one that my folk buddy, the guy that's doing our show, e-mailed to my dog. (think winter wonderland)

Dog tags ring, are you listening
In the lane, snow is glistening
It's yellow, not white, I've been here tonight
Marking up my winter wonderland

Smell that tree? That's my fragrance
It's a sign for wandering vagrants
"Avoid where I pee, it's my prop-er-ty!"
Marked up as my doggie wonderland

In the meadow dad will build a snowman
Following the classical design
Then I'll lift my leg and let it go, man
So all the world will know that it's
MINE MINE MINE

Straight from me to the fence post
Flows my natural incense boast
"Stay off my turf, this small piece of earth
I've marked it as my Winter Wonderland"

It beats the ever-living crap out of what I was singing to the dog before. (Pacing the floors, in pants with back doors, walking in my winter underwear.....) Merry Christmas to all you Mudcatters, I'm lucky to have found you. Elle


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MudGuard
Date: 26 Dec 99 - 02:15 PM

Liz, the Bodhran Song is funny for the goat as the goat WANTS to become a bodhran!
MudGuard


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Hoolet
Date: 26 Dec 99 - 02:42 PM

As long as it doen't have to be PC

He's Nobody's Moggy Now by Eric Bogle,
The Last Leviathan.
The animals went in two by two [One More River],
Froggy went a-courting,
El condor pasa

lots and lots. Good luck


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Marymac90
Date: 26 Dec 99 - 06:15 PM

How about "If I Were a Moose" by Fred Small. It's an allegory based on a true story, about a bull moose who really did come a-courtin' a cow, in New England somewhere, I think.

"If I were a moose and you were a cow
Would you love me anyhow?
Would you introduce me to your folks?
Would you tell your friends 'No moose jokes!'"

Or there's another one by Fred based on a different true story-"Hot Frogs on the Loose", about frogs that were exposed to radioactive stuff at a nuclear power plant. It's great with kids, cause there are different noisy parts for the audience to do, such as the frogs going "Gurk, gurk" and the frightened populace screaming.

Mary McCaffrey


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 04:34 AM

There's "Cats on the Rooftop"--a long way from squeaky clean.

Bill Groggins' Goat [Bill Grogan's Goat]

And "The Wild West Show"--actually about a menagerie. Only the chorus is sung:

Oh, we're going to the Wild West Show,
We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo,
Never mind the weather, as long as we're together,
We're going to the Wild West Show.

A typical verse:

(spoken, as if by a guide to the zoo): Step right this way ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. In this first cage, we have the Ooo-ah bird.

(audience response). The Ooo-ah bird?

(guide) That's right, the Ooo-ah bird.

(audience) And what does the Ooo-ah bird do?

(guide) The Ooo-ah bird, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is native to the Hawaiian Islands. It derives its name from the fact that although it weighs only one pound, it lays a two-pound egg. Hence the OOOOOOO-Aaahh...

Other verses tell about the kee-kee bird, the lee-oh-pard, the male alligator, the woo-foo bird, the elephant, the Rhodesian talking frog, and the bowdeeni bird. I added the last two--it's easy to make up your own.

--seed


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 04:48 AM

I'm kinda sleepy and forgot the line breaks to the chorus of "The Wild West Show."

Oh, We're goin' to the Wild West Show:
, We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo.
Never mind the weather, As long as we're together.
We're going to the wild west show!

The melody is close to "Careless Love."

I learned it from a girl working during the summer at Mt. Hood's Timberline Lodge (Kubrick's Overlook Hotel).

--seed


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: dwditty
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 11:36 AM

Dave Van Ronk covers several animal songs on his Peter and The Wolf tape/CD. Swinging on a Star, Glad to be a Moose [Proud to Be a Moose], Mairzy Doats, etc.

DW


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Blackcat2
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 11:40 AM

OH!

I forgot another of my favorite animal(dead) songs - Nell Flaherty's Drake

My god, why is it I love dead animal songs - I really do like animals - I even visit friends specifically to see their pets sometimes. I've got to think of an animal song that doesn't deal with death that I really like. .. . Hmmmmmmm


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Wordwitch
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 01:13 PM

How about THE FOX, also right here in the DT? I've loved this song ever since I listened to Belafonte sing it on the record player when I was a tyke.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 02:50 PM

To Blackcat2: Don't delve too deep into your psyche, you might leave a mark. You want irony? My big girl job is trying to keep these critters ALIVE, yet my favorite animal song is Kat-Fox Hamilton's "Chipmunk with a Death Wish", where the little beastie is trying to die and no one will let him. Elle.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 02:57 PM

I've heard that greyhound is the best skin for a bodhran. But I can't see it myself.

Here's a slightly different version of The Body in the Bag


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: BK
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 04:53 PM

I didn't see "Waltzing with Bears" (generally loved by kids - & corny adults like me), nor it's -sort of- sequel/prequel "Aunt Emily" by Andy Wilkinson, out of north Texas. In it, she sings in her sleep, attracts bears, with whom her hubby, the famous Uncle Walter, starts waltzing... Severely cute & great chorus for a sing-along. Andy is a cowboy poet, songwriter, balladeer, historian & well worth seeing if you're lucky enough that he comes your way. Also plays a lot for kids at schools & festivals, in the historian/teaching-with-song-&-story mode. I'll try to find where I put his internet address if anybody is interested (for permission, words, etc..).

Cheers, BK


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: BK
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 05:09 PM

BIG OOPS! the correct source for "Aunt Emily" is the wonderful & wacky Berrymans, who are easy to find on the web. My only excuse is having a severe flu & should be in bed - not on the Mudcat. My humblest apologies to Peter, Lou, & Andy

Lo Siento, BK


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Tim Salt
Date: 27 Dec 99 - 05:30 PM

Leon Rosselson has written some of the best songs including some on an animal theme:)

Kangaroos Like To Hop - Great fun for kids ( and grown-up kids)

Free To Roam - Fantastic song which works at different levels depending on the audience. Probably great for the Humane Society.

Both songs are on a Roy Bailey album - Why Does It Have To Be Me? Fuse Records CFCD 396.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)
Date: 29 Dec 99 - 09:32 AM

JenEllen, let us know how your concert goes. T.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 29 Dec 99 - 08:32 PM

No fear T-Bird, we're still hanging in there. I'm just wrapped in the bowels of promotion. Geez, it stinks in here. But, it's a necessary function nonetheless. Take care, Elle


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susan A-R
Date: 29 Dec 99 - 10:33 PM

The Flanders and Swann Hippopotamus song is also great. It is in Rise Up Singing, and I may be able to pry music out of my husband who wrote it out for a concert (he also wrote out the gnu song.) I also have the Leon Rosselson book around somewhere, Andy's Front Hall carries it, and it is a great one.

Bob Franke did a terrific song called William the Streak about a greyhound who is adopted and moves in next to a sheep farmer. The two come to a remarkable agreement.

Leather Winged Bat is nice.

Stewball on the Horse front

I suppose the Stan Rogers Doberman Disaster [Woodbridge Dog Disaster] would be right out, but it is a lot of fun.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Victoria
Date: 29 Dec 99 - 10:37 PM

John McCutcheon has a great song on his "Autumnsongs" album, called "I am a Bird Dog (watch me fly)"!, and I love his "Rubber Blubber Whale" song for kids. Kate Rusby has a song on her latest CD called "Cowsong"...and Pete Seeger recorded "Who built the Ark? (Noah, Noah") that names the animals as they go through. Good luck with your project! :-)


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 30 Dec 99 - 01:43 AM

Susan: William the Streak sounds perfect...thanks


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susan A-R
Date: 30 Dec 99 - 09:46 PM

I'm pretty sure Bob Franke does have a website. I ran across it about three years ago, so I'd guess it is still there, with lyrics. We also had a thread on a great song about a pig

[TAILS AND TROTTERS]

What'll I be when I get older
You're bacon, butt and picnic shoulder
All my sons and all my daughters
are hocks and hams and tails and trotters.

The piglet does escape and becomes executive pork. I believe it's on the Bok Muir Tricket So May We Yet album.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: kendall
Date: 21 Feb 00 - 06:27 PM

O'Gradys Goat??

...they were having a party at McNills and they were having fun,
all of a sudden An earthquake come and everybody run,
the oyster stew fell on the floor and nearly drowned the cat,
the stove was smashed to smithereens and O'Grady's goat done that..


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Osmium
Date: 21 Feb 00 - 06:39 PM

How about the Beatles "Blackbird singing in the dead of the night" - or is this to knew to be folk yet?


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Subject: Lyr Add: BONGOLO / BONGOLOLO
From: Osmium
Date: 21 Feb 00 - 07:05 PM

I grew up in Africa and there was a legendary beast called Bongolo which was a jet black centipede about 6 inches long who would always turn up in the playground when least expected. We would play for a while and then in a moment of distraction the bongololo would have disappeared although quite how would be a mystery as it always seemed to move very slowly but disappear very quickly. Later said Bongolo would turn up wherever we went and the modern myth is that it's in fact the same one. So I wrote this song to celebrate a bit of my childhood.

And whether great or whether small
my favourite animal of all
Has a thousand legs or maybe more
and goes bongololo when he's sure

First he looks this way and then he looks that
as if he was waiting to take off his hat
But hat he has not, nor tail, nor ears
and when long thin and black maybe no fears

When moving along he goes at great speed
one bong and a go, one lo and a bong
which is why we gave him a name to pay heed
to follow these moves takes animal creed

But there is one secret I have to tell
look away for a sec and all won't be well
For when you look back he's sure to be gone
and the theory of this is the rest of my song

for when you are watching my little black friend
his legs go very fast but his body's no end
and when you are not his legs go very slow
but his body goes BONG as a rocket might go.

there's another verse but my finger is tired. I don't have a tune for it - any suggestions?


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Molly Malone
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 12:15 PM

Scroll down here and look for Ded Bob's Dysfunctional Farm. You can change the name...but I thought you might enjoy it.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Bert
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 12:51 PM

The old sow song


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 01:31 PM

Sow took the measles,
Derby Ram,
The Peeler and the Goat,
The Wonderful Crocodile,
Mairzy Doats,
Three little fishies,
Carrion Crow,
Three Ravens,
Bangum and the Boar,
St. George and the Dragon,
Scewball,
Creeping Jane and a host of Westerns involving horses,
Leather-winged bat,
Possum up a gum tree,
Cow-cow boogie,
and on and on.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Amos
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 01:56 PM

And the Unicorn song...

..there! I said it! And I'm glad, d'ye hear me! GLAD!!!

(Exit stage right pursued by three green alligators, and a long-necked goose, en route to the Neil Young Centre...


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Gypsy
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 06:34 PM

And I second the Unicorn Song! And Puff the magic Dragon!


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 06:38 PM

Aw crap...we'll be killed......

Thanks all for the new leads. 10 days till showtime. Elle


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Osmium
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 07:11 PM

This is a test of line breaks /B/ and


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GutBucketeer
Date: 23 Feb 00 - 12:01 AM

I found one of my favorite song books in my local library.

Check out your local library for "Animal Folk Songs For Children" by Ruth Crawford Seeger. There are two matching cassettes put together by the Seeger Kids that sing most of the songs.

It is a great source for traditional songs about animals and the cassettes are fantastic.

JAB


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 12:51 AM

Take a listen to the tunes Gargoyle submitted for "Bestiary" and "Doolan's Cat." "Doolan's Cat" has a tune reminiscent of parts of "The Marvelous Toy."
Thanks, Gargoyle.
-Joe Offer-


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Observer
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 04:04 PM

What about Mr. Rabbit??


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Subject: Lyr Add: SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:16 PM

Kids truly love this song (they will sing it till adults want to scream)

First heard at a kid's campfire circa 1962.

SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)

CHORUS:
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZU, ZA
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZu, ZA
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZU, ZA
ZaZU, Za Zu, ZaZu, ZA

I'm a stinky little skunk
Hiding under someone's bunk
I'm as sad, as I can be
Nooo-o-body want's to play with me.

CHORUS:

I'm a stinky little skunk
Hiding under _____(give name and point)'s bunk
I'm as glad, as I can be
I found someone who smells like me.

CHORUS:

Sincerely, Gargoyle


Click to play


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 06:47 PM

I just added Gargoyle's transcription of the "Skunk Song" tune. Sound to me like a tune I heard as a kid, a song in which every line ended in "tiny-o." That's all I can recall. Can anybody help me remember?
-Joe Offer, foggily-


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Murkey
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 07:02 PM

Another good Leon Rosselson song is, The Neighbour's Cat..

Trad. wise, try the excellent Broomfield Hill, where the lord complains to his hawk and horse they didn't wake him up so he could kill the lady!

Murk


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jen M
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:44 PM

Joe, It's the tune to Tideo
    Pass one window tideo
    Pass two windows Tideo
    Pass three windows Tideo
    Jingle at the window Tideo
    jinglen Jinglen Jinglen Joe
    Jingle at the window Tideo
    jinglen Jinglen Jinglen Joe
    Jingle at the window Tideo


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 12:43 AM

Jen M - when / where did you first hear "Tideo"



Enquiring minds want to know.


Sincerely,

Gargoyle


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jen M
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 07:01 AM

I really don't remember when I first heard it, I refreshed my memory of it when my daughter (a music ed major) was getting ready to teach it in a summer class. I'll be teaching it today as I once again sart the school year substitute teaching in elementary music. ( And me unable to play a single instrument!)


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: rumanci
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 10:57 AM

Forgive me if they've been mentioned already ........but I don't think they have.
There are two volumes in print available of Richard Digance's "Animal Alphabets" ....... mostly humorous, and all eminently singable ....at least by him *g*


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Subject: Lyr Add: CROCODILE ROLL + BUDGIE SONG
From: Muttley
Date: 21 Apr 07 - 11:34 AM

Dunno if you've had these suggested:
BILL THE CAT

We had a cat: His name was Bill
He caught our budgie on the window-sill
One holy day; One Sunday morn
Left only feathers on our back lawn

Oh, no, Bill! You can't do that
You silly pussy; You stupid cat
So we took him down: Our family pet
And we left his balls, with the family vet

[strumming and cat yowling sounds in background]

Well the very next day, he packed his bags
Left all his Penthouse and Playboy mags
How could we do it; To the family pet
Go and leave his balls with the family vet

[spoken] Well we get no postcards; No telephone calls
         He's out in the bush somewher - with no balls
         And he's obsessed, with sweet revenge
         So eats our parrots. And our fairy wrens.

[chorus] Yes He's mortified and we all regret
         That we left his balls with the family vet [repeat]

[change of key]

Now he's highly sought, by the feral choir
For his new-found talent, to sing much higher
Has no more time; For female friends
Just for parrots - and Fairy Wrens

[spoken] No sense of humour. Ex-family pet
         It still hurts: He can't forget
         He's still angry: He's still upset
         That we left his balls with the family vet

[chorus to finish]

OR

CROCODILE ROLL

Hav'n a barbie by the river - with no-one else around
A tropical honeymoon; Knockin a four-ex down
She was standin in the water, eatin a pumpkin scone
when (chomp) - - - she was gone!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The woman and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

Down came her husband. with a gun and a carving knife
To slaughter every crocodile for takin 'is darling wife
[spoken with a pronounced stutter - in whiney old man's voice]

Y-you c-c-can't g-g-g-go round eatin' Q-Q-Q-Queenslanders you overgrown g-g-g-goannas; I'll turn you all into sh-shoes (CHOMP) oooh!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The husband and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

Down came his bloodhound; with mangy, curly hair
Picked up the scent; away he went; bum in the air
Then the dog got carried away and ran out on a log
An' (CHOMP) Guess what! No more dog!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The canine and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

Down come a wild pig: rootin' all around
The little swine drank some wine and really pigged it out
Then the crocodile chased him 'round
An' the little pig yelled "Up Yours!"
(CHOMP) Into another croc's jaws!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The porker and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

There's no moral to the story; just a brand-new dance
Grab your partner by the neck and swing your crocodile pants
Dip your toe in the water, are you ready for romance?
Swirl your tail around the floor; c'mon take a chance!
Now you'rE doin' the crocodile roll; stirrin' up the mud
Doin' the crocodile roll in the middle of the river
They were doin' the Crocodile Roll: stirrin' up the mud crabs
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river.


OR

THE BUDGIE SONG

Well it cost me thirty bucks to fix me Budgie
When the little blighter only cost me five
The veterinary surgeon saw me coming
But I had to keep my 'feathered friend' alive

He was shakin' on his perch; the kids were crying
The family gathered 'round hi little cage
I said "I think it's time we got a new one"
That's when the family went into a rage!

Oh the waiting-room ponged like a rat-house
With heart-worm and lung-worm and lice
And a Persian had its eye on the shoe-box
I suppose she thought our Budgie might be nice.

Well the bird shit on the veterinary surgeon
I heard him say "the dirty little chick"
Guess he wondered why I didn't use m' brains
And hit him over the head with a brick

[chorus]Oh! Antibiotics for his colour
       Three drops a day on his beak
       Some powder on the nose for his feathers
       And clean out his cage twice a week

Well it cost me thirty bucks to fix me Budgie
When the little blighter only cost me five
And the bludger wakes me early in the morning
It's got me puzzled how he survives

One night I'll feed him to the tom cat
Instead of worrying about him when we go away
No-one wants to feed a shitty Budgie
When everyone's on holiday

[finish with the chorus - twice]

You can clean it up by singing 'pooped' instead of shit in V4
and skungey (pronounced 'skun-gee') instead of 'shitty' in V6

OR
OLD MAN EMU

Let me tell you bout an interview with an old man emu
He's got a beak and feathers and things
But the poor old feller ain't got no wings
Aren't you jealous of the wedge-tailed eagle
'oom-ba-da-little-la-dah-dah
While the eagle's flyin' round an' round; I keep me two feet firmly on the ground
Now I can't fly, but I'm tellin' you -
I can run the pants off a kangaroo!

Ba da doo doo da doo doo doo: Doo da doot doot doo doo
He can't fly but i'm tellin you -
he can run the pants off a kangaroo.

Well he was the model for the fifty cents
Oom ba da ... (etc)
The designer should've had more sense
Oom ba da ... (etc)
If ya take a look it'll prove to you ...
I ran the pants of the kangaroo
Ba da doo doo da ... (etc)

Ya can't loop-theloop like a cockatoo
oom ba da little la dah dah
Swoop an toss like an albatross
oom ba da ...(etc)

[spoken]
Ya silly galah, I'm better by far
Than a white cockatoo or a budgerigah (pron: Budge-er-ee-gar)
They squeak an squawk an try t' talk
Why me an them's like cheese an' chalk

Ba da doo ...(etc)

Dingo came around one day
oom ba da ...(etc)
Hey there, emu; Ya wanna play?
Oom ba da ... (etc)
But the emu was too smart for him
walked right up an' kicked him in the shins

Ba da doo doot ...(etc)

Well the last time I saw old man emu
oom ba da ...(etc)
He was chasing a female he knew
oom ba da ...(etc)
As he shot past I heard him say
[very heavy panting followed by narration in TOTALLY puffed out voice]
She can't fly but I'm tellin' you ......
She can run the pants off a kangaroo!

Well there is a moral to this ditty
oom ba da ... (etc)
Thrush can sing, but he ain't pretty
Oom ba da ... (etc)
Duck can swim, but he can't sing, nor can the eagle on the wing
Emu can't fly but I'm tellin' you
He can run the pants off a kangaroo
Well the kookaburra laughed and he said "it's true"
Oom ba da ... (etc)
Ha ha ha ha hoo hoo hoo! He can run the pants off a kangaroo.

OR (a sensitive one)
GOODBYE BLINKY BILL

Oh goodbye Bunyip Bluegum; Goodbye Blikky Bill
And beautiful little Nutsie; I can't believe it
Our koalas are all dying can it really be?
A national disaster; a world catastrophe

Shiny little black nose and fluffy little ears
Furry little bundle, soaking up the tears
Oh Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are crying in the rain
And Wombat's gone into his hole and won't come out . . . .

[chorus]
Oh pass the hat around between your friends
There's no time to contemplate
Maybe if we show some love; maybe it's not too late

'Cause Blinky Bill is dying: Cross him off the list
Knock on doors, ring the bell, save the Eucalypt
I don't think I could stand the shame, knowing that I could ...
Have saved the world from losing something beautiful and good

[chorus]

One doctor on the job is hardly enough
One little hospital: Wake up, Australia!
It's our corner of the world; time to pull our weight
What would we tell our children about our little mate?

[Repeat verse one]

[finish with chorus]

NOTE:

Blinky Bill, Nutsie and Wombat are all characters in favourite traditional children's story books "The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill" by Dorothy Wall; while Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are "Gumnut Babies" - the creation of English-born writer May Gibbs who, after settling in Australia, decided we needed our own 'indigenous' fairy stories and traditions. And so "The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie" was born

These songs are all the creation of Australian songwriter and singer John Williamson. His 25th Anniversary CD of "True Blue" should have all five songs and I can supply chords as I play them as well.

I can also answer any questions on colloquialisms and Australianisms you might find 'odd'.

Muttley

There are also

"Somebody's Moggy" by Eric Bogle - sung in a barber-shop quartet-like mode or "Nobody's Moggy" sung to the tune of "No Man's Land - the Green Fields of France". I can supply the words to both of these as well if you wish


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Muttley
Date: 21 Apr 07 - 11:42 AM

Sorry: Buggered up a couple of lines.

From - CROCODILE ROLL

The verse with the husband SHOULD have ended:

Y-you c-c-can't g-g-g-go round eatin Q-Q-Q-Queenslanders you overgrown g-g-g-goannas; I'll turn you all into sh-shoes (CHOMP) oooh!
It was in the news!

And they were....... etc

And from OLD MAN EMU

The chorus after the "dingo" verse is different to the other choruses. It SHOULD read:


Ba da doo doo da doo doo doo: Doo da doot doot doo doo
He can't fly but i'm tellin you -
he can run the pants off a dingo too.
(Oh, Yeah! But 'e 'ad t' kick me in the shins, first!)

Sorry

Mutt


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Jennifer
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 12:53 PM

Hi there, I've been searching for the words of the Animal Song, We're off to the Animal Fair (Wild West Show, and you have written one of the verses

Oh, We're goin' to the Wild West Show:
We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo.
Never mind the weather, As long as we're together.
We're going to the wild west show!

I've been searching everywhere for this song, do you have any other verses?

If I'm going about this the wrong way, please forgive me, I've never partaken in 'Threads (?)" before
Many thanks


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Rog Peek
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 01:35 PM

I don't think anyone has mentioned 'The Vicar and the Frog'.

If they have then apologies.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Debbie in Utah
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 07:59 PM

Some I remember my father singing include -

Song of the Birds:
"Oh," said a shike-poke (?) to a crane,
"What would happen if it didn't come rain?
The lakes and the ponds would all go dry,
If it wasn't for the tadpoles, we'd all die,
If it wasn't for the tadpoles we'd all die."
(5 more verses)
The Swallow Song:
Come wander quietly and listen to the wind.
Come here and listen to my song....
*it's on this website, but I haven't yet mastered a "blue clicky"

The Jealous Rooster:
Well a hen and a rooster lived away out west,
Said the rooster to the hen, "Hun, I love you best."
Said the hen to the rooster, "Hun, oh how you lie!
I saw you in the alley with a big Shanghai."
CH: "Oh, ain't it so?" "Honey I don't know."
"Honey don't you lie to me,
Cuz I ain't as dumb as I used to be."
(5 more verses)

NOBODY MENTIONED "LA CUCARACHA!!!" Hard to believe...

Or, The Preacher and the Bear....

Or Strawberry Roan, or Zebra Dun...

The last one that comes to mind at the moment is "Wee Wang," in the language of the Meewak Indians of the northern Sierra in California. Chief Leme (means Rippling Waters) taught it to my father back in the 1930's. It's about a fawn who sees his mother killed by a hunter and cries (breaks your heart to hear it in the song). He decides to go into the valley where the grass is plentiful, and when he becomes an old stag he will return to the place where his mother was shot and let the hunter kill him too. It contains the word Ah-Wah-Nee (ever heard of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park?), which means Deep grassy Valley.

I have a little more info on some of these from my father's notes, if anyone is interested, but I haven't had time or internet access until recently to do proper research on them.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 08:53 PM

Among Flanders & Swann songs, in addition to the hippopotamus & the gnu already mentioned, I am fond of the sloth and the armadillo (Vive l'amour, vive l'armadillo).


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: LeTenebreux
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 09:37 AM

I must confess a certain fondness for a Greek children's song called "To Kokoraki". Flanders and Swann sang it to great comic effect.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Bill Ladmer
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 10:43 PM

Looking for a song Pete Seeger used to sing at shows. It was about dogs at a party having to leave quickly so they grabbed the wrong behinds, and that's why to this day they smell other dogs' behinds trying to find their own. Can anyone help? [The Dogs' Party?]


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 02:54 AM

Heard it as a story, not a song. Used to be whole (no pun intended) repertoire at one time of how various animals.......etc
Jim Carroll


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 03:21 AM

The Cat Came Back is brilliant.

Have you considered Eric Bogel's Song of the Humpback - haunting and contains message that sympathises with plight of whale.

Song of the Humpback lyrics

For humour - there is Will the Turtle be Unbroken, sung to the tune of Will the Circle be Unbroken by Les Bqarker (I think).

Will the Turtle Be Unbroken lyrics

Good luck and wishing your event much success.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 04:50 AM

Paddy McGinty's Goat and Delaney's Donkey


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE HEN AND THE ROOSTER
From: GUEST,greg
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 08:19 PM

This is a follow-up on Debbie from Utah's post above.
Here are all the words to the hen and the rooster from my dad's version, but if anyone knows more verses, I'd be happy to have them:

The hen and the rooster lived away out west,
said the hen to the rooster, "hun, I love you best"
said the rooster to the hen, "hun, I know you lie,
since I saw you in the alley with a big Shanghai".

Ain't it so
now listen honey, I don't know.
Now sweetie don't you lie to me,
cuz' I'm not as dumb as I used to be.

I once knew a doctor by the name of Peck.
He fell into the well and broke his gosh-darned neck.
It served him right that he broke his bones,
he should have tended to the sick and left the well alone.

Ain't it so.....etc

We put some Easter eggs under our old hen,
for the kids to find on Easter morning,...then
the rooster came in and saw the green and red
Hopped the fence and killed the neighbor's peacock dead.

Ain't it so....etc

I bought a pair of combination underwear,
to keep out the cold and the wintery air.
I wore 'em six months, and without exaggeration,
when I went to take them off I had forgot the combination.

Ain't it so....etc

I went to a dance last Saturday night,
when all at once, I had a terrible fright.
I heard a loud rip, and I knew at a glance,
that I was quickly losin' my desire to dance.

Ain't it so.....etc


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:02 PM

Carrion Crow.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jan 09 - 12:30 AM

Pls advise if somebody has lyrics of Richard Digance's poem The Bear, started as follows:

"When a bear held a fancy dress party...?"


from "The Nation's Favourite Children's Poems" of BBC?

Rgds,
Alex, Odessa, Ukraine


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Subject: Lyr Add: I HATES ELEPHANTS (SPB Cooperator)
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 04 Jan 09 - 03:50 AM

I hates elephants, I do!
I hates elephants, I do!
Elephants they are not nice
And while I'm at it, I don't like mice
I hates Elephants, I do!

I hates Aardvarks, I do!
I hates Aardvarks, I do!
I don't like the Aardvark's nose
And I hates hippos I suppose
I hates Aardvarks, I do!

I hates lions, I do!
I hates lions, I do!
I don't lik ethe lion's roar
And I don't like the tiger's claw
I hates lions, I do!

I hates wallabies, I do!
I hates wallabies, I do!
I don't like the way they jump
And camels just give me the hump
I hates wallabies, I do!

I hates peoples, I do!
I hates peoples, I do!
Peoples just get in the way
Why can't they all go away?
I hates peoples, I do!

I don't want to go home!
I don't want to go home!
Why must we go? Why can't we stay?
Why can't we be at the zoo all day?
I don't want to go home!

hates elephants, I do!
I hates elephants, I do!
Elephants they are not nice
And while I'm at it, I don't like mice
I hates Elephants, I do!


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,koko
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 11:45 AM

someone mentioned "I'm Proud to be a Moose"
It's a Dave Van Ronk original that was on his Peter & The Wolf album


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,koko
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 11:48 AM

apologies...it was preformed by DVR, but it's written by Willie Nininger(sp?)


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 27 May 11 - 01:06 AM

"My Donkey Wants Water", also called "Hold 'Em Joe" and "Sly Mongoose" are about animals.


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Subject: Lyr Add: IF I WERE A MOOSE (Fred Small)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Mar 16 - 07:50 PM

IF I WERE A MOOSE
Fred Small
© FREDERICK E. SMALL D/B/A PINE BARRENS MUSIC


1. If I were a moose and you were a cow
Would you love me anyhow?
Would you introduce me to your folks
Would you tell your friends, "No moose jokes!"
If I were a moose and you were a cow

2. Would you invite me to your club
And risk a cruel bovine snub
Would you lead me down the receiving line
And boldly boast, "This moose is mine!"
Would your parents watch us graze
Shake their heads, "It's just a phase"
Or would they thank the stars above
Their precious heifer's found her love?

3. Would your grandparents change their will?
They'd really expected a Holstein bull
"For this, we toiled before the plow
You bring home someone who's not even a cow
"There's lots of proper stock around
Like that nice young Guernsey at Farmer Brown's
Or that last one we ridiculed and cursed
On second thought you could do worse

4. "But if you think this thing will last
Could he learn to moo and eat our grass
Shed his antlers in the dirt
Could you persuade him to convert?"

5. If our anatomies did not quite fit
Would you make the best of it
Would you nuzzle up so near
And hum sweet cow tunes in my ear?
Or would you sadly break it off
When all the hillside sneered and scoffed
"You know these moose are all the same
They're lazy, they're stupid, they come from Maine"

6. It's true things slip a moose's mind
That cows remember all the time
Bulbous nose and knobby knees
A coat that harbors ticks and fleas
But a moose can be a handy thing
When hungry wolves come visiting
In icy gust of winter storm
Our fur is deep and dry and warm

7. And someday should your milk run dry
And farmer stare with baleful eye
In dead of night, I'd slip your noose
And lead you home to the land of moose
If I were a moose and you were a cow


bridge:
If hunters came to do me harm
Would you hide me in the barn
Would all the herd come on the run
And glare until they dropped their guns?

8. Might you permit a goodnight kiss
Could you learn to love wet moose lips?
If I were a moose and you were a cow
If you were a cow and I were a moose


SH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRxrj8KlIE


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: CupOfTea
Date: 05 Mar 16 - 06:20 PM

What fun to come across this thread! It brings to mind some good songs.

For singing with kids, a cappella and/or beating a rhythm: Jan Harmon's "Deepest Africa" which shows up as a hit for the Chenille Sisters, but I fell in love with it sung by Hot Soup, with their little additions (gnit one pearl two..)

Cindy Mangsen's "Cat Tales" is n entire album of cat songs - including a retooling of "I had a cat and the cat pleased me". I particularly like the Berrymans' "Dog of Time" as it gets both a good number of interesting dogs and the Kitty of Romance"

Thinking of Lou and Peter, their very funny (yeah, that's redundant) "Pair of Geese" at least doesn't get the bird killed, like Nell Flaherty's Drake (though the indignation to that one might be good for those opposed to killing animals). Then there are a remarkable number of songs that describe the passengers on Noah's ark

The idea of a concert to benefit the humane society sounds like fun & less likely to turn folks off than the horrific commercials they run on TV here with revolting images of animal abuse.

Joanne in Cleveland


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Mar 16 - 03:08 PM

Flanders and Swann had more animals yet in their bestiary.

"No-one ever wants to court a warthog,
Though a warthog does her best...
We know her These and Those are like Marilyn Monroe's..."

And I wish I could recall, exactly, the F & S salute to the Sea-Horse.
The male Sea-Horse watches over the young, instead of leaving it to the female. And so, his "horse-faced wife" makes the round of charity matinees, "busily doing goo - HOOOOD, busily doing good."

Liz the Squeak, good on you for recalling "my cross-eyed bear." there was also "the chicken hymn," which opened with "Foul I to the fountain fly..."

which reminds me:
that version of Glenn Miller's In The Mood with clucking hens!


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 16 - 05:03 PM

And I have searched Mudcat, without success, for the F & S tune, "The Whale (Mopy Dick)," for which, in the live performance (the Hat-Trick CD box set), Michael Flanders asks the audience to "imagine that Donald and I are on a whaler, and the auditorium is completely full of Orson Welles."


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Subject: Lyr Add: KATZBURSCHLIED(E. T. A. Hoffmann)
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jun 17 - 01:42 PM

The author of this one is E. T. A. Hoffmann, both author and composer; most famous perhaps for his fairy tale about the Nutcracker and the King of the Mice, which became the Tchaikovsky ballet eventually.
It is unmistakeably satire.

KATZBURSCHLIED

The Chorus, repeated between verses, is Psalm scripture, in Latin:
Ecce quam bonum et jucundum
habitare fratres in unum.

[Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity.]

The Verses.

Gar zu spitzig klafft der Spitz,
Gar zu grob der Pudel.
Jenem gönnt den Steiß zum Sitz,
Dem die Schnauz zum Hudel.

Höflich zieht die Mütz vom Kopf,
Kommt Philister gangen.
Froh gebehrdet sich der Tropf,
Will vor nichts ihm bangen.

Schwimmen muß der muntere Fisch,
Vögelein muß fliegen.
Floß und Federn wachsen frisch,
Werd't sie nimmer kriegen.

Miaut und knurr't und knurr't und miaut,
Nur bei Leib' nicht kratzen;
Seid galant, daß man euch traut,
Schonet eure Tatzen.

Denkt Herr Aff' nach seinem Maaß,
Alle uns zu messen!
Spitzt das Maul, trägt hoch die Nas' ,
Wird uns doch nicht fressen.

Pfot' im Pfot' und Brust an Brust
Soll uns nicht verdüstern.
Katzbursch sein ist uns're Lust,
Trotzen Katz-Philistern!

[and conclude with the chorus, in Latin.]

The musical setting, WV number 84, is fragmented and unfinished, written near the end of Hoffmann's life; he got as far as composing the music (men's chorus) for the Latin chorus, and for only one of the verses -- the Cat verse, with "knurr't und miaut."

from E. T. A. Hoffmann's Ausgewählte Schriften, Achter Band. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1827. in Zweiter Band: Lebens Ansichten des Katers Murr, nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern, dritter Abschnitt: "Die Lehrmonate. Launisches Spiel des Zufalls," pages 278 - 279. Digital file copy from the Austrian National Library at books dot google dot com.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jun 17 - 04:59 PM

It would take me a long tedious while to translate the song lyric in the previous post. A few comments, at least, can be entered here. Anybody who wants a go at translating from Hoffmann's German into English, feel free. This book is published in an English translation, which I have yet to get my hands on, and which cannot be viewed online.

"Katzburschlied" means "The Song of the University Fraternity of Cats."

The main character in the story is "Kater Murr" which means, Murr, the tomcat. In fact, the author had a pet tomcat named Murr, and they were bosom companions. Murr died a short time before Hoffmann's final illness, and Hoffmann was heartbroken.

Also in this hallucinatory, experimental book (presaging James Joyce in certain techniques) is a fictitious fellow named Johannes Kreisler.
Composer Robert Schumann was much taken with Hoffmann's writings and especially with the human character of Kreisler, which is how Schumann ended up composing a solo piano suite called "Kreisleriana."


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE PETS (Malvina Reynolds)
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 Jun 17 - 06:01 PM

*The Pets*

by Malvina Reynolds

I have a doggie, his name is Dolally,
O Dally Dolally so faithful and true.
He lives upon flip-floppers, golly-whoppers, and soda-poppers,
And that makes him hop around like grasshoppers do.

/Chorus:/
We love our pets, yes we do, we do.
When they go (Woof! Woof!)
They're talking to you.

I have a kitty, her name is Miss Feedle Faddle,
O fit feedle faddle, foot feedle faddle, fair as a rose.
She lives upon livers, and mousey come hithers,
And that's why she slithers wherever she goes.

(Chorus) (Meow! Meow!)

I have a birdie, his name is MacMurdie,
O wing-feather and tail-feather and top-feather so bright.
He lives upon prinkles, and pink periwinkles,
And that's why he twinkles from morning till night.

(Chorus) (Tweet! Tweet!)

I have a donkey, his name is Old Klonkey,
O hip hoppity, klip kloppity, all over town.
He lives upon thistles, and tin penny whistles,
And that's why he whoops like a merry-go-round.

(Chorus) (Eeaw! Eeaw!)

I have a barnacle, his name is McGonigle,
O wish washery, slish-sloshery, under my boat.
He lives on the boring of old teakwood flooring,
And when he is snoring he can't sing a note.

We love our pets, yes we do, we do.
When they go (Snore)
They're sleeping, of course!

*Notes:* words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1960 Schroder
Music Company, renewed 1988. This song originally had no chorus, but a
group of New Zealand children recorded it with a chorus added by their
teacher, Jack Davidson. Malvina liked the addition and started singing
the song with his chorus. The new version, dubbed "The Pets II," was
copyrighted in 1966 by Schroder Music Company.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 01:33 PM

What about Loudon Wainright III's "Dead Skunk (in the middle of the road)"?

Or, decades ago a favourite on BBC radio childrens programmes "I had a hippopotamus"


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 01:46 PM

I love "There was an old farmer had an old sow". You have to snort, blow a raspberry and whistle very quickly after each line.

But "Suzannah's a funniful man" is rather a strange remark. Surely a sow is a female?? and I've never come across the word 'funniful' except in this song.

It's on Youtube (several versions) and Jon Pertwee sings it beautifully, but the repeated line after each verse is hard to distinguish. It sounds like:-

"Sing lasses hoo ring hoo low" but I'm sure that's wrong.
Any ideas anyone?


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Subject: Lyr Add: KATZBURSCHLIED (trans. Anthea Bell)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 12:47 PM

This English translation refers back to Post number 95 on this thread, dated 13 June 2017, and the German-language "Katzburschlied."

The six verses (singable translation, so not really literal)

All too sharply barks the Pom [eranian / Spitz-dog],
Far too loud the Poodle.
See the bold and valiant Tom [cat],
Silencing that noodle!

See the Philistine go by!
Doff your cap politely.
Such a fool, his head held high,
We don't suffer lightly.

Merrily the fish must swim,
Birds fly in fair weather.
Fin and feather let us hymn,
Though we catch them never!

Mew and growl and growl and mew
But do not scratch; pray pause!
Show yourselves in rosy hue
And spare your nice sharp claws.

Master Coxcomb thinks he can
Judge us by his standard.
Looks haughty, acts the gentleman,
But we're more even-handed.

(That last one isn't even CLOSE, it's supposed to be about an ape.)

Each of us beside the others
Paw in paw we sang:
"We're a merry bunch of brothers!
Philistines go hang!"


English translation copyright © Anthea Bell, 1999. Published by Penguin Classics, London, 1999, as part of The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, pages 188 - 189. Translation from the original German of Lebensansichten des Katers Murr by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, 1822.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: eftifino
Date: 20 Jun 17 - 09:11 AM

Beat Farmers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZtII8rt_Y

Pretty sure there is a thread dedicated to 'The Wild West Show"

We had an intro which went over well: (Shout the words in caps)

ROLL UP ROLL UP! See the fat lady standing on the skinny man's
COCK your eye over here and see the leopard with the 14 spots on his
MICKEY close the door theres a draught comin in from the elephant's
HOLE(d) your tickets for the next performance please.

We're off to see the Wild............


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Apr 20 - 01:02 PM

a good thread to refresh, it appears to me,
when we're looking for relief from cabin fever or what have you.


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Subject: Lyr Add: FAY TEMPLETON'S WOODCHUCK SONG
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 May 21 - 01:40 PM

This song seems to be the origin of the familiar tongue-twister:
Lyrics transcribed by me from the sheet music images at Baylor University. I was not able to find a recording of the song.

FAY TEMPLETON'S WOODCHUCK SONG
“Sung by Miss Fay Templeton in Messrs. Schubert and Nixon & Zimmerman’s Production ‘The Runaways’ at the Casino Theatre, New York”
Words by Robert Hobart Davis, music by Theodore F. Morse, ©1903.

1. There am heaps of knowledge in old Yale College,
And in Harvard Universitee,
But I ain’t yet found, nowhere around,
Not even down in Tuskegee,
A full-fledged college graduate
What could right offhand ‘lucidate
Or anywheres near stipulate to me—

CHORUS: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck,
If a woodchuck would chuck wood?
And how much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck only could?
If a woodchuck could make good and would—
But dere ain’t no reason why he should—
But how much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck would chuck wood?

2. I’se a strong suspicion, a supposition,
That some white man surely ought to know,
Fo’ when I shout, dere ain’t no doubt
I’m heard clean out to Chicago,
Where dose professors speculate,
And figure and anticipate,
And git right down and calculate to show—CHORUS

3. I’se an intimation dat education
Am something ev’ryone don’t sell,
But I’m de moke what tried to soak
Dis woodchuck joke on old Cornell.
Dem students couldn’t regulate
On dis hyear problem complicate;
You ought to seen dem hesitate to tell—CHORUS


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Subject: Lyr Add: HOT FROGS ON THE LOOSE (Fred Small)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 May 21 - 05:17 PM

This song was mentioned by Marymac90 on 26 Dec 99.


HOT FROGS ON THE LOOSE
As recorded by Fred Small on “Everything Possible: Fred Small in Concert” (1993)

[singer:] Frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Hot frogs on the loose!

By the light of a Tennessee moon,
From the bilious bubbles of a black lagoon,
They make a hound-dog howl, a swat team swoon.
Hot frogs on the loose!

They’ve multiplied since fifty-three,
Slurping nuclear debris,
Amphibious fabulous fancy-free.
Hot frogs on the loose!

Hippity-hoppity, here they come,
Radioactive, lookin’ for fun.
If you kiss ‘em, look out for the tongue.
Hot frogs on the loose!

[singer:] All right, frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Hot frogs on the loose!

They got little skinny legs and big bug-eyes.
Fraternizing’s not advised.
They like you like they like flies.
Hot frogs on the loose!

They got a chicken-nugget body an’ a whopper leap.
In your bedroom, while you sleep,
They’ll make your Geiger counter beep.
Hot frogs on the loose!

Hippity-hoppity, here they come,
Radioactive, lookin’ for fun.
If you kiss ‘em, look out for the tongue.
Hot frogs on the loose!

[singer:] all right, frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] hot frogs on the loose

You can put the pedal to the metal till the rubber squeals,
Squish ‘em with your tires, you got hot wheels.
Now you know how it feels
To be a hot frog on the loose.

Please do not keep them as pets.
Sautéing them may bring regrets.
Make a citizen’s arrest
Of a hot frog on the loose.

Frogs for peace, frogs for defense!
Don’t be nervous; don’t be tense.
We’ve got a sure-fire three-foot fence
To keep the hot frogs from gettin’ loose.

Hippity-hoppity, here they come,
Radioactive, lookin’ for fun.
If you kiss ‘em, look out for the tongue.
Hot frogs on the loose!

[singer:] Come on, frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!

* * *
[“Guck” is my attempt at a phonetic spelling of Fred’s frog sound. I see Marymac90 spelled it “gurk.” Of the transcriptions I found online, one spelled it “glub” and another simply omitted that part of the song.]


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Subject: Lyr Add: I’M PROUD TO BE A MOOSE (Willie Nininger)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 May 21 - 06:20 PM

This was mentioned by Emily Rain on 22 Dec 99. My transcription from YouTube. It’s also on Spotify.


I’M PROUD TO BE A MOOSE
As recorded by Willie Nininger on “Almost Home” (1993)

All the animals laugh at me—
(I wasn’t kidding) Ask me what I’d rather be.
I patiently explain:
I want to stay the same.

I’m proud to be a moose.
There’s nothing else I’d rather be.
Just take a look at me and you will see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be.

I’d rather be a moose than a duck or a dog,
Eagle or seagull or a polliwog.
A bird can fly, but I don’t mind.
Nobody else has got ears like mine.

I’m proud to be a moose.
A moose is what I would rather be.
Just take a look at me and you will see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be.

Never had a wish to be a fish.
Tried to be a cow; wouldn’t know how,
And if you tried to make me be a goose,
It wouldn’t be no use, ‘cause I’d rather be … [audience:] a moose!

Right! I’m proud to be a moose.
A moose is what I want to be.
Just take a look at me and you will see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be.

Moose jam! Let’s go! Whoo!
[Instrumental break]

Never had a care to be a hare,
Lion, tiger, penguin or a bear.
I have no whim to swim upstream like a salmon,
‘Cause can’t you tell by now that I’m happy as I am an’

I’m proud to be a moose.
Yeah, moose is what I will always be.
The reason is, you see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be

I’m proud—so are you, I’m sure—to be a moose.
I’m proud to be a moose!


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Subject: Lyr Add: DEEPEST AFRICA (from Chenille Sisters)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 May 21 - 07:17 PM

CupOfTea mentioned this song on 05 Mar 16:


DEEPEST AFRICA
As recorded by The Chenille Sisters on “Teaching Hippopotami to Fly!” (1996).

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching elephants to dance.
Don’t look askance, for elephants love to sing and dance
In their fancy hot pants.
I was in deepest Africa teaching elephants to dance.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, watching a toucan can-can.
When in the Sudan, a toucan can can-can better than
Any two toucans can.
I was in deepest Africa, watching a toucan can-can.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a g-nu to k-nit.
Each stitch that g-nu k-nit,
He would throw a fit like a g-nu k-nitwit.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a g-nu to k-nit.

Knit one, purl two; knit one, purl two.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a baboon to croon.
Each tune that baboon would croon
Made the she-baboon loonier than moon goon.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a baboon to croon.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching hippopotami to fly.
Don’t sigh; look up in the sky.
Hippopotami will be flying by.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching hippopotami to fly.


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Subject: Lyr Add: CHIPMUNK WITH A DEATH WISH
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 May 21 - 06:13 PM

This was mentioned by JenEllen on 27 Dec 99. My transcription:


CHIPMUNK WITH A DEATH WISH
As performed on YouTube by Dan Maher.

1. I’m a rodent by the side contemplating my last ride.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Who would guess that my desire is to be one with your tire?
Chipmunk with a death wish!
I need a driver with the nerve,
Who’ll hit the gas and will not swerve,
But with all these PC types,
I could be here all night.

CHORUS: I’m a chipmunk with a death wish,
A chipmunk with a death wish.
Chipmunk with a death, chipmunk with a death, with a death wish.

2. Those chickens are so snide standing on the other side.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
But they’re just full of talk; takes a chipmunk to jaywalk.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Your car won’t show a dent,
No indication that I went.
If you want a souvenir,
You’d better hit a deer. CHORUS

BRIDGE: Wheels go round in my eyes.
So easy to be hypnotized.
Nietsche would not be surprised. CHORUS

3. My mom whom I adored was flattened by a Ford.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
My cousins in a bevy jumped a fifty-seven Chevy.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Would you think I was a snob
If I waited for a Saab?
What a classic way to go,
Getting hit by a Peugeot! CHORUS

4. Better polish off the china at Billy’s road-kill diner.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Who would think those little critters would make such tasty fritters?
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Bet you can’t wait to wrap your jaws
Around these chewy little paws,
A bed of pasta underneath.
Just spit out the teeth. CHORUS

* * *
YouTube has another live performance by Leah Kaufman.


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE BEAR (Richard Digance)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 May 21 - 10:51 PM

This poem was mentioned by Alex, from Odessa, on 04 Jan 09:

I found this poem on an Angelfire web page called More TEDDYS!!!--not one I would normally consider a reliable source, but the words correspond pretty closely to those recited by “Poppy, aged 8” on YouTube. Those are the only two sources I could find.


THE BEAR
Richard Digance

When a bear held a fancy dress party,
Just about everyone went.
Each animal went as another.
Well, at least that was the intent.

The bat and bull went as a cricket
And the bison went as a bath.
The viper sat on the hyena's head
And they went as a laughing giraffe.

The eagle went as a birdie
And the birdie went as a parr.
(A parr is an under-aged salmon,
In case you don't know what they are.)

The panda turned up like a penguin,
Though he hadn't quite mastered the walk.
No one could tell the difference
When the butterfly dressed like a stork.

The hedgehog turned up as a buffalo
(Hedgehogs not being that bright),
But everyone said that he'd tried very hard
And he had an enjoyable night.

He almost came second for trying,
But it went to the hippo instead.
He dressed up as a fairy-tale unicorn,
With a ice-cream stuck on his head.

The oyster, disguised as a jewelery box,
Sang when his shell opened up.
A good try by oyster but not good enough
To take home the fancy dress cup.

The skunk was most unconvincing,
Sprinting in like a gazelle.
It's hard for a skunk to be anything else,
When they have that distinctive smell.

It was time to declare the cup winner
And first place went to the cat,
Who covered his tail with red rubber
And hung from a tree like a bat.


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Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 31 May 21 - 07:03 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7220zzl0_k
Nasty Spider, by Jeremy Taylor, lyrics posted previously in this thread.
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7306


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