My transcription. You can hear this recording at YouTube. Note there are a few words I couldn’t understand. Words are the same in each verse except the parts I have boldfaced.


FREE TO ROAM
As recorded by Leon Rosselson & Friends on “Questions: Songs and Stories for Children” (1994)

1. On the first day of my holiday,
My mum said: “What will you do today?”
So I thought and I said: “I’ll go to the zoo.
Yes, that’s what I’ll do; I’ll go to the zoo,
‘Cause I think I might meet a tiger or two.
Yes, that’s what I’ll do, and that’s what I’ll do.
I’ll go and meet a tiger or two
In the zoo.”

So I did and I went to the tiger house,
And I watched and I waited quiet as a mouse,
And the tiger yawned and stared at me,
Stared at me so mournfully.
So I said to the tiger: “If you were free,
If we found the key that would set you free,
What would you do? Where would you be?
Where would you be if you weren’t in the zoo?”

“If I were a tiger free to roam,
I’d hunt my prey in my forest home,
Where the grass grows thick and the trees grow tall
In the burning sun as the shadows fall.
You won’t see me spring; you won’t hear me run,
For I am the color of shadow and sun.”

2. On the second day ... polar bear….

And the polar bear stretched....

“If I were a polar bear free to roam,
On the floating ice I’d call my home.
Where the trees don’t grow and the north winds blow,
And the world is white with ice and snow,
And I’d go fish in the icy storm
With my snow-white coat to keep me warm.”

3. On the third day ... condor….

And the condor glared....

“If I were a condor and free to roam,
I’d fly to my Andes mountain home,
To my nest in the rocks on the mountainside.
High in the sky I would soar and glide
Till I spied a dead sheep far below,
And with ... down I’d go.”

4. On the fourth day ... camel....

And the camel chewed….

“If I were a camel free to roam,
On the desert sands I’d be at home.
There I’d speed along on my padded feet,
And I’d go for days before I’d eat.
The hump on my back is my food supply
When there’s nothing but sun and sand and sky.

CODA: “If we were free to roam—
If we were free to roam—.”

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YouTube also has a recording by Roy Bailey.