Pete Seeger - The Foolish Frog lyrics

There was once a farmer
Walking down the road
Whistling a tune to himself
He said, "Dog-gone
I wish I had some words to
That tune but all I've got
Is the melody" Just then he
Came to a little bridge, and he leaned on
The railing looking down at the brook
There was a big old bullfrog
Hopping from bank to bank
(Sound effects) well
The bullfrog looked up and saw
The farmer and decided to
Show off he took an extra special
Big hop - z-z-z-z-tt! He landed
Splash! in the water and got himself all wet
The farmer laughed and laughed
And started singing:
"Way down south in the yankety yank, a
Bull frog jumped from bank to bank
Just because he'd nothing better for to
Do! He stubbed his toe and
Fell in the water you
Could hear him yell for a mile and a quarter
Just because he'd nothing better for to do"

Now the farmer went walking down the
Road feeling mighty proud of himself
For making up a song he
Went down to the corner
Store, bought himself some groceries
A pair of work gloves and a
Plug of chewing tobacco, and said
"Oh, before I go
I have to sing you my new song"

"Go on home" says the
Storekeeper, "I'm busy here
Can't you see all these customers?"

"I won't pay you any money unless you
Let me sing you my song!"
"Well, sing it and get it over
With then" said the storekeeper

The farmer began to sing and the man in
The store cried out, "That's
A w-o-o-nderful song, gather round
Everybody, we'll have a party"
And he passed round the free Coca Colas and
The free soda-crackers
And everyone was stamping on the floor

Meanwhile, all the wives and children back
Home were sitting down to supper
And - where's father?

The mother said, "Children
You better run down to the corner
Store and fetch your old
Man he's probably down there wasting
His time as usual"

So all the children run down
The road they run inside
The corner store you know, they
Heard all that music
They forgot about coming home
The children started singing
(Song is repeated in a higher voice) And they
Were passing around the free Coca-Colas and

Now, in every farmhouse it was the same
Situation the mother said to themselves
"This has gone far enough supper's
Getting cold 'Spect us
To work all the day nobody show up?"

They reached over on the stove and grabbed
Some heavy frying pans and start down
The road with a mad look in their
Eyes somebody's going to get beaned

Well, they get near and they
Hear all that pretty music
And they forget all about
Being mad they drop the frying pans in
The gutter, walk into the store, and
The mothers start singing! Way down
Yonder in the yankety yank
A bullfrog jumped from bank
To bank and they're passing round the free
Coca-Colas and the free soda crackers
And everybody is stamping on the floor!

Meanwhile out in the barns all
The cows started talking
"Where is everybody? We're supposed
To be milked and it's
Getting mighty uncomfortable!"
So the cows left their stalls, they
Wobbled out of the barn
And down the road right into
The corner store and
The cows started singing, "Moo, moo, moo
Moo, moo moo, moo, moo, moo, moo"
(To the tune) and the cow's
Tails were swishing out
The windows, and they were
Stamping on the floor
And drinking the free Coca-Colas and
Eating the free soda

Out in the barnyard all the chickens said
"Where is everybody? We're supposed to
Be fed and we're
Getting hungry!" So the chickens
Hopped over the fence
Hopped down the road, hopped into the store
And the chickens started
(Chicken imitation to tune) and the
Chicken were stamping on
The floor and drinking the free Coca C

Meanwhile all the barns started
Talking to each
Other "We feel mighty lonely" they said
"without any cows or any chickens
I guess we'll have to
Go find them" So the barns
Picked themselves off their
Foundations and galumphed down the road, and
S-q-u-e-e-z-e-d themselves into that
Corner store, believe it or not did
You ever hear a rusty hinge on a barn
Door? That's the way the barns sang: Eeeee
Eeeeeeeeee

Out in the fields all the grass says
"Where is everybody? The cows are supposed
To come and eat us i
Guess we'll have to go find
Them" And the grass
Picked it'self up and swished
Off down the road
And swished right into the store
And started singing:
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh

Of course, when the grass was
Gone, the fields were gone, so
The brook didn't have any banks
To flow between it said
"I've got to go someplace" so it
Bubbled down the road it bubbled
Right up into the corner store and the brook
Started: Bubbl-bubbl-bubbl-bubbl-bubbl-bubbl-bubbl
The brook was bubbling up and down
The stairway! The grass was
Growing out the chimney! Feathers flying
Through the air! Cows
Tails swishing through the windows! Everybody
Stamping on the floor and
Drinking the free Coca-Cola and
Eating the free soda-crackers!

Meanwhile, there's the bullfrog in mid-air!

He looks down
There's nothing underneath him he looks over
And there's no bank to land on he says
"Where am I?" And he starts hopping down
The road hop! Hop! Hop! Hop! Hop!

"Hey, what's all that racket down at
The corner store?" says the frog

"Why they're singing! They're
Singing about mE!" And he was
So proud he puffed himself up with pride

And he puffed, and he puffed, and he puffed
And he BOOM!

He exploded cows, barns, chickens, farmers
The whole corner store went up in the air
And everybody floated down and
Landed right where they were supposed
To have been all the time they all sat
Down eating supper again
Feeling kind of foolish for themselves

Next day they went out to find
The frog they looked high
They looked low coca-Cola bottles
And soda crackers
In all directions but no frog

So all there is left of the frog is the
Song we might as well sing 'er once again

"Way down yonder in the yankety yank"