Bullfrog

I was sittin' by the bank on a hollow stump

When I thought I heard me a bullfrog jump

Turned around and sure enough there

he sat

He said excuse me, buddy, but I've been

readin' your news

And I'm sorry to say that I'm a

little confused

You bein' human, well you'd know where

it's at.

He said I read where this old world's

gonna fold

And all on account of a think called gold

And that's somethin' hard for us frogs

to understand

Now you're lookin' at me like I'm

kinda funny

But where I live we don't have no money

So we want to be hip to the happ'nin's

here on land.

Now I thought I was stoned so I

started walkin'

I mean whoever heard of a bullfrog talkin'

But then I realized I hadn't been grazin'

in no grain

So I figured I'd tell him just what I thought

'bout how gold was sold and how gold

was bought

And he'd understand our world when

I explained.

I said it all started a long time ago

When the people first learned to reap

and sow

They got all the things they needed right

out of the earth

Like how many leaves and how many trees

Would it take to cover up the anatomies

And that's how you figured how much a suit

of clothes was worth.

Well then man he learned how to milk a cow

And how to till the soil with a stone

blade plow

And he kept so busy he never had time to

do you harm

Then he'd take his produce and all that milk

And go into town and trade them for silk

So his woman she'd look sharp down at

the farm.

Well the bullfrog let out a belly croak

Like I'd told him some kind of a joke

And he said I think you're jivin' me my man

(what me?)

I said I know it sounds kinda mystifyin'

But the truth of the matter is I ain't lyin'

I mean I ain't talkin' no bullfrog,

you understand?

He said now don't get upset I'm not

agin' you

You just go ahead, go ahead and continue

And I'll be quiet and try to understand

He said I know about trees and leaves

and plants

And milk and silk and the farmer's

romance

But what's this thing the call supply

and demand?

I said well I grow cotton and you grow corn

And you find your dungarees are all worn

And me well I got to have somethin' to eat

You see? So I make you some brand

new threads

And now you bake me some fresh

corn bread

Pretty soon we'll have shops across

the street.

Well this didn't work, or so we've been told

And at that time they didn't know

about gold

So they all agreed they'd measure their

goods in salt

Well that idea had an early endin'

'cause they were eatin' more than they

were spendin'

And besides, whoever heard of keepin'

salt in a vault.

Well folks said gold was the thing to use

To pay for stuff like from ships to shoes

But it weighed too much and it looked too

good to spend

So round about sixteen hundred and ninety

Somebody started usin' foldin' money

And that's the tale, my friend, from end

to end.

Well I thought it was a damn

good explanation

I mean a real attempt at communication

And I only had me schoolin' up until the

time I was ten

But the bullfrog right before he

hopped away

Well I could have sworn I heard him say

Your world is still in the tadpole stage,

my friend.