The Foolish Frog

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

Well, the bullfrog looked up and saw the farmer and decided to show off

He took an extra special big hop

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 wonderful 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

We're 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

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

Expect us to work all the day nobody showed 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

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

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-you-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: Eh-eh

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 itself 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

Cow tails swishing through the windows

Everybody stamped 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's 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