Ken Lonnquist Songbook
Back Of His Hand
Backwards
Banana Cheer
Barefoot Blues
Bat
Be A Friend
Be-Boppa-Doodley-Oppa
Bedtime For Bears
Before The ABC's
Before We Came
Being Here With You
Big Black Cloud
Bird's Eye View
Blow Out The Pumpkin
Blueberry Pickin' Hat
Bones Of Man
Boogedy Blues
Boysie Boys, The
Brett Comes Back
Broccoli
Bubble, Bubble
Butterfly
Bye Bye Song
Back Of His Hand (J)
(Inspired by one-too-many sad news reports)
My Daddy never had to speak
He knew we'd understand
The language of a stinging cheek
And the back of his hand
My mama's bruises always healed
She wore her wedding band
Trusting in the heart concealed
By the back of his hand
I watched my sister grow to think
By living with that man
That tenderness and love were linked
To the back of his hand
The blueprint of our lives was drawn
Just fighting to withstand
The deep impressions that were made
They say a circle black and blue
Comes round and draws you in
Till you reach out to your own child
With the back of your hand
Backwards (LSK)
(from my musical version of Cinderella)
Backwards was never my favorite direction!
Backwards was never my favorite way to go!
When you go backwards,
I've learned through close inspection
You always reach your destination much too slow!
Backwards! What a dirty little word!
Backwards! The whole notion is absurd!
You cannot win a footrace going backwards
You'd never ever reach the finish line!
And you'd soon run out of rope
if you hung your every hope
On a soul that turns around
and runs from trouble all the time!
Backwards! I'd not noticed it before...
Backwards! But it's really quite a bore!
You can't learn anything new going backwards...
'Cause backwards leads where youve already been
If adventure's what you seek,
and you'd like to take a peek
At the new world just ahead
you'd better turn around again!
Backwards, backwards, vile and black words
Off the track words --- now I see...
Forward, forward, we need more words
Pushing toward our destiny!
What if the world were like a book
and we turned back the pages...
Yes! In no time at all wed look
and be in the dark ages!
\
Think of where we'd be if all the knowledge
We gained by going forward - poof! - was gone!
We'd still be in the dark, without even a spark
Of light to catch a glimpse
of what the devil's going on!
Backwards! What a frightful little word!
Backwards! It's delightful that I've heard!
That's why I never go! I never, ever, ever go... backwards!
Banana Cheer (W2K)
Bananas, unite! Bananas, split!
Peel, bananas! Peel, bananas!
Go, bananas! Go, bananas!
Go, bananas! Go!
Barefoot Blues (LSK)
I've got them barefoot, barefoot,
barefoot, barefoot blues!
Somebody stole my, stole my,
stole my tennis shoes!
I've been searchin', searchin',
searchin' for the clues...
And the finger, finger, finger points at you!
Don't tell me you don't know what Im talkin' 'bout
I've searched this whole neighborhood inside and out
You're cryin', youre lyin', you say, "It wasn't me!"
But everybody else has two shoes on
and you've got three!
Chorus
The hat you're wearing looks a bit suspicious, too...
It's smelly, and it looks like an upside-down shoe!
You're cryin', you're lyin', you say, "It wasn't me!"
But since when was a hat
made by a sneaker company?
The belt you're wearing looks a lot like my shoelace
You tied the two together --- I can see the place!
But why not just give up
and give my sneakers back to me?!
Bat (TCK)
Written with 5th Graders at Burleigh Elem, Brookfield, WI
They don't really like you, you're misunderstood
They think you're disgustingbut I know you're good!
Bat, Bat, my beautiful, beautiful
Bat, Bat, my beautiful, beautiful Bat
Since I met you my heart just goes pitter-pat, Bat!
Your body's so hairy, let's go on a date
You know how to find me: just echolocate
We'll visit your cave, hang out in your tree
We'll sleep upside down
Except when we wee wee wee
Let's be nocturnal, let's go out for bugs
We could gobble a thousand, in-between hugs
You're not really scary, the way people think
You don't fly in our hair, our blood you don't drink
Be A Friend (SFHF)
(Written with 6th Graders from Mitchell Middle, Racine, WI)
Friends are about caring
Trusting each other and sharing
Secrets, laughter, troubles too
These are the things that good friends do
When you like each other
When you trust each other
When youre lucky enough to be a friend
Just hanging out together
Talking and doing whatever
Hand in hand and side by side
There's nothing that you need to hide
Someone you can count on anytime at all
Someone who will be there...
someone you can call a friend
Why's it so hard to live and let live?
Why is it so hard to forgive?
Why are we too blind to see
Just how sweet this life can be
Be-Boppa-Doodley-Oppa (LSK)
(Written by my sister Peg Lonnquist,
with my additional verse)
Be-Boppa-Doodley-Oppa-Lee-Yi-Yo!
Be-Boppa-Dee! Be-Boppa-Doh!
My sister Peg and I wrote this song.
Its pretty shortits just one verse long!
I wrote the words, she wrote the song...
Hope you enjoyed it cause nowitsgone!
Bedtime For Bears (TON)
(Written with Kindergarteners at Grove Elementary,
Wisconsin Rapids, WI)
The wind blows, the snow falls, it's bedtime for bears
Cold stars are shining it's bedtime for bears
In furry pajamas they climb up the stairs
With nights growing longer, it's bedtime for bears
Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime for bears
Brushing their teeth and shampooing their hair
Night lights are lit... and alarm clocks will ring
Waking the sleepy-heads... sometime next spring
Ah, hibernation... it's a beautiful thing
Fish swish in dream streams slowly flowing
To the Bear-Poobah they're saying their prayers
Thanksgiving, Solstice, it's bedtime for bears
Hannuka, Christmas, it's bedtime for bears
Snoring through New Year's, they don't even care
They scratch and roll over, it's bedtime for bears Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime for bears
Snug under snowdrifts inside their bear lairs
Before The ABCs (SFHF)
(Written for the video "Sign And ABCs")
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K,
L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z...
Way back when in history, about10,000 years B.C.
They didn't have no tools like these
So they could write, so they could read
That's how it used to be... back before the ABC's
Ya got ta have a hammer if ya wanna pound a nail
Ya slosh a lotta water 'thout a bucket or a pail
You'd walk stiff-legged if it wasn't for your knees
Where would you be without your... ABC's?
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P...
Painting pictures by firelight,
The storyteller's eyes burn bright
Somebody said, "Let's write it down!"
They didn't see an alph-abet a-lyin' round
With open mouths they frowned
Back before the ABC's
Way back when in history...
Ya gotta have a shovel if you wanna dig a hole
Fishin's easier with a fishing pole
A hanky's handy when ya think you're gonna sneeze
Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P...
Before We Came (ES)
Written with 7th Graders from Cato-Meridian Middle School, Cato, N.Y.
Sun and rain, ice and fire
Oceans deepening with desire
Mist and fog, lightning flashing
Cloudbursts and the thunder crashing
They were here before we came
Before we even dreamed their names
Morning marsh alive with sound
Moon rise up, sun sinking down
Into a forest thick with trees
Where creatures hide beneath the leaves
Swimming deep through waters blue
On dry land, life sprang and grew
A blue-green planet, deep in space
With a life-giving embrace
Being Here With You (W2K)
(From my musical version of Beauty and the Beast)
It's such a nice feeling to be here
Being here with you
Is such a nice feeling for me here
And feeling like I do
I want to be with you!
Could you love meeveryday?
Could you love me sun and rain?
Could you love me come what may?
Could you feel what I feel in return?
It's such a nice feeling
Mike Accardo played The Beast in this original production, and sang this song beautifully!
Big, Black Cloud (A)
From my musical "Awaken!"
Oh, no! The Sun did not come out!
Lost its way, went astray
Swallowed up inside a big, black cloud
Many days passed without the sun
Darkness everywhere for everyone
Plants, animals and people, too
Waiting anxiously for the Sun
to come shining through
Ay, no! El Sol no salio!
Perdido! Que paso? Quiza desaparecido!
Shivering cold, plants couldnt grow
Birds grew still, so filled with woe
Laughter died the world went blue
To come shining through
People grew afraid A big, black cloud
Theyd never seen such a day A big, black cloud
This never happened before A big, black cloud
No Sun anymore!
Bird's Eye View (SFHF)
(Written with students from Burleigh Elementary, Brookfield, WI)
If you could fly and see with the eyes of a bird
Spreading your wings, flying in rings till you've heard
The songs of the earth, the colors of life
Every beautiful sight
You'd see the world like I do, with a bird's eye view
Circling down through the sky
Rivers and fields rolling by
Spreading your wings---flying free
Over the tops of the trees
Mountains high, valleys low
Through them a wind river blows
Up where the airs crisp and clear
Touching the clouds drifting near
Blue rivers run through the land
Like veins in a gigantic hand
Wind through an ocean of grass
Waves rolling as it blows past
Circling the woodlands youll see
The broccoli tops of the trees
A patchwork of fields below
Like a crazy quilt sewn long ago
Grandmothers washboard, the lakes
Silvery rippling wakes
Blow Out The Pumpkin (SFHF)
(Written with students from Werner Elementary, Ft. Collins, CO)
Happy Halloween! Have a lot of fun!
But, blow out the pumpkin when you're done!
Ring a lot of bells! Trick or treat a ton!
Blow out the pump, blow out the pump
Blow out the pumpkin when you're done!
Eat a Witch's treats! Double Bubble gum!
Dress up as a ghost! Shiver everyone!
Rattling your bones... with a Skeleton
Eat a lot of sweets! Yummy, yummy, yum!
Blueberry Pickin Hat (J)
(For my sister Kat... and the old hat)
Grandma died so long ago, but I can still remember
The beat up old blue hat she wore
in the woods in early September
Off to a secret place she knew ripe with wild blueberries
And homeward in its upturned brim
a burst of blue she carried
And we sang: turn it over, fill it up to the rim
Take it home holding on by the brim
Juicy blue, round and fat
Lord, I still remember that blueberry pickin hat!
When we laugh now, lookin back,
the memory we treasure
Was helping her make recipes
where hatfuls were the measure
Grandma laughed once when I wished
she owned a hat  from Texas
(So thered be buckets full of blueberries
in every dish she fixed us!)
Grandma died, and I thought my days
of picking wild blueberries
Were good as gone... without Grandma
and the old blue hat she carried
But summer came, and from the wall
my oldest sister, Kat
Took down upon her golden curls
Grandmas old blue hat
Bones Of Man (W)
Wisconsin
May your waters flow
Through the tall dark pines
Where the forest flowers grow
And may you teach us
Someday to understand
That it's you who are the Master
Of the flesh and bones of Man
May your verdant hills
Always rise above the ages
And our mad desire to kill
And it's you who bear the secret
Of the long, dark ages past
I think I'm just beginning
To see it now, at last...
So may you teach us
That it's you who'll live forever
And absorb the bones of Man
Teach us
Boogedy Blues (LSK)
Ive begun to get the feeling
something lives under my bed!
I think its Six feet Seven
and I think its eyes are red!
Ive begun to get the feeling...
but I havent really checked...
Cause Im afraid of what might happen
if I crawl under to inspect!
Ive got those: Lights out! Bedtime! Boogedy Blues!
I looked under there in the daytime...
but all there was was dust
And a piece of an old sandwich
with moldy peanut butter crust
And a stocking I was missing.
That was allbut Im still scared!
Cause at night I get the feeling,
after Im tucked in bedits there!
I dont believe in Werewolves!
I dont believe in Frankenstein!
I dont believe in Vampires!
Theyre a silly waste of time!
I dont believe in Ghosts or Goblins!
But it fills my heart with dread...
Wondering who left that old sandwich
half-eaten underneath my bed!
The Boysie Boys (W2K)
Who are the Boysie Boys,
the Boysie Boys, the Boysie Boys?
Who are the Boysie Boys, Moon and Blue?
They've got white fur and a big, black nose
They bark and sniff wherever they goes
They like to sing in a howling tone
When Natalie's jammin' on the saxophone
They sleep in the kennel when they're all alone
They like to chew on the other one's bone
Their ears perk up when you ring the phone
And howl at the messages after the tone
We got these puppies when our other dog died
We didn't sit around even though we cried
We went right out to the country farm
And came home with a Boysie Boy under each arm
Fuzzy and warm
A livin', walkin', waggin', barkin' bundle of charm
When the mist is on the bayou
and a ghouls moons in the sky, you
Hear old-timers whisperin:
Is he comin back again?
The Zombie of the swampland waits
til autumn to re-animate
His arm uncanny lives to save
another game from beyond the grave
Brett... comes back
Golden leaves will swirl and spin
with training camp about to end
Through a Mississippi mound,
a claw-like hand, a scraping sound
Crunchy, popping knees will crack
through the swampy bayou black
One they all left for expired
rises, creaking, unretired
Musty jersey, number 4,
tattered, stained with mud and gore
Like a a grizzled ghost he comes,
haunting rival stadiums
Dropping back on creaking knees
to side-arm supernaturally
A sixty-yarder on a line
defying doubt and Father Time
Running for his after-life
on gimpy legs from monsters rife
With malice, rising from the pile
to flash his incandescent smile
Records fall. Crushed again,
bruised and battered, in the end
He limps away. But not before
a flashing scoreboard proves once more:
Seasons end, hell say hes quitting.
We see through him. Whos he kidding?
Hes transparent as the mist.
Broken finger? Ankle twist?
A hundred autumns hence the swamp
will hear his heart begin to thump,
A pigskin heart that cannot rest.
Is he coming back? Oh, yes.
Broccoli (W)
Listen carefully, boys and girls
My tale will make your toenails curl
It's about the leader of the free world
Who wouldn't eat his broccoli
His mother told him when he was small
He'd never get any respect at all
If he always whined and bawled
And wouldn't eat his broccoli
His Doctor said he'd look sickly and thin
His Dentists said it would twist his grin
And he'd have to wear glasses with dorky rims
'Cause he didn't eat his broccoli
It's true! It's true! It happened to George,
it could happen to you!
You will see: You've got to eat your broccoli!
His teacher said he would not remember
That Pearl Harbor was bombed in December
He'd say someday it occurred in September
His speech coach worried he'd sound like a simp
His gestures would look silly and limp
And politically he'd be branded a wimp
And if ever he ran for Head of State
He'd choose a chump for a running mate
He'd be doomed to pick someone seventh rate
Chorus, plus:
...or you could end up just like he!
Bubble, Bubble (ES)
Written with students from Plover-Whiting Elementary, Stevens Point, WI.
Oil spills, landfills, paper mills, whale kills
Ozone, car phones, broken bones, war zones
Oil fires, burning tires, lives lost, car exhaust
Acid rain, its insane, things are going down the drain!
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
Its time you wake up! Wake up on the double!
Sing it, shout it, dont dare to doubt it!
Its time to stand up and do something about it!
Spotted owl, wolves howl, think or theyll become extinct!
Elephants, rhinos, mink and fox for peoples clothes
Bald eagle, condors, dying on the ocean shore
Habitats and creatures dying,
can't you hear their voices crying?
Bringing forests to their knees,
substituting stumps for trees
Poison toxic waste solution, wa-wa-wa-water pollution
Pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, homicide
Crimes against humanity, crimes affecting you and me
Aluminum and tin cans, paper strewn across the land
Plastic bottles, motorcycles left in landfills unrecycled
Styrofoam, batteries, these are all insanities
Things we make and throw away,
just come back another day
Acid rain precipitation, fish with lots of strange mutations
Wildlife poachers, violaters, elephants and alligators
Toxic waste, midnight dumpers,
Rusty, leaky old gas-pumpers
These environmental crimes
got to stop while theres still time!
Butterfly (VF)
There was an egg stuck on a leaf up in a tree
It was so small it was difficult to see
High in the branches it clung and hung about
Until it opened and a fuzzy bug crawled out
Singin mmm, mmm... a little caterpillar
Mmm, mmm... changin everyday
Mmm, mmm... keep your eye upon it
Its gonna be a butterfly one day!
The hungry bug wanted food to eat
It looked around and spied a leaf so sweet
The tree had all the leaves a bug could want
Just like living in a tree house restaurant
The fuzzy bug wove itself a chrysalis
To undergo metamorphosis
And after many days and weeks went by
It finally came out as a soggy butterfly
Upon a leaf under the sun it dried its wings
Then flew around gathering tasty things
Like pollen, seeds and nectar sweet
Then laid its eggs, it's life-cycle complete
Bye Bye Song (W2K)
(from my musical The Travels Of Babar)
It's time to sing the Bye Bye Song
I'm gonna be back before long
Till then, be happy, well, and strong!
Bye Bye! Bye Bye!
Aufviedershein! Au revoire!
Adios! Sayonara!
Toodle Ooo! Farewell! Ta Ta!
Bye Bye! Bye Bye! Bye Bye! Bye Bye!
Arrivederci! Ciao! Adieu!
Salaam! Shalom! Good luck to you!
Hasta la vista! Ta ta, too!
Bye bye! Bye bye!
Don't forget to write a letter
A picture postcard now and then
Will make me feel a little better
Until I'm back again
Hey! Yeah! You! I'm gonna miss you!
No matter where the winds may blow
My heart will follow as you go
Until you bring it back in tow
So long! Happy Trails!
Guard your trunks! Watch your tails!
So long!
