EARTHY SONGS
Lyrics to ALL 26 Songs
all songs © KEN LONNQUIST 1997
1. Spooky River
Written for my musical The Travels Of Babar
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!
Welcome! Welcome… to the Spooky River
Ten thousand eyes on every side
And underwater as you glide
You know there’s no place you can hide
On the Spooky River
Ten million kinds of living things
That no one else has ever seen
But you’ve peeked through that veil of green
On the Spooky River
Welcome… to the Spooky River
Welcome… to the deep, dark river
Welcome… to the livin’ river
Welcome… to the Spooky River
You sense a savage shadow’s prowl
Anticipate a sudden growl
You jump when howler monkeys howl
On the Spooky River
There’s danger in this emerald place
Of life and mystery and grace
There’s danger… and it wears your face
On the Spooky River
Welcome… to the Spooky River
Welcome… to the deep, dark river
Welcome… to the livin’ river
Welcome… to the Spooky River
​
2. Little Bitty Frog
Oh, there was a frog
Just a little bitty frog
And the frog went "ribbit"
The frog went "ribbit"
There was a fly
Just a little bitty fly
And the fly went "bzzzzz"
And the fly went "bzzzzz"
The frog looked south
And he opened up his mouth
And his tongue went "schlurp"
And his tongue went "schlurp"
Then the fly was gone
Swallowed by the song
‘ Cause the frog went "gulp"
The frog went "gulp"
" Ribbit!" "Bzzzzz!" "Schlurp!" "Gulp!" "Burrrp!"
​
3. A Place At The Fire
Too many times we’re too suspicious
Too many times we think the worst
We’ve got to learn (wa-hoo)
about each other (wa-hoo)
So let these be the first
The first to see us all together
And hear the songs we sing
So they will know there is a place at the fire
For every living thing
Little bugs (wa-hoo) sit with the fishes (wa-hoo)
Fishes sit (wa-hoo) beside the fox (oo-oo-oo)
Foxes sit (wa-hoo) beside the bobcat (wa-hoo)
The mice with snakes and hawks (oo-oo-oo)
So let them see us all together
And hear the songs we sing
So they will know there is a place at the fire
For every living thing
Let them see us all together
And the gifts that each one brings
So they will know there is a place at the fire
For every living thing
Yes, they will know (wa-hoo-oo)
there is a place at the fire
For every living thing
​
4. (We've Blown The) Ozone
Written with students from Plover-Whiting Elementary, Stevens Point, Wis.
Well, Styrofoam and CFCs
In cans of cream and cheddar cheese
Right Guard and Vidal Sassoon,
Paint and bug spray and perfume
They’ve made a hole way up high
In the blue Antarctic sky. Why?
‘ Cause we’ve blown the Ozone
With spray cans and Styrofoam
So wear shades! Hide your face!
Or you’ll become a cancer case
Skin and bones, it’s well known
That we’ve blown the Ozone!
The refrigerator that holds your food
Messes up the Ozone, dude!
And air conditioners, don’t forget,
They hurt the Ozone, too, dudette!
You’re gonna have to wear shades day and night
To block the ultra-violet light!
​
‘ Cause we’ve blown the Ozone
With spray cans and Styrofoam
So wear shades! Hide your face!
Or you’ll become a cancer case
Skin and bones, it’s well known
That we’ve blown the Ozone!
Oh-oh, oh-oh, the Ozone!
Oh-oh, oh-oh, the Ozone!
Deodorant on your armpits
Gives the Ozone layer fits!
Glade perfume sprayed in the room
Brings toxic fumes and endless doom!
Even as the world is spinnin’
The Arctic Ozone layer’s thinnin’
​
‘ Cause we’ve blown the Ozone
With spray cans and Styrofoam
So wear shades! Hide your face!
Or you’ll become a cancer case
Skin and bones, it’s well known
That we’ve blown the Ozone!
5. Photosynthesize Me
" Wake up, sleepyhead!" cries the morning sun. "Photosynthesize me!
I got energy here for everyone---Photosynthesize me!
I got light little plants can use for food---Photosynthesize me!
In through their membranes... mmm, that's good---Photosynthesize me!
Wake up! Wake up!
There's a lot of light shining to take up
You better wake up! Wake up!
Soak it in, suck it up and store it away
Save it for a rainy day
The plants get their energy from me, when they---photosynthesize me
I'm the life-force of the greenery, 'cause they---photosynthesize me
My energy flows the whole world wide, 'cause they---photosynthesize me
Every plant's got a little sunshine inside, ‘cause they---photosynthesize me
Wake up! Wake up!
There's a lot of light shining to take up
You better wake up! Wake up!
Soak it in, suck it up and store it away
Save it for a rainy day
Now, the little bugs eating the leafy plants, that photosynthesize me
Are caught up in the photosynthetic dance, 'cause they photosynthesize me
Whatever eats whatever ate the plant that ate me, and photosynthesized me
Is drawing life from my energy, 'cause they photosynthesized me!
Wake up! Wake up!
There's a lot of light shining to take up
You better wake up! Wake up!
Soak it in, suck it up and store it away
Save it for a rainy day
They always have, they always will photosynthesize me
Of me plants like to have their fill, so they photosynthesize me
Chlorophyll, that is. Alright! Photosynthesize me!
Simple sugars, made from light. Photosynthesize me
Wake up! Wake up!
There's a lot of light shining to take up
You better wake up! Wake up!
Soak it in, suck it up and store it away
Save it for a rainy day
6. Little Tree
Written with students from Plover-Whiting Elementary, Stevens Point Wis.
Little tree, you will live on when I'm a memory
Little tree, grow tall and strong... and remember me
The trees breathe in, the trees breathe out, alive as you and me
Rooted in the earth, reaching for the sky, from sea to shining sea
Drinking water through their roots by rivers, lakes and streams
In mist and fog, rain and dew, dreaming secret dreams
​
Little tree, you will live on when I'm a memory
Little tree, grow tall and strong... and remember me
Red and yellow, green and brown, gold and orange, too
Black and white, with rustling leaves when winds come whistling through
Very old and very tall the trees reach toward the sky
Hundreds of feet, thousands of years before they'll ever die
​
Little tree, you will live on when I'm a memory
Little tree, grow tall and strong... and remember me
Through the years of lightning, thunder and rainfall
Ice and snow, fire and floods, you'll stand tall
​
Little tree, you will live on when I'm a memory
Little tree, grow tall and strong... and remember me
​
7. Flickerbug
Written for the Book-Tape A Place At The Fire
Flicker like a flickerbug
Flickering from heaven on a moonbeam, sure enough
Fly down the staircase of the stars above
Make like a moonbeam... shine like a star
‘Cause that’s what you are
Little thing taking wing
You can show the way for us to follow through the night
All that it takes is just a little light
Make like a moonbeam... shine like a star
‘Cause that’s what you are
Flickerbug, flickerbug, flickerbug I’ll follow
Where you go, down the road,
Through the woods and hollows
Like a magic lantern in the sky
Fly... fly... fly...
8. Water
Written with 4th Graders at Cato-Meridian Elementary, Cato, NY
Oh, there's water that ripples, water that's calm
Water in the coconuts hangin' from the palm
Tidal waves and hurricanes and whirlpools
Hot spring water, water cold and cool, and it's
Water, water, the world's got a whole lot of water!
Water, water, water all over the world!
There's water above, water below
Clouds full of rain and ice and snow
Aquifers below us and artesian springs
Bubbling up to fill your cup and make you wanna sing, about
Water, water, the world's got a whole lot of water!
Water, water, water all over the world!
Water for fishes, water for trees
Gnats and bats and grizzly bears and bumble bees
And what about the farmer plantin' little seeds?
Every livin' thing upon the planet needs, a little
​
Water, water, the world's got a whole lot of water!
Water, water, water all over the world!
Superior and Huron and Ontario
Michigan and Erie caught up in the flow
Atlantic and Pacific deep and blue
And ninety percent of both me and you, is made of
​
Water, water, the world's got a whole lot of water!
Water, water, water all over the world!
Oh, there's plenty of water in the deep blue sea
But that's not the kind good for you and me
There's precious little left fit for us to drink
That's why it's high time everybody stopped—to think about
​
Water, water, the world's got a whole lot of water!
Water, water, water all over the world!
Falling from the sky
Water all over the world!
In the river rolling by
Water all over the world!
In every tear you cry
Water ...all over ...the world!
​
9. Metamorphosis
Written for the Milwaukee Public Museum’s "Butterfly" installation, featuring a puppet video in which a Caterpillar is serenaded by four admiring Beetles!
Caterpillar: "Who are you?"
Beetle 1: "We’re The Beetles!"
Beetle 2: "We’re only here for the song, love."
Beetles: Metamorphosis --- There’s gonna be a big change! Metamorphosis ---
Caterpillar: I feel a little bit strange…
Beetle 3: "Look, lads! She’s shedding her skin!"
Beetle 4: "So that’s how the changes begin…"
Beetle 1: "It’s fab, really…"
Beetles: Her chrysalis is cozy… Goodbye caterpillar, say "So long!"
Caterpillar: There’s gonna be a change in me
By the time I finish this song!
Beetles: Metamorphosis --- There’s gonna be a big change! Metamorphosis --- Caterpillar: I’m starting to re-arrange!
Beetles: She’ll start to feel strange
Her looks are gonna change
Her parts will rearrange
This all takes days and days…
Beetle 2: "Ho-hum…"
Beetle 3: "Until…"
Caterpillar: "I don’t feel like a caterpillar anymore. I feel like a… butterfly!"
Beetles: Metamorphosis --- Different in every way! Metamorphosis ---
Caterpillar: Made me what I a-am today!
Beetles: Oooh!
10. Before We Came
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
They were here before we came
Morning marsh alive with sound
Moon rise up, sun sinking down
Into a forest thick with trees
Where creatures hide beneath the leaves
They were here before we came
Before we even dreamed their names
They were here before we came
Swimming deep through waters blue
On dry land, life sprang and grew
A blue-green planet, deep in space
With a life-giving embrace
They were here before we came
Before we even dreamed their names
They were here before we came
11. The Nile Is Wild
Written with Kindergarten students from Stormonth Elementary, Fox Point, WI
Oh, the Nile is wild and the Nile is free
A river in A-F-R-I-C…A, Africa
It’s longer than an elephant’s nose
It twists and turns like a giant snake
A hundred thousand hippos
Could hide inside it’s giant wake
Oh, the Nile is wild and the Nile is free
A river in A-F-R-I-C… A, Africa
It roars like lions do
Over rocks and rapids and waterfalls
Running swift and blue
It’s deeper than a giraffe is tall
Oh, the Nile is wild and the Nile is free
A river in A-F-R-I-C…A, Africa
It’s wild as a crocodile
It’s faster than a cheetah runs
With ripples mile after mile
Like a zebra’s stripes in the jungle sun
Oh, the Nile is wild and the Nile is free
A river in A-F-R-I-C…A, Africa
It charges over the rocks
Like rhinos north, south, east and west
Thumping on the shore it talks
Like a big gorilla pounding it’s chest
Oh, the Nile is wild and the Nile is free
A river in A-F-R-I-C…A, Africa
12. Water Wheel Song
Oh, the rain rains down upon the ground
And the rivers run… to the sea they’re bound
And the rain rains down upon the ground
And the rivers run, to the sea they’re bound
The steam steams up when the sun shines down
And the water wheel goes ‘round and ‘round
13. Island Of Life
Written for the Book-Tape A Place At The Fire
The world we live in is a floating place
A tiny island in the sea of space
Other islands out there, there may be
But none like this one in the galaxy
This is an ay-yi-yisland… an island of li-yi-yife
Voices are sing-ing-ing-ing… the fruit is rich and ri-yi-yipe!
Everything grow-wo-woing… everything sing-ing-ing
This is the ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yisland of li-ving things!
Here is an island afloat in a sea
Of smoking smokestacks and old factories
This tiny island where things still can live
And give the world what no smokestack can give
This is an ay-yi-yisland… an island of li-yi-yife
Voices are sing-ing-ing-ing… the fruit is rich and ri-yi-yipe!
Everything grow-wo-woing… everything sing-ing-ing
This is the ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yisland of li-ving things!
​
​
14. Kirtland's Warbler
Written for the Book-Tape A Place At The Fire
I am a Kirtland’s Warbler. I live in Jack-pine forests!
A special kind of soil is important for us!
We need low, bushy branches growing just above the ground
To hide our nests which only in the tall grass can be found
Have you heard a blue-gray bird with a yellow, yellow breast?
Twitchy tail, a voice that sails loud and clear above the rest?
It’s a warbler, warbler, warbler… a Kirtland’s Warbler!
A warbler, warbler, warbler… a Kirtland’s Warbler!
Warbling out it’s song… listen close! Sing along!
The kind of forests that we need fast were disappearing…
But people started talking, and people started hearing!
Now things are getting better for warblers like me
‘Cause people started saving forests and planting trees!
Have you heard a blue-gray bird with a yellow, yellow breast?
Twitchy tail, a voice that sails loud and clear above the rest?
It’s a warbler, warbler, warbler… a Kirtland’s Warbler!
A warbler, warbler, warbler… a Kirtland’s Warbler!
Warbling out it’s song… listen close! Sing along!
15. Life Is A Web
Written for the Book-Tape A Place At The Fire
Life is a web of many threads
Woven together, living and dead
We’ve got to be careful, ‘cause if a tear starts
The web of creation could all come apart
That’s why we’re gathered here
Same as we do every year
We’re checkin’ the threads
Cause life is a web
​
​
16. Animals In The Big Woods
Written with students at Nerstrand School, Nerstrand, MN
In… the… Big… Woods…
In the … Big Woods
In the Big Woods, In the Big Woods
There are animals
Lots of animals
Many animals
In the woods!
Bears… Frogs… Owls… Wolves
They live near us in the Woods
They’re part of our neighborhood
Just like any boy or girl
They’re a special part of our world!
In… the… Big… Woods…
In the … Big Woods
In the Big Woods, In the Big Woods
There are animals
Lots of animals
Many animals
In the woods!
17. Bat
Written with 5th Graders at Burleigh Elementary, Brookfield, Wisconsin
They don’t really like you—you’re misunderstood
They think you’re disgusting—but 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
Bat—Bat—my beautiful, beautiful
Bat—Bat—my beautiful, beautiful Bat
Since I met you my heart just goes pitter-pat, Bat!
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
ou don’t fly in our hair—our blood you don’t drink
Bat—Bat—my beautiful, beautiful
Bat—Bat—my beautiful, beautiful Bat
Since I met you my heart just goes pitter-pat, Bat!
18. Nocturnal
Written with students at McKinley Elementary, Appleton, Wis.
Nocturnal! Nocturnal!
Late at night, what a sight, when there’s no kind of light: Nocturnal!
Foot-long centipedes, oh, yeah! Fruit, Fox, Vampire bats, oh, yeah!
Kapuchen monkeys, Spider, Ring-tail, too… Howlers howl all night at you!
Things that go "bump" in the night
Tend to sleep when things are bright
They’ve adapted different ways
Whether predator or prey
Nocturnal! Nocturnal!
Late at night, what a sight, when there’s no kind of light: Nocturnal!
Colorful, poisonous frogs, oh, yeah! Tropical screech-owls, oh, yeah!
Ladybugs, leaf-cutter ants, katydids, Beetles that make you flip your lids!
Fragrant plants are smelled unseen
Snakes have heat-sensors so keen
They don’t need light, night makes ‘em smile…
That’s the nocturnal life-style!
Nocturnal! Nocturnal!
Late at night, what a sight, when there’s no kind of light: Nocturnal!
Hummingbirds, Toucans, oh, yeah! Parrots and Macaws, oh, yeah!
The giant Anaconda squeezes you The Boa Constrictor squeezes, too…
19. Bubble, Bubble
Written with 5th Graders from Plover-Whiting Elementary, Stevens Point, Wis.
Oil spills, landfills, paper mills, whale kills
Ozone, car phones, broken bones, war zones
Oil fires, burning tires, lives lost, car exhaust
Acid rain, it’s insane, things are going down the drain!
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
It’s time you wake up! Wake up on the double!
Sing it, shout it, don’t dare to doubt it!
It’s time to stand up and do something about it!
Spotted owl, wolves howl, think or they’ll become extinct!
Elephants, rhinos, mink and fox for people’s clothes
Bald eagle, condors, dying on the ocean shore
Habitats and creatures dying, can’t you hear their voices crying?
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
It’s time you wake up! Wake up on the double!
Sing it, shout it, don’t dare to doubt it!
It’s time to stand up and do something about it!
​
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
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
It’s time you wake up! Wake up on the double!
Sing it, shout it, don’t dare to doubt it!
It’s time to stand up and do something about it!
​
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
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
It’s time you wake up! Wake up on the double!
Sing it, shout it, don’t dare to doubt it!
It’s time to stand up and do something about it!
​
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 there’s still time!
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
It’s time you wake up! Wake up on the double!
Sing it, shout it, don’t dare to doubt it!
It’s time to stand up and do something about it!
20. Volcano Land
Written with students from V.L. Murray Elementary, Charlottesville, Va.
Hey, Mon! Welcome to the Volcano Land!
Dancing in obsidian sand
Boogie-ing as fast as you can
To a red-hot mountain band!
Everybody rockin’, talkin’ subduction
One plate can’t wait pushin’ up against another one
One goes under and you’re gonna get a eruption
When it melts then everybody better study how to run!
Hey, Mon! Welcome to the Volcano Land!
Dancing in obsidian sand
Boogie-ing as fast as you can
To a red-hot mountain band!
​
Lava blows and flows from the vents of the mountain
Then cools in pools turnin’ to a rock called "igneous"
Pushed below the pressure gonna grow and it changes
Sedimentary and metamorphic make the crust
You better give your wardrobe close inspection
Barefoot’s no good when the molten lava starts to flow
Grass skirt never gonna give you enough protection
You’ll be sorry when the big Volcano explodes
Hey, Mon! Welcome to the Volcano Land!
Dancing in obsidian sand
Boogie-ing as fast as you can
To a red-hot mountain band!
​
Mountain passes sulfur gas that smells funky
Green and yellow from the magma chamber fills the air
Now the Richter Scale is trembling, the monkeys
Fall from palm trees! Grab your monkey-tail and get out of there!
Hey, Mon! Welcome to the Volcano Land!
Dancing in obsidian sand
Boogie-ing as fast as you can
To a red-hot mountain band!
​
21. Deadly Levels Of Gas
Deadly levels of gas… deadly levels of gas…
Eight million homes in America have deadly levels of gas…
It use to be a problem we were willing to let pass
But now it’s gone too far and we’ve got deadly levels of gas!
It’s not the kind you’re thinking of! You know I wouldn’t be crass!
You don’t need beans in your blue jeans to get deadly levels of gas!
​
Deadly levels of gas… deadly levels of gas…
Eight million homes in America have deadly levels of gas…
Radon underneath your home is where the trouble starts
The gas builds up, and Earth lets rip with seismological farts!
And then the news will circulate till everyone knows, at last:
Your home’s no longer liveable ‘cause of deadly levels of gas!
​
Deadly levels of gas… deadly levels of gas…
Eight million homes in America have deadly levels of gas…
22. Toucan
Written with 3rd Grade students at Stormonth School, Fox Point, WI
Follow that vine, that vine that winds, winds through the trees so serpentine
There’s Bugs there... Butterflies... Birds in the trees and in the skies
Follow that vine, that vine that winds, shadows blind you till you find
There’s Lizards... Red-Eyed Frogs... croaking in the swamps and bogs
And the Toucan sings and flaps it’s wings and says, "This is our home!
We need your help, but you can’t help us working all alone!"
One can’t save the Rainforest, but two can, Toucan!
If we work together, me and you can, Toucan!
Listen to that bird that sings above with brightly colored wings:
One can’t save the Rainforest, but two can, Toucan!
Follow that vine, that vine that winds, winds through the trees so serpentine
There’s Bats there... eyes so blind... Sucker-footed, and the Vampire kind
Follow that vine, that vine that winds, shadows blind you till you find
There’s Beetles... clouds of Gnats... Three-Toed Sloths and Jungle Cats
And the Toucan sings and flaps it’s wings and says, "This is our home!
We need your help, but you can’t help us working all alone!"
One can’t save the Rainforest, but two can, Toucan!
If we work together, me and you can, Toucan!
Listen to that bird that sings above with brightly colored wings:
One can’t save the Rainforest, but two can, Toucan!
Follow that vine, that vine that winds, winds through the trees so serpentine
There’s Monkeys... chattering... Through the canopy they swing
Follow that vine, that vine that winds, shadows blind you till you find
The Howler... Spider, too... keeping a close watch on you
And the Toucan sings and flaps it’s wings and says, "This is our home!
We need your help, but you can’t help us working all alone!"
One can’t save the Rainforest, but two can, Toucan!
If we work together, me and you can, Toucan!
Listen to that bird that sings above with brightly colored wings:
One can’t save the Rainforest, but two can, Toucan!
23. This Shall Forever Be
Written for my musical The Travels Of Babar
Long live the King! Long live us, one and all! Now and forever!
Long live the Queen! Long may our voices call! Keep us together!
’Til the River rolls up in heaven, honey
And the stars fill the sea
Great and small, we will sing together:
This is, this shall forever be!
Long live the ivory and the elephant! Keep them together!
Long live the Rhino, with his horn out front Now and forever!
’Til the River rolls up in heaven, honey
And the stars fill the sea
Great and small, we will sing together:
This is, this shall forever be!
Long live Giraffes! Long may the Monkeys smile! Keep Lions prideful!
Watch out you Wacka Birds and Crocodiles… Be ever mindful!
’Til the River rolls up in heaven, honey
And the stars fill the sea
Great and small, we will sing together:
This is, this shall forever be!
Shambala… Shangri-La… Shambala… Shangri-La…
’Til the River rolls up in heaven, honey
And the stars fill the sea
Great and small, we will sing together:
This is, this shall forever be!
24. Wild Bird Round
Written for an International Migratory Bird Day celebration
Birds are turning
In the wind you can hear them again
They cry high over the world
25. Spooky Reprise
There’s danger in this emerald place
Of life and mystery and grace
There’s danger… and it wears your face
On the Spooky River
​
26. People Everywhere
Written for the Book-Tape A Place At The Fire
All we need are People
People who will care
Caring, sharing People
People everywhere
Everywhere you go, you know
There’s people doing things they really shouldn’t do
But people never seem to really have a clue
They never think it through
Poison spilling everywhere
Into the air and water and the land we share
They act as if it’s none of their concern or care
No wonder we despair!
All we need are People
People who will care
Caring, sharing People
People everywhere
Well, how much longer can we last
If people use the future like they’ve used the past?
The wild habitats are disappearing fast
Now the dye is cast
People pushing wild things
Out of the places where we live and sing
How can we hope to cling
To home with all the changes people always bring?
All we need are People
People who will care
Caring, sharing People
People everywhere
All we need are People
People who will care
Caring, sharing People
People everywhere