Bullfrog Lyrics - Singles - Bobby Darin

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.