Pete Seeger - Abiyoyo Lyrics

AbiyoyoStory by Pete Seegertraditional African music arranged by Rev. HCN Williams and JN MaselwaChorus:Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, AbiyoyoAbiyoyo, yoyoyo, yoyoyoOnce upon a time there was a little boy whoplayed the ukelele. He'd go around town,'Blmp, blmp, blmp, blmp, blmp, blmp, blmp,bImp blmp blmp, blmp blmp, blmp!'Grown-ups said "Get that thing out of here!"Not only that, the boy's father was a gettin'in trouble. He was a magician. He had amagic wand. He could go 'Zoop! Zoop!' makethings disappear. But the father played toomany tricks on people. Somebody doing ahard job of work, 'zzt, zzt, zzt', up comes thefather with his magic wand, 'Zoop!' no saw.Come to someone about to drink a nice coldglass of something, 'Zoop!' the glassdisappears, He'd come to someone aboutto sit down after a hard day's work, 'Zoopl'no chair.People said to the father, "You get outof here, too. Take your magic wand andyour son!" The boy and his father wereostracized. That means they made themlive on the edge of town.Now in this town they used to tell stories.The old people used to tell stories aboutthe giants that lived in the old days Theyused to tell a story about a giant calledAbiyoyo. They said he was as tall as ahouse and could eat... people... up.Of course, nobody believed it, but theytold the story anyway.One day, one day, the sun rose, blood redover the hill. And the first people got upand looked out of their window, they saw agreat big shadow in front of the sun. Andthey could feel the whole ground shake.'Stomp, stomp'. Women screamed, 'Ahh!'Strong men fainted "Ohh!" - "Run foryour lives! Abiyoyo's coming!"He came to the sheep pasture, grabs awhole sheep, 'Yeowp!' Comes to the cowpasture, grabs a whole cow, 'Yeowp!'Daniel, "Grab your most preciouspossessions and run! Run!" Just then theboy and his father woke up "Hey, Paw,what's coming over the field?" - Oh, Son,that's Abiyoyo. Oh, if I could only get himto lie down, I could make him disappear."The boy said "Come with me, Father." Hegrabs his father by one hand. The fathergets the magic wand, the boy gets theukelele. They run across the field. Peopleyelled, "Don't go near him! He'll eat youalive!" There was Abiyoyo. He had longfingernails cause he never cut 'em.Slobbery teeth, cause he didn't brushthem. Stinking feet, 'cause he didn't wash'em. He raised up with his claws, the boywhips out his ukelele and starts to sing.ChorusWell, you know the giant had never heard a songabout himself before, and a foolish grin spreadover the giant's face. And the giant started todance "Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo," the boywent faster, "Abiyoyo, yoyoyo, yoyoyo. Abiyoyo,Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo," The giantgot out of breath. He staggered. He fell down flaton the ground 'Zoop!, Zoop!' people looked outthe window, Abiyoyo disappeared.They ran across the fields. They lifted the boyand his father up on their shoulders. They said,"Come back to town. Bring your damn ukelele,we don t care anymore!" And they all sang:Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo(Oh, you sing it with me,)Abiyoyo Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo�1963, 1964 (Renewed) Fall River Music, Inc.All Rights Reserved.