The Eleventh of February
© 2005 By Margaret Middleton
Fits the “Sixth of January” fiddle tune,
aka “Battle of New Orleans” (Jimmy Driftwood lyric)
(capo as-needed for
your voice)
C F
[V 1] Innn… twenty-ought-four
in the month of Feb-a-ree
G7 C
One fellow took a
kayak out, to look at scenery
C F
On the Bayou De View,
where the current runs slow,
G7 C .
And he didn’t quite
believe it was an I’vry-bill he saw!
Spoken: “But they’re
extinct!”
[V 2] The word spread fast all across the internet,
Though most folks figured
that it was a sucker-bet.
A Cornell ornithologist was
of a dif’frent kind;
When the bird flew in front
of him he nearly lost his mind!
C G7 C
[Chorus] Well, they… Packed their bags and they headed for the Big Woods
G7 C
They took along a tape
recorder and a video
G7 C
They got in touch with the fellow in the kayak,
C G7 C
And paddled-out
a-hoping for an Iv’ry Bill to show.
C .
[Bridge]Oh they waded
through the briars and they waded through the brambles
G7 C
And they floated through the
swamps where the tourists never go…
G7 C
They paddled so far that Verizon
couldn’t hear ‘em!
G7 C
And came back home with a trophy video!
Spoken:” Well, they didn’t used to go out in the swamp,
but at least one duck hunting guide
over in that part of Arkansas
is now booking Ivory-bill Search Tours in the off-season.”
[V3 ]
Well, the Good God Bird is
rarely seen today
Since the loggers cut the
forest back and people came to stay.
Clearing land for farming
back a hundred years ago,
Left no place much for an
Iv’ry Bill to go!
[chorus again]
Spoken:” Now, any good ballad needs some dramatic conflict,
and sure enough,
some OTHER ornithology profs didn’t think the video was quite convincing.”
[V4]
A professor up at Yale said
“I’m really from Missouri
And I think you fellows were
in too much of a hurry”.
But the tape recordings that
were made convinced him it was true:
”I believe you really saw it, and in fact, I think there’s two!”
[chorus and bridge again]
Spoken: “In the interest of accurate reportage
(rather than simply printing the legend)
I must point out that the Arkansas search team
feels that they’ve got a WHOLE LOT MORE hours
of audio footage to listen through
before they start comparing voice prints of specific recorded calls
for matches and differences”