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”