3382. The Kookaburra Song (by Marion Sinclair) Old Fokeys Zoom Concert

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This was the last song I sang in the November Old Fokeys Zoom Concert of songs for the Young and Young at Heart.

Marion Sinclair wrote the song in 1932 for a contest being held by the Victorian Girl Guides. The competition was for an "Australian round" song. Her song, "The Kookaburra Song" won and was introduced by Marion at the World Jamboree in Frankston, Victoria in 1934. It was instantly a hit with the girls and has become a much loved song all over the world.

Note for non-Australians: A gum tree is a name for the eucalyptus tree, the most common tree in Australia.

The song was involved in a copyright dispute with the Australian band Men at Work over their song Down Under.

There have been several parodies of this song and I usually include some of them when I sing it.

In 2017, I sang this song with my four-year-old granddaughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0JmZElNaSA

Lyrics and chords:
C …............... F …............ C
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
…................... F …............. C
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
F …............................ C
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
….............. F …........ C
Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Stop, Kookaburra, stop, Kookaburra
Save some of those for me!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see.
Stop, Kookaburra, stop, Kookaburra
That's not a monkey, that's me!

Kookaburra sits on the electric wire,
Jumping up and down with his pants on fire.
Ouch, Kookaburra, ouch! Kookaburra,
Hot your tail must be!

Kookaburra sits on the railroad track.
Better get off or he'll be flat.
Run, Kookaburra run, Kookaburra – (clap!)
Well, that's the end of that!

A playlist of my children's songs is here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=PL9A4DBB328B5832A5

You can see a playlist of my Australian songs here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=PL0DE11C284435E7A2

Lyrics and chords of many of my songs are no longer available, as my website has expired. I am currently posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos and those that are too long to post in full will be found on my new website: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com