"Abiyoyo" lyrics - RAFFI

Once upon a time there was a little boy, who played a ukulele
He'd go around town clink, clunk, CLONK!

The grown-ups would say: Take that thing out of here!
Not only that. The boy's father would get in trouble, too
His father was a magician and he had a magic wand. He could go Zooop!
With it, and make things disappear

But he played too many tricks on people
He'd come up to someone just about to drink a nice glass of something
Zoop! The glass would disappear

He'd come up to someone doing some work-maybe sawing off a log of wood:
Zzt, zzt, zzt. Up comes the father with his magic wand: Zoop! And
The saw would disappear

He would come up to someone just about to sit down after a hard day's
Work, and zoop! No chair
People got tired of this. They said to the father:
Hey you get out of here too. Take your magic wand and your practical
Jokes and you and your son, just git!"
They ostracized them. That means, they
Made 'em live on the edge of town
Now, in this town, they used to tell stories
The old people used to tell stories about the giants that lived in the old
Days!

They used to tell a story about a giant called Abiyoyo
They said he was as tall as a tree, and he could eat people up
Of course, nobody believed it; but they told these stories anyway
But one day, one day, the sun rose red over the hill
And the first people that got up and looked out of their window
They saw a great big shadow in front of the sun. And they could feel
The whole ground shake (Stomp, stomp.)
Women screamed. Strong men fainted. They said: "Run for your lives!
Abiyoyo's coming!"

Down through the fields he came. He came to the sheep pasture and
Grabs a whole sheep. Yeowp! He eats it in one bite. He comes to the cow
Pasture, grabs a whole cow and Yuhk! Gone

People yelled: "Grab your most precious possessions and run!"
Just then the boy and his father were waking up. They'd been up late the
Night before at a party. The boy rubbed his eyes and said:
"Hey, pa, what's coming over the fields"
The father said: "Oh, son. That's Abiyoyo

Oh, if only I could get him to lie down, I could make him disappear."
The boy said, "Come with me father." He grabbed his father by the hand
And the father grabbed the magic wand, and the boy grabbed his ukulele
And over the fields they went, right up to where Abiyoyo was
People screamed "Don't go near him! He'll eat you alive!"
There was Abiyoyo

He had long fingernails, 'cause he never cut 'em
He had slobbery teeth 'cause he never brushed them
He had stinking feet, cause he never washed them
He was raising up his claws and just then the boy whipped out his
Ukulele

Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo
Abiyoyo, yo yoyo yo yoyo
Abiyoyo, yo yoyo yo yoyo

Well, the giant had never heard a song about himself before, and a
Foolish grin spread across his face. And the giant started to dance
ABIYOYO, ABIYOYO, ABIYOYO
The boy went faster
ABIYOYO, ABIYOYO, ABIYOYO, ABIYOYO
ABIYOYO, YO YOYO, YO YOYO ABIYOYO, YO YOYO...

And the giant was dancing faster, and faster he got out of breath and
He staggered. He fell down flat on the ground
Zoop, zoop! Went the father with his magic wand, and Abiyoyo disappeared
People streamed out of their houses, and they ran across the fields
They said: "Why, he's gone, he's disappeared!"
They said: "Come back to town. And sure, bring your ukulele; we don't care."
And they all sang:
Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo
Abiyoyo, yo yoyo yo yoyo, Abiyoyo, yo yoyo yo yoyo