The Crocodile

Well, gather around me, children,
To tell the truth I’m bound
Here’s a story about when I went to sea
and the wonders that I found
Shipwrecked was I one wintery day
and cast out on the shore
I decided I’d wander away,
the country to explore, explore
the country to explore
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
I decided I’d wander away,
the country to explore, the country to explore

Well, I had not long walked about
when there beside the ocean
T’was there that I saw something move
like all the world in motion
Well, I steered close up beside the thing
And I saw it was a great big crocodile
From the end of its nose to the tip of its tail
was about 500 miles, was about 500 miles
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
From the end of his nose to the tip of his tail
was about 500 miles, about 500 miles.

Now the crocodile I could plainly see
was none of the common race
And I had to climb a big tall tree
before I could see its face
But the wind was blowing hard up there,
it was blowing a gale from the south
and I lost my hold on the big tall tree
and I fell right into the crocodile’s mouth,
smack dab into the crocodile’s mouth
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
Lost my hold on the big tall tree
and I fell right into the crocodile’s mouth,
smack dab into the crocodile’s mouth.

Well, the crocodile closed his jaws on me
He was gonna nab a victim
But I ran down his throat, you see,
and that’s the way that I tricked him
And I wandered around for a year or two
until I finally reached his craw
And there was rum kegs, not a few,
and a thousand pullets in store, in store
a thousand pullets in store
Well, toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
There was rum kegs, not a few,
and a thousand pullets in store,
and a thousand pullets in store.

And I wandered around for a year or two
For grub I wasn’t stinted
For I lived in the crocodile 10 years
Very very well contented, very very well contented
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
Toodle oodle oodle oodle lum di yay
I lived in the crocodile 10 years
Very very well contented, very very well contented

Now the crocodile was very very old
At late long last, he died
And he took 6 months to catch a cold,
he was so long and wide
And his skin was 10 miles thick, I think,
or somewhere there about
For I was fully six months, boys,
in a-digging my way out

Jimmie Rodgers is most famous for his string of Top 10 hits from the late 50s. It began in 1957 with his No. 1 hit “Honeycomb,” followed up with “Kisses Sweeter than Wine” which rose to No. 3 that same year. Jimmie recorded “The Crocodile” for a folk album, released in 1958. Other popular songs on the album include “Waltzing Matilda”, “Bo Diddley”, “The Riddle Song”, “Froggy Went A’Courtin'” and “Fox and The Goose”.