Bobby Darin - Bullfrog Lyrics






I was sittin' by the bank on a hollow stump
When I thought I heard me a bullfrog jump
Turned around and sure enough there he sat
He said excuse me, buddy, but I've been readin' your news
And I'm sorry to say that I'm a little confused
You bein' human, well you'd know where it's at.

He said I read where this old world's gonna fold
And all on account of a think called gold
And that's somethin' hard for us frogs to understand
Now you're lookin' at me like I'm kinda funny
But where I live we don't have no money
So we want to be hip to the happ'nin's here on land.

Now I thought I was stoned so I started walkin'
I mean whoever heard of a bullfrog talkin'
But then I realized I hadn't been grazin' in no grain
So I figured I'd tell him just what I thought
'bout how gold was sold and how gold was bought
And he'd understand our world when I explained.

I said it all started a long time ago
When the people first learned to reap and sow
They got all the things they needed right out of the earth
Like how many leaves and how many trees
Would it take to cover up the anatomies
And that's how you figured how much a suit of clothes was worth.

Well then man he learned how to milk a cow
And how to till the soil with a stone blade plow
And he kept so busy he never had time to do you harm
Then he'd take his produce and all that milk
And go into town and trade them for silk
So his woman she'd look sharp down at the farm.

Well the bullfrog let out a belly croak
Like I'd told him some kind of a joke
And he said I think you're jivin' me my man
(what me?)
I said I know it sounds kinda mystifyin'
But the truth of the matter is I ain't lyin'
I mean I ain't talkin' no bullfrog, you understand?

He said now don't get upset I'm not agin' you
You just go ahead, go ahead and continue
And I'll be quiet and try to understand
He said I know about trees and leaves and plants
And milk and silk and the farmer's romance
But what's this thing the call supply and demand?

I said well I grow cotton and you grow corn
And you find your dungarees are all worn
And me well I got to have somethin' to eat
You see? So I make you some brand new threads
And now you bake me some fresh corn bread
Pretty soon we'll have shops across the street.

Well this didn't work, or so we've been told
And at that time they didn't know about gold
So they all agreed they'd measure their goods in salt
Well that idea had an early endin'
'cause they were eatin' more than they were spendin'
And besides, whoever heard of keepin' salt in a vault.

Well folks said gold was the thing to use
To pay for stuff like from ships to shoes
But it weighed too much and it looked too good to spend
So round about sixteen hundred and ninety
Somebody started usin' foldin' money
And that's the tale, my friend, from end to end.

Well I thought it was a damn good explanation
I mean a real attempt at communication
And I only had me schoolin' up until the time I was ten
But the bullfrog right before he hopped away
Well I could have sworn I heard him say
Your world is still in the tadpole stage, my friend.





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Bobby Darin Bullfrog Comments
  1. A.... S....

    Hope a war with North Korea wouldnt happen

  2. A.... S....

    I saved the world oance again from another threat North Korea in 2029 then i returned in 2019

  3. A.... S....

    After this rapish song a bit i will be off to bed

  4. N.... D....

    Chunky and funky as hell - top tune and Bobby D is so underrated and this guy was a genius !

  5. R.... ....

    Incredible. "We want to be hip to the happenings here". Psychedelic & not a drug in sight. Ability not unlike Dylan I say. Clear genius.

  6. w.... ....

    Bob's so called 'Folk days' came way after his hit singles days, and way after his nightclub show days. After hearing the songs and words of Tim Hardin that changed his entire life, he decided to become a folk singer whilst his audiences still requested Mack the Knife etc. Had he not died soon after this song had been released, I reckon he could have been bigger than Dylan.

  7. E.... N....

    It's like an early rap.

  8. k.... ....

    Sounds like something Jerry Reed would have done

  9. h.... ....

    Wrong description above. Not "folk days". These were Bobby's RAP/HIP-HOP, "come-to-his-full-senses" days, when he saw clearly how fucked up American CRAPitalism is. And he already saw CRONY CRAPitalism, which is destroying 99% of us, for the sole benefit of 1%. Which is one of the reasons the Establishment buried Bobby Darin's work when he died at age 37. They did not want his huge fan base to even know that he composed masterpieces like this, Simple Song of Freedom, Questions, and a whole lot more. Because these later masterpieces foretold the ever worsening environmental and economic wreckage of the U.S. that the Establishment has forced on the unthinking masses.

  10. h.... ....

    Birth of rap, hip hop....

    h.... ....

    Kidding!?!?

  11. K.... E....

    My father, Jerry Hansen, was the recording engineer on this album. I am so proud that he was part of this amazing work.

    K.... E....

    That's impressive Kai,Have you any tales to tell us about the genius that was Bobby Darin.

    K.... E....

    No, I wish I did.  My father was killed in 1970 when I was 12 so I didn't have a chance to really appreciate what he was doing and who he was working with.  I know that until Bobby Darin died he would contact my mother to see how we were doing.

    K.... E....

    +Kai Ellis Hi Kai sorry this reply to your reply is late. Thanks for answering me. Sorry to hear about your dad,it must have been a tough time for you and your family. Jerry was obviously a very talented man. It's nice to know Bobby kept in touch with your mum. It's a great album,very different from most of Bobby's other stuff. This track Bullfrog has some very clever lyrics, and the tune is very catchy, don't you think? I bet your dad was tapping his foot along to the music whilst working. Thanks for the reply.

    K.... E....

    Awesome work, Kai! This LP is one of the GREAT masterpieces...hence, few Americans have been allowed to know about it. I'm grateful to YT and the uploaders who have brought it to my late attention.

  12. Z.... ....

    This song is so funny! Bobby recounts the history of mercantilism and many other things through a conversation with a frog! Could you possibly be original than that! Plus it is the first rap song. Except that this one actually makes sense and teaches you something.

    Z.... ....

    Bobby composed everything on this LP with all due seriousness (although in this one he's using Mark Twainesque humor to make us listen). The message is utterly serious though. And look what CRONY CRAPitalism has done to America and Americans and to the environment.

    Z.... ....

    Look at rap now huh, funny.

  13. C.... R....

    Darin was so talented it was like he was from another planet. Sinatra's closest friends told many people on the sly that Frank was intimidated by him. It's obvious why.  The guy could sing jazz, pop, R&B, folk-rock, etc. and he was a gargantuan live performer. Sammy Davis, Jr. and Wayne Newton both said he was far superior to them. He was a superb impersonator, musician, composer, arranger, and actor. He was nominated for Three Golden Globe awards for best actor (and won two), won the French Film Critics award for best actor, was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor; is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Las Vegas Hall of Fame (highest paid performer of all time at the time of his death); he is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Sinatra told his and Darin's mutual friend, actor Richard Bakalyan: "the truth is, nobody was better than Bobby Darin." Imagine what he would have accomplished had he lived more than just thirty-seven years.

    C.... R....

    Awesome post, Chris. THANKS. It seemes The Powers that Be did their best to BURY WRC after he was gone, so the American People wouldn't heed his late career/life messages. I think this LP was his BEST, and how many Americans even today (even Darin fans) even know it exists. He was BRILLIANT. EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD ALSO HEAR HIS: SIMPLE SONG OF FREEDOM.

  14. C.... L....

    This album is well,amazing.

  15. E.... S....

    Bobby does great folk music, man's a uniquely multi-talented genius.  Guy knows how to treat a song in his style, there you have it, fantastic result.  Yes I agree, Bobby is due credit for all his brilliant body of work.   Sit back, relax, enjoy the music.  Share it with the younger generation so they know what real music sounds like and this awesomely multi-talented singer/song writer, all round entertainer this world has ever had the privilege to witness, and just who he is.   We love and miss you, remembered forever.  RIP BOBBY !!!!!  

  16. W.... T....

    Bobby needs his due credit, he gets knocked quite a bit...especially during his folk phase.

  17. J.... N....

    This is a ripoff of.. Never mind I'm an idiot.

  18. W.... T....

    Actually, "A boy named Sue" came out in 1969. "Bullfrog" came out in 1968."

    w w w. bobbydarin. n e t/bullfrog.html

    en.wikipedia.o r g/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Sue

  19. A.... U....

    The beat is a knock off of a boy named sue, johnny cash.

    A.... U....

    This one was FIRST. And this is a much more intelligent, clever story.

  20. G.... S....

    Ahh what do bullfrogs know anyway...

  21. T.... K....

    @merri0071 The bass player is my cousin Barry Abernathy.

  22. M.... F....

    WHOA A TIME TRAVELING BULLFROG. i listen to this before i go to sleep....

  23. m.... m....

    the bass the bass, then flute x

  24. m.... m....

    i'm not talkiin no bullfrog!!

  25. m.... m....

    i USED TO GET STONED TO THIS,

    the best almum i owed.x

    m.... m....

    Why stop???