I do a lot of children’s songs, … and Pete Seeger did too. I had two daughters though, … I feel ‘rich in daughters’, … and that can be a little bit confusing as a parent. I told the kids “to not write in books!”, and then I got all these little kids’ books with a woodchuck! … And it was always a ‘little boy’ hero. I didn’t understand it! … so I went in, and changed all the he’s to she’s, and thehims to hers, and, then I wrote in the books! ‘Cause I think that they needed to hear that little girls could be heroes too? Don’t ya think?!
Pete did a song called ‘Abiyoyo’ which is taken from and old African tale which I’m gonna do for you. There’s a little boy, … so, … it’s gonna be a little girl today, … I’m sorry!! (Not really!)
ABIYOYO
Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. D
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo! A-A7-D, A-A7-D
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo!
Once upon a time there was a little, … girl, who had a ukelele.
She’d go around town going,
plunk-plunk-plunk-plunk!
plunk-plunk-plunk-plunk!
People said “Get that thing out of here!”
Not only that, but the girl’s father was a-gettin’ in trouble.
He was a magician, and he had a Magic wand.
He could go Zoop! Zoop!
Make things disappear!
Well, the problem was, the little girl’s father,
Was playin’ too many tricks on people.
Someone would be doing a hard day’s work,
Zzt, zzt, zzt, zzt! (sound of sawing)
Father would come up with his Magic wand and,
Zoop! - No saw!
Come to someone about to have a big cold glass of, … something,
Father would come up, Zoop! the glass would Disappear!
He’d come to someone about to sit down after a hard day’s work,
Zoop! No chair!
People said, “You get out of here, too!
You take your Magic wand and your daughter!”
And the little girl and her father were ‘ostracized’.
That means that they had to live on the edge of town.
Now in this town, people told stories. Dm
The old people told stories about the Giants
That used to live there in the old days!
They told a story about a Giant called “Abiyoyo”!
Said he was “Big as a House!”
And he could EAT - PEOPLE - UP!
Of course, no one believed them,
But they told the stories anyway.
One day, … one day,
The Sun rose, blood red over the hills .
People woke up and looked out their window.
They saw a big shadow in front of the Sun.
And they could feel the ground shake!
Stomp! Stomp!
Women screamed! “Ahh!”
Strong Men fainted “Ohh!”
“Run for your lives! Abiyoyo’s coming!”
Abiyoyo went into a sheep pasture
Grabbed a whole sheep, GULP!
He went to the cow pasture,
Grabbeds a whole cow! GYEULP!
People said, “Grab your favorite possessions.
And run for your lives!!”
Just then the little girl and her father woke up.
They looked out the window.
“Hey Pa! What’s coming over across the fields?”
“Oh, Daughter, … that’s Abiyoyo!
If only I could get him to lie down, I could make him disappear!”
The girl said “Come with me, … Pa!”
She took her Father’s hand and she grabbed the ukulele,
And Father grabbed the Magic wand, and they ran across the field.
People yelled, “Don’t go near him! He’ll eat you alive!”
It was Abiyoyo!
He had long fingernails, ‘cause he never cut ‘em.
He had slobbery teeth, … ‘cause he didn’t brush them.
He had stinky feet, ‘cause he didn’t wash them.
And he raised up his claws!
And the little girl whipped out her ukelele, and she said,
“Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo.
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo!
(nervous & scared)
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo.”
Well, the Giant had never heard a song about himself before.
And a foolish Grin spread over his face.
And the Giant started to dance and sing!
“Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo.”
The little girl played faster!
“Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo.
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo!
Abiyoyo, huff, puff, huff, puff!”
The Giant got out of breath!
And fell down, … flat on the ground!
Zoop! Zoop!
The people looked out their window.
Abiyoyo disappeared!
They ran across the field! They picked up the little girl, … and her Father!
They said, “Come back to town.
Bring the damn ukelele, we don’t care!”
And they all started to sing!
Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo.
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo!
Abiyoyo, ya-yoyo, ya-yoyo!
Far as I know, … this story collected by Pete Seeger
Now I know there’s a bit of Magic in this story. I like to think that some things surely do seem magical to us humans, … like electricity seems kinda magical to me. My favorite part of this story is getting to see the sometimes ‘invisible magic’ that happens to us humans, when one of us, … maybe a little child who loves the arts and music, has the courage to stand up against impossible odds and see what they can achieve by taking some action. This little girl recruited some help from her Pa, … and the community jumped up to support them.
There are lots of scary and upsetting things going on in our world right now, and many of us feel like there’s no way out! We feel helpless, … like we don’t know what we could possibly do to make a difference because we’re facing ‘impossible odds’! Hmmm?
So as you drift off to sleep tonight, maybe you can think about this little girl and her Pa. And maybe there are some real live people you know, who have shown courage and who don’t stop trying to make the world a better place. Maybe folks who have figured out how to set things up so giants aren’t so scary.
Let me know what you come up with. I’d love to hear from you.
Bye for now …
Peter
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