Animal Fair (song)

Animal Fair is a traditional folk song and children's song. As early as 1898, it is attested as being sung by American sailors.[1] The song was attested in Life magazine in 1941 as a cadence of soft shoe tap dancing.[2]

Lyrics

The version attested in 1898 has the following lyrics:[1]

I went to the animal fair,
The birds and the beasts were there;
The little raccoon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair.
The monkey he got drunk
And sat on the elephant's trunk,
The elephant sneezed and went down on his knees
And what become of the monk?

Other versions substituted "the old raccoon" (1915)[3] for "the little raccoon", while modern recordings use "the big baboon". "The monkey he got drunk" can be replaced with "The monkey fell out of his bunk", "The monkey bumped the skunk", "You ought to have seen the monk" or "You should have seen the monk". The Barney & Friends and the Captain Kangaroo versions changed other lyrics as well.

The song may be sung as a round with the last word "monkey, monkey" repeated until the song finishes or the group repeats.

Recordings
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References
  1. "The Chicago record's war stories". Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  2. Lincoln Barnett, "Fred Astaire", Life magazine, August 25, 1941
  3. Frank Hobart Cheley, G. Cornelius Baker, Camp and outing activities
  4. "Animal Fair" from Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House of Best-Loved Songs
  5. bmacv (6 October 1978). "The Big Fix (1978)". IMDb. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
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