4 months ago

BET YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW
Copyright © John thomas Oaks and Tommy Oaks
Caliora Music Publishing, ASCAP

from the musical 1940

1940 book by Dr. Janet Speer

Thanks to the following Pexels artists:
Oskar Gross - Serg Alesenko - AP Vibes - Alex Moliski - A frame in motion - T Leish - Ketut Subiyanto - RDNE Stock project

A long time ago on Christmas morn
When Jack was barely a boy
His daddy said, “You’re too old now
to wake up wantin’ a toy.”
Jack ran downstairs and saw a sight
His eyes had longed to see
A brand new shiny shotgun
Just a-waitin’ under the tree
His daddy said, “For huntin’ game,
Ashotgun’s hard to beat.”
So Christmas morning, Jack went out
To find some game to eat.

As he tracked through the forest trails,
Young Jack began to think
“There’s a waterin’ hole at Bear Creek
Where the critters gather to drink.”
He came across a boulder there
And saw a won-der-ous sight
A squirrel on top with a hick’ry nut
And a rabbit on the left and the right
Jack thought, “Them critters is mighty fast—
One chance is all I’ve got.”
So he raised his gun and took his aim
And made a perfect shot—BOOM!

Once there was...
Once upon a time...
A long time ago...
And then what happened?
What happened then?
You never would’ve thought
But I bet you’d like to know

He didn’t shoot at squirrel nor rabbit,
Hide nor fur nor bone
He held that shotgun, square and true,
And aimed it at the stone
By the time the smoke had cleared,
That squirrel was good and dead
That rock had split in two
And conked each rabbit on the head
The blast done kicked Jack in the creek,
And he could not get out
For his overalls had filled right up
With twenty-four rainbow trout

(chorus)

Jack stood up, and you could call it
Providence or luck
That a button popped right off his clothes
And kilt a twelve-point buck
The buck then fell—
His antlers landed in a pile of rocks
One piece of antler flew right off
And kilt a farmer’s ox
The way he carried all that game
Is mighty hard to say
So we’ll just save that story
For another rainy day