The Tide Pool
Before Doc sets off to observe samples, Doc, Mac and Hazel tell Suzy about the thriving ecosystem of the tide pool.
Mac:
It’s nothin’ at all when the tide is high,
It’s just a bunch o’ waves.
Hazel:
They whip all around all ’a rocks
An’ chase all ’a fish into caves.
Doc:
But if you get there when the tide is low
And the pool is clear and clean,
You can see to the bottom—
Hazel:
The damndest collection o’ creeps you ever seen!
Doc:
Hungry flowers that live on fish,
Scooping in whatever comes,
Crabs that grab another crab
And chew his legs—
Suzy: [spoken]
The dirty bums!
Hazel:
Starfish, havin’ himself a lunch,
Eats a mussel off a shell.
Mac:
Shrimps ’n’ limpets ’n’ snails ’n’ eels,
What a smelly tale they tell—
Fightin’ each other ’n’ eatin’ each other ’n’ lousin’ up the sea!
Hazel:
Stupid sons o’ fishes,
If you’re askin’ me!
Doc:
Out on the top of the water
Everything seems all right.
There’s a sun on the bay at daytime
And a moon on the bay at night.
Mac:
A breeze blows in from off a the reef
An’ you hear the whistlin’ buoy—
Hazel:
While Doc an’ me are chewin’ the fat
An’ talkin’ a lot o’ hooey.
Doc and Mac:
Out on the top of the water
It’s quieter than a well—
Doc, Mac and Hazel:
While under the water, under the water,
They’re raising holy hell!
Doc:
Get a load of the octopus!
Looking for a crab to eat,
Oozes out of slimy weeds,
Creeping on his floppy feet.
Crab too busy to see him come,
Crab’s a cinch to catch because
He is chewin’ another crab,
Strugglin’ in his greedy claws—
Doc, Mac and Hazel:
Fighting each other
And eating each other
And lousing up the sea,
Fighting and feeding
And mating and breeding
And filling up the sea—
Stupid sons o’ fishes!
Stupid sons o’ fishes!
Stupid sons o’ fishes
To live in a tide pool!
"The Tide Pool" (Rodgers/Hammerstein II)
© 1955, Copyright Renewed, Williamson Music Company (ASCAP) c/o Concord Music Publishing.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.