This is not original music--It is Arthur Pryor's 1905 instrumental "The Whistler and his Dog." Arthur Pryor was a trombonist in John Phillip Sousa's band, and had a band of his own that made this tune popular.  The main melody was to be whistled, not sung. This song happened when I was learning about rabbits--we have a couple of them--and the rhythm of the species name for the domestic rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus suggested this melody, which had laid dormant in my subconscious mind for 30 years.

This song uses only about 2/3 of the original music, arranged to fit the song as I sing it. Italics indicate scientific names of various rabbits and their relatives--Sylvilagus is the genus name for various cottontails; Lepus is the genus of hares, including jackrabbits; and Ochotona is the genus for pikas, little bunny-like critters that live among rocks in the mountains.

O-ryctolagus cuniculus, the fuzziest of  beasts
And the Sylvilagus floridanus, the cottontail of the East
Oryctolagus cuniculus will live where you abide
But the Syl-vi-lagus prefers to live outside

The Lepus  americanus likes to leap up in the snow
But the Ochotona called princeps lives to high  for this boy to go
The Lepus is called the snowshoe or the variatin’ hare
And the Ochotona needs practically no air

Rabbits everywhere
Lagomorphs, the pika and hare
Each one has a high reproductive potential

La-go-morphs ev’ry where
Bunny rabbit, pika and hare
They don’t really multiply; they’re exponential

(insturmental breather--Oryctolagus cuniculus, toodle-oo toodle-oo toodle-oo)

The Lepus califorNICus is a desert resident
And the Sylvilagus aquaticus attacked an ex-president
The Lepus europeaus ran a tortoise in a race
And the pic-ture postcard’s the jackalope’s  home place

 O-ryctolagus cuniculus, the fuzziest of  beasts
And the Sylvilagus floridanus, the cottontail of the East
Oryctolagus cuniculus will live where you abide
But the Syl-vi-lagus prefers to live outside

 

Sound quality disclaimer:  You have downloaded the Midi score for the music you are now hearing, not an audio recording. Your computer is performing the music for you live, and if the instruments sound really cheesy, it's the fault of your web browser.

Copyright notice: This music is in the public domain, but the words are Copyright 2003 Peter Alway.  You may use this freely for your own amusement.  If you pass this along to others you must include authorship, copyright, and contact information. Please ask permission for public performance or use on your website.  If you use this song commercially, I demand a cut.

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