Version 1
Lyrics
(American folk song)
Ducks in the millpond,
Geese in the clover.
Fell in the millpond,
Got wet all over.
Rise, children gonna rise, gonna rise.
Rise, children gonna rise, gonna rise.
Version 2
Lyrics
1. Ducks in the millpond, a-geese in the clover,
A-fell in the millpond, a-wet all over.
Refrain
Lawd, Lawd, gonna get on a rinktum,
Lawd, Lawd, gonna get on a rinktum*.
2. Ducks in the millpond, a-geese in the clover,
Jumped in the bed, and the bed turned over. Refrain
3. Monkey in the barnyard, a-monkey in the stable,
Monkey get your hair cut as soon as you’re able. Refrain
4. Had a little pony, his name was Jack,
I put him in the stable and he jumped through a crack. Refrain
5. Ducks in the millpond, a-geese in the ocean,
A-hug them pretty girls if I take a notion. Refrain
*In Maine, a “Rinktum” has come to mean a party of folksingers. (source)
See also
- Subject: ducks
- Form: AB
- Harmony: Orff arrangements / chords I IV V
- Melody: low so & low la / D,E,G,A,B
- Meter: 2
- Rhythm: / / syncopation
- Scale: pentatonic
- Tones: drmsl
- Source: American Folk Songs for Children,Ruth Crawford Seeger, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1948
- more lyrics
YouTube
or purchase here (printables only)
- Printable & Digital Visuals
- PDF of song with chords + Lesson ideas + Orff arrangement
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song