Story Behind The Song

the story is the song - the song is the story.

Song Description

A friendly lion takes an afternoon walk, hoping for a friendly conversation, but the animals are so conscious of rank and prestige that the lion scares his inferiors away, and his superiors scare the lion.

Lyrics

A lion I know took an afternoon walk
He was in the mood for a friendly talk
And smiled at a mouse that scuttled by.
The mouse almost fainted and started to cry.
"Don't cry," said the lion, "I'm not a hawk,
I'm just in the mood for a friendly talk."
But the mouse was in no condition to chat
With a creature that looked like a giant cat

Then a flock of hyenas slunk by very fast
The lion said, "Hi," but they hurried past.
Oh well, thought the lion, hyenas are bores
They are the kind that a lion ignores.
Consorting with them just is not done.
And he felt quite superior as he walked on,
Till a herd of elephants loomed up ahead
And his brave lion heart felt a tinge of dread.

"Hello," said the lion and stood aside
But the elephants didn't slow down their stride
And one of them said, so the lion could hear
"Who does he think he is, standing there?
My Mom says that lions are awful bores,
They've nothing to say except lots of roars.
Consorting with them just is not done."
"Snobs!" hissed the lion as he walked on.

He was still in the mood for a friendly talk,
And he wasn't the only one out for a walk.
He met Antelopes, Elands. Zebras and Gnu
Who all ran away when he came into view.
There were also lions about who might chat
But he didn't think there was much fun to that,
They always just ended up roaring a lot
And falling asleep when they got too hot,

"Hello!" said a voice far above his head
The lion said, "What was it that you just said?"
A monkey was sitting high up in a tree.
"Sit down," said the monkey, "and talk to me,
I'm just in the mood for a friendly talk,
And I'm sure you could use a rest from your walk."
The lion stood still, he was racking his brain:
Should he chat with a monkey or show it disdain.

"You lions can't climb to the top of a palm?"
Asked the monkey, and tried to sound perfectly calm.
The lion said, "No, I can't join you up there."
"That's fine." said the monkey, "just stay down there,
But take off that silly superior face,
The snobbery here is a real disgrace,
I have nothing against consorting with you,
Though one monkey is worth a lion or two."

The lion sat down in the palm's little shade
And looked around in the beautiful glade.
He didn't care that he now was quite sure
That monkeys were bores lions could not endure.
He opened his mouth for a mighty roar,
But remembered in time what an awful bore
He would be if he roared, and he stopped it to say,
"So monkey, my friend, tell me how was your day?"