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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain,
Because today's the day
The teddy bears have their picnic.
Picnic time for teddy bears,
The little teddy bears
Are having a lovely time today.
Watch them, catch them unawares
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily gad about,
They love to play and shout,
They never have any cares.
At six o'clock their mummies and daddies
Will take them home to bed,
Because they're tired little teddy bears.
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better not go alone.
It's lovely down in the woods today
But safer to stay at home.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain,
Because today's the day
The teddy bears have their picnic.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"The Teddy Bears' Picnic" has a history in two parts. The music was composed by the American John Walter Bratton in 1907, originally as a purely instrumental march without any connection to bears or picnics. In 1932, the Irish lyricist Jimmy Kennedy added the words, transforming the piece entirely and creating one of the most beloved children's songs of the twentieth century.
Kennedy's lyrics are a small masterpiece of atmosphere. The opening warning — "if you go down to the woods today you'd better go in disguise" — gives the song a delicious frisson of pretend danger, before the reveal that the bears are simply having a picnic. The middle section — the bears gadding about, never having any cares, being collected at six o'clock by their mummies and daddies — captures the essential innocence of the image.
The song was recorded in 1932 by Henry Hall and his BBC Dance Orchestra, and the recording became enormously popular. Since then it has been performed countless times in countless styles. This rock arrangement brings real energy to the bears' holiday, while keeping the warmth of Kennedy's words entirely intact.
