Artist: Burl ives

Title: Ugly duckling 

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There once was an ugly duckling 

With feathers all stubby and brown 

And the other birds said in so many words 

Get out of town 

Get out, get out, get out of town 

And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack 

In a flurry of eiderdown 

That poor little ugly duckling 

Went wandering far and near 

But at every place they said to his face 

Now get out, get out, get out of here 

And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack 

And a very unhappy tear 

All through the wintertime he hid himself away 

Ashamed to show his face, afraid of what others might say 

All through the winter in his lonely clump of wheat 

Till a flock of swans spied him there and very soon agreed 

You're a very fine swan indeed! 

A swan? Me a swan? Ah, go on! 

And he said yes, you're a swan 

Take a look at yourself in the lake and you'll see 

And he looked, and he saw, and he said 

I am a swan! Wheeeeeeee! 

I'm not such an ugly duckling 

No feathers all stubby and brown 

For in fact these birds in so many words said 

The best in town, the best, the best 

The best in town 

Not a quack, not a quack, not a waddle or a quack 

But a glide and a whistle and a snowy white back 

And a head so noble and high 

Say who's an ugly duckling? 

Not I! 

Not I!