Stephin Merritt Follow

It was glorious in the country
There were plants
They were yellow and green
And the stork was speaking Egyptian
For Egyptian his mummy had been

'Neath a burdock tree sat a mother
Sat and sat, that her children would hatch
Which they did, mostly but one other
The big round one, that just didn't match
It seemed to take forever

One unhappy day came the duckling
Though his egg had been faithfully warmed
He was so much larger than average
He could best be described as deformed

He was much too gray and too fluffy
As the other ducks loudly opined
When he cried, they said
"Don't get huffy, you can keep on living
We don't mind, it's just that you're so ugly"

So he left early in the morning
But he found wherever he would roam
That despite some changes in the scenery
Everyone was as vile as at home

As he settled in for the winter
Overhead flew a flock of such birds
That his vision stuck like a spinter
They were all too beautiful for words
That winter was freezing

I can't tell you how much he suffered
This description will have to suffice
He was paddling round the lake, when
His poor feet were frozen in the ice

When it snowed again, he was buried
Then it snowed some more over his head
There he sat, too cold to be worried
Truth to tell, he just thought he was dead
He didn't mind that one bit

But the spring was here and a thaw came
Our half dead little hero survived
And the daffodil and the crocus
Sang aloud, "One more spring has arrived"

And the lovely birds gathered 'round him
He was nuzzled and doted upon
Then he knew his family had found him
He'd become the most beautiful swan

"I never dreamed of such amazing luck
When I was just an ugly little duck"