The Herring Song

© 1993 Neil Gaiman and Lorraine Garland

When I was a tiny little girl
I ate my herrings with gusto
My teeth were bright and my clothes were tight
Especially 'round the bust, oh.

Singing toora-loora-loo, toddy
Toora-loora-lay
My bust was tight and my nose was long
And I drank my fortune away.

When I was a sprightly young lass
I ate my herrings discretely
My hair was my own and my pelvis bone
And the birds in the air sang sweetly.

Singing toora-loora-loo, poodles
Toora-loora-lay
The birds were sweet, had sugary feet
And the herrings sang where they lay.

But now that I am an old woman
My herrings I eat with a spoon
My nose has been sold and my bottom is cold
And the dish ran away with the moon.

Singing toodly-oodly-umpty
And a-toora-loora-lay
My song's at an end, my marshmallow friend
And I toodled my poodles away.

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