THE CUCKOO

(trad., as sung by Will Quale)
(after Anne Briggs, Alex Cumming, and Jean Ritchie)

	Cuckoo in April
	Cuckoo in May
	Cuckoo in June
	But July flies away
	Cuckoo in April
	Cuckoo in May
	Cuckoo in June
	But July flies away

The cuckoo's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies.
She brings us good tidings, tells us no lies.
She sucks the little birds' eggs to keep her voice clear,
And when she sings “cuckoo!” the summer draws near.

	Cuckoo in April ...

As I was a-walking I passed by a bush
I heard two birds whistling, the blackbird and the thrush.
I asked them the reason so merry they be,
And the answer they gave me, we are single and we are free.

	Cuckoo in April ...

As I was a-walking, a-walking was I,
To meet my true lover, they'll come by and by,
To meet in the meadows is all my delight,
To walk in the meadows from morning till night.

	Cuckoo in April ...

Meeting is pleasure but parting is a grief
And an inconstant lover is worse than a thief.

They'll hug you and kiss you and tell you more lies
Than the green leaves on the willow or the stars in the skies.

	Cuckoo in April ...

If they do forsake me I'll not be forsworn
And they'll all be mistaken if they think that I'll mourn;
For I'll get myself up in some higher degree
And I'll walk as light by them as they can by me.

	Cuckoo in April ...

The cuckoo's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies,
She brings us glad tidings, tells us no lies,
And when her time is come, her voice we don't hear,
And where she goes we do not know until another year.

	Cuckoo in April ...

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