The Teddy Bears Picnic

Album: Children's Songs (1932)
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  • If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise
    If you go down in 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

    Every teddy bear who's been good is sure of a treat today
    There's lots of marvellous things to eat and wonderful games to play
    Beneath the trees where nobody sees they'll hide and seek as long as they please

    That's the way 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 back home to bed
    Because they're tired little teddy bears

    If you go down in the woods today, you 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 Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 15

  • Andrew Dougal from BelfastIs the music from the teddy bears picnic not very reminiscent of the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9? Has this connection not been identified before
  • Nostalgic from Scranton,paI associate this song with a sweet childhood memory of a local radio show called “Big John and Sparky.”
  • Walia from NjMy father in law JGA sang this sweet song to my two baby boys. I cry hearing because I don't think he ever sang it to him with that love. I can only pray him know the deep love we feel for him as now I can only hope the song flood his mind to a memory.
    One that may be as warm as ours of him as he sang this song.
  • Yvonne Wheeler Laurenty from Bethlehem, PaI remember what delight this song brought each Saturday morning as it opened a children's radio which was one of several consecutively broadcast on radio. The words and tune are entirely memorable even after all my 85 years. Loved to have heard a Jerry Garcia version .
  • Samantha Liger from CanadaWhen i was a little girl my father would always sing this song. Every morning when i got up he would come into my room with a big smile on his face and spin me around in pure joy. My father was around 17 when my mother and him met. Now hes around 40 or 30 i honestly cant remember, to me is very crazy because he really was my best-friend. We do keep in touch I've forgotten how old he is and that makes me giggle. Though just seeing the song brings me to tears as that's the one memory we shared. I promise to god that i will never see or hear this song without crying. God Bless you!
  • Sarah Hulsart from 84116My mom used to sing this to me when I was a little girl. Randomly this morning I saw my boyfriends 8y/o daughters teddygrams in a bowl on the floor and started singing "today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic"
  • Jeffrey Young from MiddlesexI'm 78 and I loved this song when I was a child!
  • Maura from Las Vegas, Nevada,usaLoved this song when i was young girl... cant believe i found it! I would line up all my teddy’s and we sang and danced and had a picnic.why do people nowadays make everything creepy?! Still have a few of my teddys ..i am 68. They're happy and so am i. 2021
  • L Honey from British ColumbiaI didn’t find this song scary. I loved it as a kid and my dad would sometime, really rarely, sing it to me. I was not fond of adults so found it lovely that teddy bears had an escape. I never had a teddy bear of my own though.
  • Sympathique from Los AngelesOf course it's creepy. It's like one of those precautionary scary stories parents tell their kids to discourage bad behavior. In this case it's "don't wander into the woods alone." But instead of being concerned about bears eating them, it's probably more of a concern to not have the children get lost or encounter strangers.
  • Boo from Lancashire, England.Interestingly there are many recordings which got the chord sequence quite wrong, and they seem to be copied by more people than the correct sequence.
    On the line "Picnic time for teddy bears..." the song modulates a up a fourth, which is essential for the melody to make sense. Bing Crosby recorded a version where it modulated up a 5th, and Jerry Garcia modulated up a major 3rd, and many children's records seem to leave it in the same key signature the song started in, not modulating anywhere!
    An internet search for the chords invariably comes up with one of these wrong interpretations.
  • Bruce Alan Wilson from Charleston, Wv UsaIs it just me, or is this really a rather creepy little song? Why is one advised to go 'in disguise', and 'not alone' into the woods--and that it is better not to go? Why must one spy on the teddy bears? If they catch you--alone, undisguised, spying on you--what will happen 'down under the trees where nobody sees"? Probably something highly unpleasant.
  • Bill from Us"contains an amusing note to the effect that: "A very good imitation of a bear's growling may be produced by fixing a slack Bassoon reed through a piece of cork cut to fit the mouthpiece of an E[flat] Bass, or a Euphonium."
    WELL DUH, everyone knows that!, Seriously, this may well be the FIRST record I ever had and put on a turntable that was mine!
    I played other records but they were some relatives.
  • Alexander from Huddersfield, United KingdomI'd like to use Teddy Bears Picnic music in a radio commercial but have been told that EMI own copyright and want to charge a small fortune. Can anyone let me know if this piece of music is indeed in the public domain (or not)
  • Bob from Tucson, AzAll anyone wants to know about 'The Teddy Bears' Picnic' can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Bears'_Picnic. It corrects several of your mistakes.
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