Circus came to town, to the circus I went Didn't have a ticket didn't have a cent Circus man said "To see the show without a cent" "You got to carry water for the elephant" I carried water for the elephant Back and forth to the well I went Arms got sore and my back got bent But I couldn't fill up the elephant I says to the man with the standin' up collar Bet four bits that elephant's a holla He gave me a ticket, said "First you'll see" "The animals in the menagerie" First I saw the lion and the lion he roared "A-Rrrrrrr" Saw the wild duck and the wild duck quacked "Quack, quack quack" Saw the wild cat and the wild cat meowed "Meow-ow" Saw the old crow and the old crow cawed "Caw caw caw" Saw Mr. Possum sittin' on a limb, big black bear sittin next to him Saw the old monkey like in a zoo And the wild rooster says "Cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo" Saw the hippopotamus splash in the water Tryin' to flirt with the crocodiles daughter Saw the giraffe and the big kangaroo Saw an owl holler "Hoo hoo hoo" Saw the wild birds and the birds sang sweet "Tweet tweet tweet" Saw the wild dogs and the wild dogs barked "Arf arf arf" Saw the cuckoo and the cuckoo cooed "Cuckoo cuckoo" Saw the hyena and the hyena laughed "Ha ha ha" I went down to the circus tent Sure was doggone glad I went Saw the whole show and didn't cost a cent 'Cause I carried water for the elephant