I was sittin' by the bank on a hollow stump    When I thought I heard me a bullfrog jump    Turned around and sure enough there    he sat    He said excuse me, buddy, but I've been    readin' your news    And I'm sorry to say that I'm a    little confused    You bein' human, well you'd know where    it's at.       He said I read where this old world's    gonna fold    And all on account of a think called gold    And that's somethin' hard for us frogs    to understand    Now you're lookin' at me like I'm    kinda funny    But where I live we don't have no money    So we want to be hip to the happ'nin's    here on land.       Now I thought I was stoned so I    started walkin'    I mean whoever heard of a bullfrog talkin'    But then I realized I hadn't been grazin'    in no grain    So I figured I'd tell him just what I thought    'bout how gold was sold and how gold    was bought    And he'd understand our world when    I explained.       I said it all started a long time ago    When the people first learned to reap    and sow    They got all the things they needed right    out of the earth    Like how many leaves and how many trees    Would it take to cover up the anatomies    And that's how you figured how much a suit    of clothes was worth.       Well then man he learned how to milk a cow    And how to till the soil with a stone    blade plow    And he kept so busy he never had time to    do you harm    Then he'd take his produce and all that milk    And go into town and trade them for silk    So his woman she'd look sharp down at    the farm.       Well the bullfrog let out a belly croak    Like I'd told him some kind of a joke    And he said I think you're jivin' me my man    (what me?)    I said I know it sounds kinda mystifyin'    But the truth of the matter is I ain't lyin'    I mean I ain't talkin' no bullfrog,    you understand?       He said now don't get upset I'm not    agin' you    You just go ahead, go ahead and continue    And I'll be quiet and try to understand    He said I know about trees and leaves    and plants    And milk and silk and the farmer's    romance    But what's this thing the call supply    and demand?       I said well I grow cotton and you grow corn    And you find your dungarees are all worn    And me well I got to have somethin' to eat    You see? So I make you some brand    new threads    And now you bake me some fresh    corn bread    Pretty soon we'll have shops across    the street.       Well this didn't work, or so we've been told    And at that time they didn't know    about gold    So they all agreed they'd measure their    goods in salt    Well that idea had an early endin'    'cause they were eatin' more than they    were spendin'    And besides, whoever heard of keepin'    salt in a vault.       Well folks said gold was the thing to use    To pay for stuff like from ships to shoes    But it weighed too much and it looked too    good to spend    So round about sixteen hundred and ninety    Somebody started usin' foldin' money    And that's the tale, my friend, from end    to end.       Well I thought it was a damn    good explanation    I mean a real attempt at communication    And I only had me schoolin' up until the    time I was ten    But the bullfrog right before he    hopped away    Well I could have sworn I heard him say    Your world is still in the tadpole stage,    my friend.