Dinosaur Songs, Part V

[Amado Narvaez <anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu>]

The songs in this posting--Ankylosaurus, Triceratops, and T. rex--finish 
up the list of dinosaurs the teachers at my school chose to focus on. I'm 
open to requests for additional dinosaur songs, or even topics.

This is a kind of long post, for which I apologize to those who get the 
list in digest form and have no real interest in the songs. But since 
some of the future educators on the list may be (Congratulations!) 
graduating and possibly leaving soon the institution through which they 
have their Internet account, I thought it best to bring the songs to closure.

(Note: For those who came in late... These songs were written by Amado
Narvaez for a dinosaur unit at Montgomery Knolls ES in Silver Spring,
Maryland. Commercial publication and recording rights are reserved by
Amado Narvaez. Feel free to sing them in non-profit venues --school or
community productions, or around the campfire.)
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(An asterisk after a line means that an alternate metric equivalent line 
is provided at the end of the song.)

        Ankylosaurus
(to the tune of "Eensie Weensie Spider"; In the first line, the five 
syllables in "Ankylosaurus" are meant to match the five words of the 
line "Down came the sun and" in the children's song.)

Ankylosaurus! 
Twenty-seven feet!*
Low-lying plants were 
What he liked to eat!
Covered in armor, 
Horns behind the eyes!
Trying to catch him 
Wouldn't be too wise!
 
Ankylosaurus, 
Late Cretaceous tank,
Came to the river 
Where he always drank!
Out jumped a T. rex 
Looking for some prey,
But this Ankylosaurus 
Lived another day...
 
.. 'cause ...
 
This Ankylosaurus 
Had a deadly tail
With a heavy club that 
He could swing and flail
At Tyrannosaurus, 
Shattering his shin!
In that kind of fight, 
Ankylosaurs would win!
 
Ankylosaurus! Late Cretaceous tank!

*Alternate metric lines for stanza 1, lines 2-4:
        Seven metres long,
        Low-lying plant food
        Helped to make him strong!

(I know that 27 ft does not translate to 7 meters, but after checking 
several sources, I find estimates of Ankylosaurus's length ranging from 
23 feet [7 metres] to 33 feet [10m].)
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        Triceratops
(to the tune of "Yankee Doodle"; The first stanza is based on the version 
of "Yankee Doodle" that goes: "Yankee Doodle went to town..."; note, too, 
how the words "frill," "will," "heard," etc. are stretched to two syllables.)
 
I'm a big Triceratops
With three horns and a fri-ill!
Tyrannosaurs don't frighten me
And never ever wi-ill!
 
        I'm a big Triceratops!
        Seven tons or more!
        I'm a famous plant-eating
        Cretaceous dinosaur!
 
I'm a big Triceratops
And maybe you have hearr-rd,
Like other animals you know
We travelled in a her-rd!
 
        I'm a big Triceratops!
        Seven tons or more!
        I'm a famous plant-eating
        Cretaceous dinosaur!
 
All Triceratopses know
A ring of us pro-te-cts
The children in the middle from
Tyrannosaurus re-ex!
 
        I'm a big Triceratops!
        Seven tons or more!
        I'm a famous plant-eating
        Cretaceous dinosaur!  
---------------------------------------------------------------

        Tyrannosaurus rex
(to the tune of "B-I-N-G-O"; In the annotated songbook I gave the 
teachers, I explained that in Internet jargon, the "." is spoken as 
"dot," and I borrowed that usage for the song.)
 
There was a savage dinosaur and T. rex was his na-ame!
T - dot - R - E - X !
T - dot - R - E - X !
T - dot - R - E - X !
Tyrannosaurus rex!
 
Forty feet from head to tail--Tyrannosaurus rex!*
(clap!) - dot - R - E - X !
(clap!) - dot - R - E - X !
(clap!) - dot - R - E - X !
Tyrannosaurus rex!
 
Scavenger or predator? Tyrannosaurus rex!
(clap!) - (clap!) - R - E - X !
(clap!) - (clap!) - R - E - X !
(clap!) - (clap!) - R - E - X !
Tyrannosaurus rex!
 
Six-inch teeth for ripping meat! Tyrannosaurus rex!**
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - E - X !
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - E - X !
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - E - X !
Tyrannosaurus rex!
 
Duckbills were his favorite prey! Tyrannosaurus rex!
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - X !
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - X !
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - X !
Tyrannosaurus rex!
 
Tyrant king of dinosaurs! Tyrannosaurus rex!
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!)
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!)
(clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!) - (clap!)
Tyrannosaurus rex!

*Alternate metric line for stanza 2, line 1:
        Head to tail, 12 metres long. Tyrannosaurus rex!

**Alternate metric line for stanza 4, line 1:
        Eighteen centimetre teeth! Tyrannosaurus rex!
(I kind of miss the "ripping meat" phrase though. It can be brought back 
if, for this one line, you omit the six syllables of "Tyrannosaurus rex" 
and replace them with "for ripping into meat.")
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        Alternate Metric Lines for Parts I-III
1. "Apatosaurus excelsus": Stanza 2, lines 1-4
        He's 20 metres long! 
        He's 20 metres long!
        This dinosaur was maybe more
        Than 20 metres long!
2. "Diplodocus": Stanza 3, line 3 [In the Thanksgiving song, this line 
would be: "It stings the toes and bites the nose." It doesn't have the 
internal rhyme of the original, but it fits. Maybe even better than the 
original Diplodocus line.]
        He's twenty-seven metres long
        From head to his whip-like tai-il!
3. "Brachiosaurus": Stanza 2, line 3
        'Cause he's 23 metres from head to his tail
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A special thanks to the people whose feedback made me feel that I 
succeeded in writing some lyrics that were not only fun but educational, 
and thanks also to those who commented on the content and the 
prosauropod/sauropod relationship.

----- Amado Narvaez
      anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu