Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  

Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1966 Schroder Music Company, renewed 1994. This song is based on a 1966 news report from the town of Lambeth, Ontario, Canada, concerning how "About fifty children, hanging from branches, forced the woodmen to spare the trees yesterday in this village just south of London" (The Muse of Parker Street, p. 95).

((Version One)):

Fifty children sitting in the trees,
Fifty children swingin in the breeze,
Up in the branches and off their knees,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Eleven fine maples growing in a row,
The road to be widened doomed them to go,
But fifty kids of Lambeth cried "No, no!"
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Roads we've enough and roads everywhere,
Roads for the cars we can very well spare,
But long live the maple trees, green or bare,
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Woodsmen came with their axes and their saws,
But kids on the branches, chirruping like daws,
And the woodsmen said, "The devil with the laws,
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O."

Lambeth town in Ontario,
That's where the maple trees stand in a row,
That's where the loveliest children grow,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

((Version Two)):

Fifty children sitting in the trees,
Fifty children swingin in the breeze,
Up in the branches and off their knees,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Eleven fine maples growing in a row,
The road to be widened doomed them to go,
But fifty kids of Lambeth cried "No, no!"
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

The men with the chain saws all stood around,
Cause the kids were in the trees and they wouldn't come down,
So the lumberjacks packed up and went back to town,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Roads we've enough and roads everywhere,
Roads for the cars we can very well spare,
But long live the maple trees, green or bare!
And hooray for the Lambeth children, O,
Hooray for the Lambeth children, O.

Malvina Reynolds songbook(s) in which the music to this song appears:
---- The Muse of Parker Street
---- There's Music in the Air: Songs for the Middle-Young

Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Broadside No. 67 (February 1966)
---- Sing Out!, Volume 38(1) (1993), pp. 58-59
---- Jeff Brown, Judy Hall and Jan Conitz: We Like Kids!: Songs for the Earth (Glenview, Illinois: GoodYearBooks, 1992)

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song is performed:
---- Magical Songs

Recordings by other artists on which this song is performed:
---- Jeff Brown, Judy Hall and Jan Conitz: We Like Kids; Songs for the Earth (GoodYearBooks 36052, 1992)
---- Candy Forest, Nancy Schimmel, Laurie Lewis, and the Singing Rainbow Youth Ensemble: Sun Sun Shine; Songs for Curious Children (Sisters' Choice Recordings SCR 470, 2003)
---- Nancy Raven: Singing, Prancing & Dancing (Pacific Cascade Records LPL 7038, 1984)
---- Sally Rogers: Peace by Peace (Kid's Records KRPL-1042, 1988)
---- The Singing Rainbows: All in This Together (Sisters' Choice Records SCR-467, 1990)
---- Cathy Winter and Betsy Rose: As Strong as Anyone Can Be; a Tape of Songs for Children (Gentle Wind GW 1010, 1982)
---- listen to youtube.com video