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by Margeret Dickson

Great big grey kangaroo
Language: English 
Oh, in the shady bush far away
There lived a big Kangaroo,
He with his brothers often did play
Sometimes with his sisters too.
His tail was as long as a tail could be,
His little paws were just as small,
And his legs were big and so strong that he
Could jump any thing at all.
This great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
Great, big, grey Kangaroo.

He started off one bright sunny day
So steadily hop, hop, hop.
He seemed so glad to hasten away
you'd think he would never stop.
He jumped over logs, over fallen trees
Rejoicing in his life so free.
Valley, hill and creek he passed by with ease
For a rover bold was he.
This great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
Great, big, grey Kangaroo.

Now listen how he met his sad fate
In a clever trap some men made.
Poor Kangaroo when it was too late
Wish'd he'd with his brothers stayed.
He tried to get free but in vain for he
Was silly, young and frightened too.
So they took him off and now you can see
Any fine day at the Zoo
This great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
Great, big, grey Kangaroo.

Text Authorship:

  • by Margeret Dickson , copyright status unknown [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Mary Hannah (May) Brahe (1884 - 1956), "Great big grey kangaroo", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Songs for Australian children, or Real Australian children songs, no. 7, Melbourne : Allan & Co. Prop. Ltd. [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-04-06
Line count: 30
Word count: 209

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