THE UGLY BUG BALL
Burl Ives


Once a lonely caterpillar sat and cried,
To a sympathetic beetle by his side.
"I've got nobody to hug,
I'm such an ugly bug." 

Then a spider and a dragon fly replied,
"If you're serious and want to win a bride,
Come along with us,
To the glorious
Annual ugly bug ball." 

Come on let's crawl,
Gotta crawl, gotta crawl
To the ugly bug ball
To the ball, to the ball
And a happy time we'll have there
One and all
At the ugly bug ball. 

While the crickets clicked their tricky melodies,
All the ants were fancy-dancing with the fleas.
Then up from under the ground,
The worms came squirming around. 

Everyone was glad! What a time they had!
They were so happy they came! 

Come on let's crawl
Gotta crawl, gotta crawl
To the ugly bug ball
To the ball, to the ball
And a happy time we'll have there
One and all!
At the ugly bug ball. 

Then our caterpillar saw a pretty queen
She was beautiful in yellow, black and green
He said, "Would you care to dance?"
Their dancing led to romance. 

And she sat upon his caterpillar knees
And he gave his caterpillar queen a squeeze
Soon they'll honeymoon
Build a big cocoon
Thanks to the ugly bug ball 

Come on let's crawl
Gotta crawl, gotta crawl,
To the ugly bug ball
To the ball, to the ball
And a happy time we'll have there
One and all!
At the ugly bug ball!