Song lyrics to The Ugly Duckling, sung by Danny Kaye in Hans Christian Andersen (1952), music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
There once was an ugly duckling,
With feathers all stubby and brown,
And the other birds in so many words said,
Get out of town
Get out, get out, get out of town
And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack
In a flurry of eiderdown.
That poor little ugly duckling
Went wandering far and near,
But at every place they said to his face
Now get out, get out, get out, get out of here
And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack
And a very unhappy tear.
All through the wintertime he hid himself away,
Ashamed to show his face, afraid of what others might say.
All through the winter in his lonely clump of wheat,
Till a flock of swans spied him there and very soon agreed,
You’re a very fine swan indeed!
A swan? Me a swan? Ah, go on!
And they said yes, you’re a swan
Take a look at yourself in the lake and you’ll see.
And he looked, and he saw, and he said
I am a swan! Whee!
‘m not such an ugly duckling
No feathers all stubby and brown
For in fact these birds in so many words said,
The best in town, the best, the best,
The best in town
Not a quack, not a quack, not a waddle or a quack
But a glide and a whistle and a snowy white back
And a head so noble and high.
Say who’s an ugly duckling?
Not I!
Not I!