Lyrics Burl Ives – The Ugly Bug Ball

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

Oh they danced until there legs were nearly lame
Every little crawling creature you could name
Everyone was glad
What a time they had
They were so happy they came

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

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