The Marvelous Toy

By Tom Paxton
Key: D

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When I was just a wee lit-tle lad,
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Full of health and joy,
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My fa-ther home-ward came one night
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And gave to me a toy.
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A won-der to be-hold it was
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With man-y col-ors bright
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And the mo-ment I laid eyes on it,
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It be-came my heart’s de-light.

[Refrain:]

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It went “Zip” when it moved
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and “Bop” when it stopped,
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and “Whirrr” when it stood still
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I nev-er knew just what it was
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and I guess I nev-er will.

The first time that I picked it up
I had a big surprise
Cause right on the bottom were two big buttons
That looked like big green eyes
I first pushed one and then the other,
Then I twisted its lid
And when I set it down again,
here is what it did:

[Refrain]

It first marched left, and then marched right
And then marched under a chair
And when I looked where it had gone
It wasn’t even there
I started to cry, but my daddy laughed
‘Cause he knew that I would find,
When I turned around my marvelous toy
Would be chugging from behind.

[Refrain]

The years have gone by too quickly it seems,
I have my own little boy
And yesterday I gave to him
My marvelous little toy:
His eyes nearly popped right out of his head
And he gave a squeal of glee!
Neither one of us knows just what it is
But he loves it just like me!

It still goes… [Refrain]