Stranded
Deep Dish; Dubfire; Lem Springsteen; Richard Morel Lyrics

On a far away island
The story takes place on a distant island

Of Salamasond
The name of the island is Salamasond

Yertle the turtle
The singer of the story is a turtle named Yertle

Was king of the pond
Yertle was the ruler of the small pond on the island

A nice little pond
The pond was small but pleasant

It was clean it was neat
The pond was well-maintained and tidy

The water was warm
The temperature of the water was comfortable

There was plenty to eat
There was an abundant supply of food in the pond

Until one day
However, something happened to change this

The king of them all
Yertle considered himself the most important turtle

Decided the kingdom
He concluded that the pond was too small to be his kingdom

He ruled was too small
The area he governed was too inadequate for his taste

I'm a ruler of all that I see
Yertle arrogantly claimed to be the ruler of everything in his sight

But I don't see enough
However, Yertle wanted to rule over things beyond his sight

And that's the trouble with me
His lack of satisfaction caused him trouble

With this stone for a throne
Yertle's throne was a stone he sat on

I am too low down
Yertle felt too low to see far enough

I cannot look down
He couldn't see what lay beyond the distant horizon

Upon the places beyond
He wanted to look at things beyond the pond and the island

So Yertle the turtle king
Yertle was called the turtle king

Lifted his hand
Yertle raised his hand

And Yertle the turtle king
He repeated his name and title

Ordered all the turtles
Yertle commanded all the turtles in the pond

Onto one another's back
He ordered the turtles to climb on top of each other's backs

He piled them high
The turtles were stacked on top of each other

Into a ten turtle stack
The turtles were stacked ten deep

I'm Yertle the turtle
Yertle reaffirmed his identity

The things I now rule
The things he ruled had increased beyond the pond

I'm king of a cow
He claimed to rule over a cow

I'm king of a mule
He also thought he was the king of a mule

Then down from below
From under the turtle pile

In the great turtle stack
From the high pile of turtles

Came a burp from a plain
A normal-looking turtle burped

Little turtle named Mack
This turtle's name was Mack

Just part of the throne
Mack wasn't seen as an individual, just part of the stack

This burpin' little turtle
Mack produced the burp that caught Yertle's attention

Looked up and said "I beg
Mack spoke up, politely requesting

Your pardon king Yertle"
He was apologizing to Yertle for interrupting

I've pains in my back
Mack was suffering from pain in his back

My shoulders and my knees
The pain was in the shoulders and knees

How long must we stand
Mack wondered how long they had to keep standing like this

Here your majesty
The little turtle was respectful towards Yertle

"Silence!" the king of the
Yertle silenced Mack with an angry command

Turtles barked back
He spoke to the group of turtles below him

To the bad burpin'
Yertle was furious with Mack for ruining his concentration

Little turtle named Mack
He repeated Mack's name with disgust

I'm Yertle the turtle
Yertle repeated his name, emphasizing his authority

Oh marvelous me for
He praised himself for his own greatness

I am ruler of all that I see
He repeated his previous claim to authority

Yertle, Yertle the turtle
The song ends with a repetition of Yertle's name

Yertle, Yertle the turtle
Once again his name is repeated