Surrey With the Fringe on Top
Florence Henderson & John Raitt Lyrics

When I take you out, tonight, with me,
I am excited to take you out tonight and this is how it will be:

Honey, here's the way it's goin' to be:
Darling, let me tell you how our evening will be:

You will set behind a team of snow white horses,
You will sit in the backseat of a carriage pulled by two white horses:

In the slickest gig you ever see!
It’s the coolest and most stylish carriage ever!

Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
Small animals should move out of the way quickly:

When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the carriage:

Watch that fringe and see how it flutters
Look at the fringe and how it moves in the breeze:

When I drive them high steppin' strutters.
When I make the horses trot gracefully:

Nosey pokes'll peek thru' their shutters and their eyes will pop!
People will look curiously out their windows and be amazed!

The wheels are yeller, the upholstery's brown,
The wheels are yellow and the seats are brown:

The dashboard's genuine leather,
The dashboard is made of real leather:

With isinglass curtains y' can roll right down,
We have curtains made of transparent material that you can roll down:

In case there's a change in the weather.
In case the weather changes unexpectedly.

Two bright sidelight's winkin' and blinkin',
There are two bright sidelights that flash:

Ain't no finer rig I'm a-thinkin'
I can't imagine a better carriage:

You can keep your rig if you're thinkin' 'at I'd care to swap
You can keep your carriage if you think I want to trade for it:

Fer that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!
For this shiny carriage with fringe on the top!

Would y' say the fringe was made a' silk?
Do you think the fringe is made of silk?

Wouldn't have n' other kind but silk.
I wouldn't want any other kind of fringe except silk.

Has it really got a team of snow white horses?
Does the carriage really have two white horses?

One's like snow,
One of the horses is pure white like snow,

the others more like milk.
The other horse is more like the color of milk.

All the world'll fly in a flurry
Everyone in the world will be excited:

When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the carriage:

When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!
When I take you out in this special carriage with the fringe on the top!

When we hit that road, hell fer leather,
When we start traveling on the road, going as fast as possible:

Cats and dogs'll dance in the heather,
Cats and dogs will dance in the fields of heather:

Birds and frogs'll sing all together and the toads will hop!
Birds and frogs will sing together, while the toads hop!

The wind'll whistle as we rattle along,
As we travel, the wind will whistle as we pass, making a sound that rattles and echoes.

The cows'll moo in the clover,
The cows will call out with their mooing in the clover fields:

The river will ripple out a whispered song,
The river will make a beautiful rippling sound like a whispered song:

And whisper it over and over:
And continually whisper the sound over and over:

Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?
Don't you wish we could go on forever?

Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?
Don't you wish we could go on forever?

Don't you wisht y'd go on forever and ud never stop
Don't you wish we could keep going without ever needing to stop?

In that shiny, little surrey with the fringe on the top!
In this beautiful shiny carriage decorated with fringe on top!

I can see the stars gettin' blurry,
I can see the stars becoming indistinct and blurry as the night gets darker:

When we ride back home in the surrey,
When we return home in the carriage:

Ridin' slowly home in the surrey with the fringe on top!
Riding slowly home in this beautiful carriage with the special fringe on top!

I can feel the day gettin' older,
I can feel the day coming to an end and getting older:

Feel a sleepy head near my shoulder,
Feeling the head of my loved one who is dozing off next to me:

Noddin', droopin' close to my shoulder,
Their head is nodding down and drooping next to my shoulder:

till it falls kerplop!
Until it finally falls down in a flop!

The sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill;
The sun is just barely visible on the horizon, dipping down towards the hills:

The moon is takin' a header,
The moon is setting down towards the horizon:

And jist as I'm thinkin' all the earth is still,
As I am thinking that everything is peaceful and still:

A lark'll wake up in the medder.
A bird (lark) will suddenly wake up and start singing in the meadow.

Hush, you bird, my baby's a-sleepin'!
Quiet down, bird, my loved one is sleeping!

Maybe got a dream worth a-keepin'
Maybe they are dreaming of something important and special that we should remember:

Whoa! you team, and just keep a-creepin' at a slow clip clop.
Slow down, horses, and just keep creeping along at a calming pace.

Don't you hurry with the surrey with the fringe on the top!
No need to rush with this beautiful carriage!