Down by the Bay Lyrics

A classic call-and-response children's song made famous by Raffi's 1976 recording. The structure invites kids to invent absurd rhyming animal pairs (a goose kissing a moose, a whale with a polka-dot tail). One of the most-loved rhyming songs in American preschools because each verse is its own little joke. Best for ages 3–8. The improvised-rhyme invitation makes this song a powerful early literacy tool — children practice generating rhyming pairs in real time, the exact phonological-awareness skill that predicts later reading success. Take turns inventing the silliest rhyme each verse. For more rhyme-building songs, see [phonics songs](/blog/phonics-songs) and [top 10 summer songs for kids](/blog/top-10-summer-songs-for-kids).

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go.
For if I do,
My mother will say:

"Did you ever see a goose, kissing a moose,
Down by the bay?"

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go.
For if I do,
My mother will say:

"Did you ever see a whale, with a polka-dot tail,
Down by the bay?"

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go.
For if I do,
My mother will say:

"Did you ever see a bear, combing his hair,
Down by the bay?"

Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow,
Back to my home,
I dare not go.
For if I do,
My mother will say:

"Did you ever see llamas, eating their pajamas,
Down by the bay?"