I didn't own a stereo (which I shared with my sisters) until I was in junior high, and we won it by responding to a contest on the back of a cereal box. We had no record albums until we received the stereo, but one of the favorites we eventually acquired was a collection of folk songs sung by Burl Ives.
“Mister Rabbit” was a song on that album. I had no idea the lyrics included a deeper meaning; I liked it for the rhyme, repetition and simple tune. I have since learned the lyrics tell the tale of a quick-thinking rabbit after he is caught eating vegetables in a farmer’s garden. The lyrics are arranged in the call/response style with the farmer asking the rabbit seemingly innocent questions and the rabbit giving answers that, being Christian in nature, might dissuade the farmer from shooting him.
"Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit
your ears are mighty long.
Yes, bless God
they're put on wrong.
Every little soul must shine, shine.
Every little soul must shine."
The original “Mister Rabbit” was popular among African American children. They may have enjoyed it for the same reasons as I did; however, their parents may have used the lyrics to teach their children an important lesson. As a slave, being able to think on your feet to avoid trouble was an important skill.
The rabbit/farmer theme has been adopted by some in the entertainment business. Disney Studios, for example, expanded the simple song into the Uncle Remus stories in which the rabbit, called B’rer Rabbit, outwits Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear. Warner Brothers capitalized on the theme by creating the cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.
These rabbit cartoon characters created by movie studios were usually generic or domestic rabbits. Living as I do in Oregon’s high desert, jack rabbits are a far more abundant species, hence my decision to rewrite the lyrics to “Mister Rabbit” to befit a wild hare.
Lepus californicus
(after a traditional American ballad with African roots)
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit,
‘twas jackass rabbit ‘fore Twain cut it back
but I’d sooner be Jacob, Johnny or Mack.
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit,
where do wild hares roam?
Not too far from our sagebrush home
where the wind and the whip-poor-wills moan.
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit,
your ears are kinda long.
Yes, bless God they’re put on wrong
so it goes in a folksy children’s song.
what makes you run so fast?
Tall hind legs that are built to outlast
coyotes and eagles when they’re after my ass.
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit,
you leap high as the sky.
Watch me fly, he said with a twinkle in his eye
‘fore a flash of black tail bade me good-bye.
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