It's late at night
But I can't sleep
So I open my window wide
I cup my ear
Better to hear
The crickets sing outside

Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...

The fireflies light their flame
The bullfrog croaks his name

Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...
Chit-a-dit-a-dit .... Crrrrooooaaakkk!

The nightbirds call and coo
The owl hoots - Tell me Who?

Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...
Chit-a-dit-a-dit .... Crrrrooooaaakkk!
Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...
Chit-a-dit-a-dit .... Whhooooooooo?

*

I light the candle
Pull the nightcap from my head
And drag out the fiddle case
From under the bed

Open the case up
Pull the cloth away
Clean off the rosin
That rubs off when I play

Grasp it round the neck
Chinrest under my chin
The smell of that spruce wood
Brings a big grin

I pluck the string up
Plunk! Plonk! Plank! Plink!
I pluck the strings down
Plink! Plank! Plonk! Plunk!
I'll have a tune, I think
(As I've so often thunk)

Take out the fiddle bow
Where it rests in its clip
Don't touch the horsehair
The sweat will make it slip!

Tighten up the bow-hair
Till the gap's a pencil thick
So it won't bounce too much
And won't play on the stick

Rub on the rosin
So the bow will grab the string
Treesap, catgut, horsehair
Are what make the fiddle sing

Bow the strings high
Zung, Zong, Zang, Zing!
Bow the strings low
Zing, Zang, Zong, Zung!
How I made those tunes ring
When I was young!

But something's not right
The strings aren't in tune
Funny, they were just
Yesterday afternoon!

Crank on the fiddle peg
One creak, not more
First it was too flat
Now it's gone sharp for sure

Backwards and forwards
I'll have it quite soon
It feels so good to get it
Just perfect in tune

Don't need a tuning fork
I trust my ear
For I've played this old fiddle
Full many a year

When the dancers were twirling
All down the dance floor
And they'd holler when I played tunes
They'd never heard before

I remember those times
Nights playing till dawn
Tunes like a river
That carried us on...

I rouse from my reverie
Check the double-stops three
G to D, D to A
And A to high E

Then the fiddle is tuned
Bow rosined and taut
All I need is the tune
And one comes, quick as thought

I play, "Wolves a-Howling"
And that fiddle does howl
With a couple of false notes
That screech like an owl

The tune swoops like an eagle
It stoops and dives low
And I follow that tune wherever
It wants to go

Then the tune dies away
And the night sounds return
I'm suddenly tired
For my bed I do yearn

I lay down my fiddle
It's my dear old friend
Come tomorrow morning
I'll see you again

I pull on my nightcap
Just so on my head
Blow out the candle
And--- JUMP back in bed...

*

The nighttime is a friend to me
It whispers secrets deep
If I leave my window open wide
It sings me back to sleep

Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...

The fireflies light their flame
The bullfrog croaks his name

Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...
Chit-a-dit-a-dit .... Crrrrooooaaakkk!

The nightbirds call and coo
The owl hoots - Tell me Who?

Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...
Chit-a-dit-a-dit .... Crrrrooooaaakkk!
Chit-a-dit... Chit-a-dit...
Chit-a-dit-a-dit .... Whhooooooooo?