[Intro]

Yo, this is The Lorax, written by Dr. Seuss, and I’m gonna rap this book

[Interlude]

At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows

And the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows

And no birds ever sing excepting old crows

Is the Street of the Lifted Lorax

[Verse 1]

And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say

If you look deep enough, you can still see today

Where the Lorax once stood just as long as it could

Before somebody lifted the Lorax away

What was the Lorax? And why is it there?

And why was it lifted and taken somewhere

From the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?

The Once-Ler lives there; ask him, he knows

You won’t see the Once-Ler; don’t knock at his door

He stays in his Lerkum on top of the store

He lurks in his Lerkum, cold under the roof

Where he makes his own clothes out of miff-muffered-moof

And on special dank midnights in August, he peeks

Out of the shutters, and sometimes he speaks

And tells how the Lorax was lifted away

He’ll tell you, perhaps, if you’re willing to pay

[Verse 2]

On the end of a rope, he lets down a tin pail

And you have to toss in 15 cents and a nail

And the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail

Then he pulls up the pail and makes a most careful count

To see if you paid him the proper amount

Then he hides what you paid him away in the Snuvv

His secret strange hole in his gruvvalous glove

Then he grunts, “I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone

For the secrets I tell you are for your ears alone”

[Verse 3]

SLUPP!

Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear

And the old Once-Ler’s whispers are not very clear

Since they have to come down through a snergelly hose

And he sounds as if he had smallish bees up his nose

“Now, I’ll tell you,” he says, with his teeth sounding gray

“How the Lorax got lifted and taken away”

It all started way back, such a long time back

Way back in the days where the grass was still green

And the pond was still wet; and the clouds were still clean

And the song of the Swamee-Swams sang out in space

One morning, I came to this glorious place

And I first saw the trees! The Truffula Trees!

The bright-colored tuffs of the Truffula Trees

Mile after mile in the fresh, morning breeze

[Verse 4]

And under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots

Frisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits

As the played in the shade and ate Truffula fruits

From the rippulous pond came the comfortable sound

Of the Humming Fish humming while splashing around

But those trees! Those trees! Those Truffula Trees!

All my life I’ve been searching for trees such as these

The touch of their tuffs was much softer than silk

And they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk

I felt a great leaping of joy in my heart

I knew just what I’d do; I unloaded my cart”

[Verse 5]

In no time at all, I had built a smart shop

Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop

And with great skillful skill and with great speedy speed

I took the soft tuff and I knitted a Thneed

The instant I finished, I heard a ga-Zump!

I looked; I saw something pop out of the stump

Of the tree I chopped down; it was sort of a man

Describe him? That’s hard; I don’t know if I can

He was shortish and oldish and brownish and mossy

And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy

“Mister!” he said with a sawdusty sneeze

“I am the Lorax; I speak for the trees

I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues

And I’m asking you sir, from the top of my lungs”

He was very upset as he shouted and puffed

“What’s that thing you made out of my Truffula tuff?”

[Verse 6]

“Look, Lorax,” I said, “there’s no cause for alarm

I chopped just one tree; I am doing no harm

I’m being quite useful; this thing is a Thneed

A Thneed is a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need

It’s a shirt; it’s a sock; it’s a glove; it’s a hat

But it has other uses; yes, far beyond that

You can use it for carpets, for pillows, for sheets

Or curtains, or covers for bicycle seats”

The Lorax said, “Sir, you are crazy with greed

There is no one on earth who would by that fool Thneed”

But the very next minute I proved he was wrong

For, just at that minute, a chap came along

And he thought that the Thneed I knitted was great

He happily bought it for 398

I laughed at the Lorax, “You poor stupid guy

You can never tell what some people would buy”

“I repeat,” cried the Lorax, “I speak for the trees”

“I’m busy,” I told him; “Shut up, if you please”

I rushed ‘cross the room, and in no time at all

Built a radio-phone; I put in a quick call

I called all of my brothers and uncles and aunts

And I said, “Listen here; here’s a wonderful chance

For the whole Once-Ler family to get mighty rich

Get over here fast; take the road to North Nitch

Turn left at Weehawken; sharp right at South Stitch”

[Bridge]

And in no time at all, in the factory I built

The whole Once-Ler family was working full tilt

We were all knitting Thneeds just as busy as bees

To the sound of the chopping of Truffula Trees

Then, oh, baby, oh

How did my business grow?

Now, chopping a tree at a time was too slow

So I quickly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker

Which whacked off 4 Truffula Trees at one smacker

We were making Thneeds 4 times as fast as before

And that Lorax? He didn’t show up any more

But the next week, he knocked at my new office door

He snapped, “I’m the Lorax who speaks for the trees

Which you seem to be chopping down as fast as you please (mm-hm)

But I’m also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots

Who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits

And happily lived, eating Truffula fruits

Now, thanks to you hacking my trees to the ground

There’s not enough Truffula fruit to go ‘round

And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies

Because they have gas and no food in their tummies”

[Verse 7]

“They loved living here, but I can’t let them stay

They’ll have to find food, and I hope that they may

Good luck boys,” he said, and he sent them away

I, the Once-Ler, felt sad as I watched them all go

But business is business, and business must grow

Regardless of crummies in tummies, you know

I meant no harm; I must truly did not

But I had to grow bigger; so bigger I got

I biggered my factory; I biggered my roads

I biggered my wagons; I biggered my loads

Of the Thneeds I shipped out, I was shipping them forth

To the South, to the East, to the West, to the North

I went right on biggering, selling more Thneeds

And I biggered my money, which everyone needs

Then again he came back; I was fixing some pipes

When that old-nuisance Lorax came back with more gripes

“I am the Lorax,” he coughed and he whiffed

He sneezed and he snuffled; he gargled, he sniffed

“Once-Ler!” He cried with a cruffulous croak

“Once-Ler! You’re making such smogulous smoke!

My poor Swamee Swams, why, they can’t sing a note

No one can sing who has smog in his throat”

[Verse 8]

“And so,” said the Lorax, “please pardon my cough

They cannot live here, so I’m sending them off

Where will they go? I don’t hopefully know

They may have to fly for a month or a year

To escape from the smog you’ve smogged up around here

“What’s more?” said the Lorax (his dander was up)

“Let me say a few words about the Gluppity-Glupp

Your machinery chugs on, day and night without stop

Making Gluppity-Glupp, also Schloppity-Schlopp

And what do you do with this leftover goo?

I’ll show you; you dirty old Once-Ler man, you”

[Verse 9]

“You’re glumping up the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed

No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed

So I’m sending them off; oh, their future is dreary

They’ll walk on their fins and get woefully weary

In search of some water that isn’t so smeary”

Hm, and then I got mad; I got terribly mad

I yelled at the Lorax, “Now listen here, Dad

All you do is yap-yap, and say, ‘Bad, Bad, Bad’

Well, I have my rights sir, and I’m telling you

I intend to go on doing just what I do

And for your information, you Lorax, I’m figgering

On biggering and biggering and biggering and biggering

Turing more Truffula Trees into Thneeds

Which everyone, everyone, everyone needs

And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!

From outside in the fields came a sickening smack

Of an axe on the tree, then we heard the tree fall

The very last Truffula tree of them all

[Verse 10]

No more trees, no more Thneeds, no more work to be done

So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one

All waved me goodbye; they jumped into my cars

And drove away under the smoke-smuggered stars

Now all that was left ‘neath the bad smelling sky

Was my big empty factory, the Lorax, and I

The Lorax said nothing, just gave me a glance

Just gave me a very sad, sad backwards glance

As he lifted himself by the seat of his pants

I’ll never forget the grim look on his face

When he heisted himself and took leave of this place

Through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace

And all that the Lorax left here in this mess

Was a small pile of rocks with the one word “Unless”

Whatever that meant, well, I couldn’t guess

That was long, long ago

But each day since that day, I’ve sat here and worried and worried away

Through the years while my buildings have fallen apart

I’ve worried about it with all of my heart

[Verse 11]

“But now,” says the Once-Ler, “now that you’re here

The word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear

Unless someone likes you cares a whole awful lot

Nothing is gonna get better; it’s not, so

Catch,” calls the Once-Ler, he lets something fall

“It’s a Truffula seed; it’s the last one of all

You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula seeds

And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs

Plant a new Truffula; treat it with care

Give it clean water and feed it fresh air

Grow a forest; protect it from axes that hack

Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back”