Once on This Island - One Small Girl Lyrics

Broadway production (1990)
Once on This Island the Musical - One Small Girl Lyrics

(Music by Stephen Flaherty and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens)

[STORYTELLERS]
One small girl
In a tree
Torn from her mother
Crying in fright
One small girl
Tossed by sea
And left to face
The stormy night
One small girl
Holding tight

[STORYTELLERS (spoken in rhythm)]
At last the storm subsided.
And the morning sun glowed.
And two old peasants
came cautiously down the road.

[TONTON JULIAN]
Mama Euralie!

[MAMA EURALIE]
Tonton Julian!

[MAMA (spoken)]
Asaka is smiling again, Julian.

[TONTON]
This morning she smiles.
Last night she tried to blow our heads off.

[MAMA]
Ah, Julian, just listen to those birds.

[BIRDS]
Coo coo coo coo coo
Coo coo coo coo coo

[LITTLE TI MOUNE]
Aaaahh!

[TONTON]
What kind of bird is that?

[MAMA]
Look! There!

[MAMA]
One small face
Two small knees

[TONTON]
Why are you up there?

[MAMA]
What is your name?

[MAMA]
The girl can't speak

[TONTON (Gesturing up)]
And they're to blame
Agwe probably meant to kill her

[MAMA (spoken in rhythm)]
The she'd be dead

[TONTON]
It's possible he forgot

[MAMA]
The god's don't forget

[TONTON]
Then they had some reason to spare
Her life

[BOTH]
It's best that we don't know what
One small girl...
Better not.

[TONTON (spoken)]
But we are too old for children

[MAMA]
We have no room, and no food...

[ERZULIE]
And not knowing why, they followed
their hearts back to the tree,
gently lifted the terrified child down...

[LITTLE TI MOUNE]
Noo!!!

[ERZULIE]
And discovered that she could speak after all.

[MEN]
One small girl

[WOMEN]
In the way

[MAMA]
Constantly hungry

[TONTON]
Learning too quick

[ALL (but little Ti Moune)]
One small girl
Hard at play

[TONTON]
She makes me smile

[MAMA]
She scares me sick!

[ERZULIE]
And they scolded and teased
And held her
And mended the clothes she tore

[ALL (but Mama, Tonton and Little Ti Moune)]
And the hut was crowded
And food was scarce
And somehow, their lives held more
One small girl
To live for.

[A STORYTELLER]
They named her Desiree Dieu-Donne or
God-Given Desire.
But in their affection,
They simply called her Ti Moune.

[LITTLE TI MOUNE]
What does Ti Moune mean, Mama?

[MAMA]
It means little orphan.
Saved by the gods for something special!

[LITTLE TI MOUNE]
What is it?

[MAMA]
Ti Moune,
If we knew why the gods did the things they do,
We would be gods ourselves!

[LITTLE TI MOUNE]
Someday I'm going to ask them, Mama!

[ALL (but Mama, Tonton and Little Ti Moune)]
Sweet as a eucalyptus
And terrible as a tempest
Banging a drun
And humming a tune...
Ti Moune
Falling
And running
And calling
And growing
And growing
And growing
And growing...up too soon...

[TONTON]
One small girl

[MAMA]
Not so small

[TONTON]
Lost in those daydreams

[MAMA]
Day after day

[STROYTELLERS]
Ooh way ooh

[TONTON]
Call her name

[MAMA]
No, don't call

[STROYTELLERS]
Ooh way ooh

[BOTH]
Her ears
Don't hear
She's far away

[TONTON]
And I know that
She's getting older

[MAMA]
I know that it's
Meant to be

[BOTH]
And my arms
Can't hold her
And keep her small
But all that my
Heart can see...
Aaahhh

[MAMA, TONTON]
Is one small Girl

[MEN]
One small Girl

[WOMEN]
One small Girl

[MAMA, TONTON]
One small Girl

[MEN]
One small Girl

[WOMEN]
One small Girl

[MAMA, TONTON]
One small Girl

[MEN]
One small Girl

[WOMEN]
One small Girl

[MAMA, TONTON]
In a tree

[ALL]
Ooh, ooh way ooh
Ooh, ooh way ooh...

[Thanks to Dani Starr for lyrics]


Read more: Once on This Island the Musical Lyrics
One Small Girl Lyrics from Once on This Island


Once on This Island the Musical Lyrics

SYNOPSIS
We Dance
One Small Girl
Waiting for Life
And the Gods Heard Her Prayer
Rain
Pray
Forever Yours
The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes
Ti Moune
Mama Will Provide
Some Say
The Human Heart
Pray (Reprise)
Some Girls
The Ball
When We Are Wed
Forever Yours (Reprise)
A Part of Us
Why We Tell the Story