The Grasshopper (Orthoptera)
Who of us has not been thrilled by the sight of a pretty grasshopper jump many times its own length, stretching out those beautiful legs?
OK: for this one I really needed help!
I wanted to include a Hip-hop song but knew I had no experience (or ability!) to write it. I consider this genre as the equivalent of poetry set to music, and its lyricism was beyond my scope.
Manuel IV (instagram.com/realmanuelmusic) proved to be the answer. He is a songwriter/rapper based out of Atlanta; he wrote both the lyrics and the music, and sang it as well. Hearing his grasshopper, I believe it truly is “a beautiful life”!
My daughter Mónica (a Doctor in Physical Therapy) makes her recording debut as the Schoolteacher.
Orthoptera Lyrics
and Song Sample
TEACHER: Sit down, sit down, everyone. We have a new class speaker today and he’s a grasshopper!
Jump around, jump around all day,
Jump around, jump around all night.
Jump around, jump around all day,
It’s a beautiful life!
My name is Hopper the grasshopper
Jumping over so much grass, I’d have a blast at soccer
I got six legs and five eyes, I’d be great at I-Spy
Two wings, so I fly like helicopter
I know we last long, see we came before the dinosaurs
We eat plants call us herbivores
Some species don’t fly, they prefer the floor
But we still jump high like kangaroos on trampolines
Shaking leaves like tambourines
In some human cultures they try to eat us like we’re tangerines on their dinner plates.
As grasshoppers we stridulate
So we rub our back legs to make sound, then we jump around
‘Cause our legs are like catapults
Jumping 30 inches off the ground as adults
It’s kind of crazy ‘cause we’re just so small
It’s like a human jumping across a field of football
–Chorus–
Jump! Jump!
Some people try to squoosh me
I’m jumping off my tooshie
Jump! Jump!
Some people try to bug me –
I’m not even a bug.
When I’m scared I’m not peeing my pants
We can eat toxins and poisonous plants, so others can’t eat us
And to protect from predators, we spit brown liquid – no need for a janitor
Some camouflage ‘cause anything can occur
With our six feet it’s a feat to get a pedicure
CHILD:
“Mr. Hopper, do you have kids now?”
My Lady laid 300 eggs in a season!
On our stomachs is where we hear things
And when my tummy growls, I call that my ear ring
We jump and we jump, hop and we hop
Run and we run, and never will stop
Until the day goes, you know how our saying goes
–Chorus–
Jump! Jump!
Some people try to squoosh me
I’m jumping off my tooshie
Jump! Jump!
Some people try to bug me –
I’m not even a bug.
TEACHER: All right, everyone, please say goodbye to Mr. Hopper. And children, don’t forget we have a test on Lepidoptera next Tuesday!
It’s a beautiful life!