Animal Song of the Month
By Uncle Wayne Watkins
[Editor’s note: Uncle Wayne—the Pie & Chai editors’ brother and brother-in-law–a children’s music legend on the Hawaiian Islands with his Howling Dog Band, no longer sports a mullet, but on the cover of his classic “Bald-Headed Chicken” album he does. Click HERE to check it out and listen to a rocking rendition of an Uncle Wayne original and the editors’ favorite, “Mouse in My House.” Thousands of children and their parents have sung it thousands of times over the past four decades, including the editors’ daughters and their classmates in preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary school–until the kids decided it was just too embarrassing to have their dad show up in their classroom with his Washburn guitar to lead singalongs and dance-alongs of their uncle’s songs like the onomatopoeia classics “All Around Maui” and “Humpback Whale,” the counting song “Coconut,” the wistful ballad “Woman of the Moon,” and, of course and always, “Mouse in My House” (and, OK, a few Raffis thrown in for good measure; there’s just no denying the gravitational pull of “Bananaphone” and “Down by the Bay,” and “Baby Beluga.”). Now the P&C editors are playing and singing Uncle Wayne songs with their grandsons, Bobby and Reuben. Have a listen, dial up some of Uncle Wayne’s other songs, and you’ll be singing along, and turning your living room into a children’s music mosh pit, too.]
MOUSE IN MY HOUSE
I’ve got a mouse in my house
She will not leave
I cannot make her go
I jump up and down
I yell and I scream:
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, MOUSE!”
But she shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
I bought a big cat
And brought him home
Was gonna chase that mouse away.
But when I went to work
The mouse came out
She got together with the cat to play.
I’ve got a mouse in my house
She will not leave
I cannot make her go
I jump up and down
I yell and I scream:
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, MOUSE!”
But she shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
I put out traps
But they’re no good
She steals that bait with ease.
I try to sweep her up
With my broom
But that just makes her sneeze
AH-CHOO!
I’ve got a mouse in my house
She will not leave
I cannot make her go
I jump up and down
I yell and I scream:
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, MOUSE!”
But she shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She eats my crackers
She eats my bread
She does just what she please
I opened my refrigerator
Looked right in
She was sitting there eating my cheese.
OH NO!
I’ve got a mouse in my house
She will not leave
I cannot make her go
I jump up and down
I yell and I scream:
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, MOUSE!”
But she shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
I finally decided
I’ll just live with that mouse
It’s really not so bad
She cleans up her mess
Puts away her toys
The best roommate
I ever had.
I’ve got a mouse in my house
She will not leave
I cannot make her go
I jump up and down
I yell and I scream:
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, MOUSE!”
But she shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She shakes her head
She says No, No, No!
She shakes her head
And says No.
***
Uncle Wayne started his music career in 1969 as a volunteer teacher’s aide singing and dancing with the children at his mother’s preschool. After finishing a BA in Early Childhood Education, he worked as a preschool teacher in the swamps of North Florida for 15 years and played music with the children every day. He moved to Maui in 1993 with his wife and daughter where he has continued playing his positive, upbeat, original songs for children and families in preschools, elementary schools, libraries, and festivals throughout the state. His day jobs while being a children’s entertainer have included PATCH (People Attentive to Children) Coordinator for Maui; Early Childhood Education instructor at UH Maui College; and director of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Children’s Center. In 2010 he formed the family folk music group Uncle Wayne and the Howling Dog Band. He has recorded three CDs and has dozens of live performance videos on YouTube. Since leaving the University of Hawaii in 2015, he has been performing full-time with his band or solo wherever he is invited. His music is sold through CD Baby and iTunes and can be heard on all major streaming services.
