One Small Girl

One Small Girl (From 'Once On This Island') - Musical Cast Recording

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

Once small girl holding tight

At last the storm subsided

And the morning sun glowed

And two old peasants

Came cautiously down the road

Mama Euralie

Tonton Julian

Asaka is smiling again, Julian

This morning she smiles. Last night she tried

to blow our heads off

Ah, Julian, just listen to those birds

Coo coo coo coo coo

Coo coo coo coo coo

Aaaahh

What kind of bird is that

Look! There

One small face, two small knees

Why are you up there

What is your name

The girl can't speak

And they're to blame

Away probably meant to kill her

The she'd be dead

It's possible he forgot

The god's don't forget

Then they had some reason to spare

Her life it's best that we don't know what

One small girl better not

But we are too old for children

We have no room, and no food

And not knowing why, they followed

their hearts back to the tree, gently lifted

the terrified child down

No!!! and discovered cheek speak after all

One small girl in the way

Constantly hungry learning too quick

One small girl hard at play

She makes me smile

She scares me sick

And they scolded and teased

And held her

And mended the clothes she tore

And the hut was crowded

And food was scarce

And somehow, their lives held more

One small girl to live for

They named her Desiree Dieu-Donne or

God-Given Desire. But in their affection, they

called simply Ti Moune

What does Ti Moune mean, Mama

It means little orphan. Saved by the gods for

something special what is it

Ti Moune, if we knew why the gods did the

things they do, we would be gods ourselves

Someday I'm going to ask them, Mama

Sweet as a eucalyptus

And terrible as a tempest

Banging a drum and humming a tune

Ti Moune

Falling and running and calling

And growing and growing

And growing up too soon

One small girl

Not so small

Lost in those daydreams

Day after day

Ooh way ooh

Call her name

No, don't call

Ooh way ooh

Her ears don't hear

She's far away and I know that

She's getting older

I know that it's

Meant to be and my arms

Can't hold her and keep her small

But all that my heart can see

Aaahhh

Is one small girl

In a tree

Ooh way ooh