DESCRIPTION:
This song was written by Donald Zepp in 2011, when his wife misheard the lyric of the traditional song "Say, Darlin' Say" as "Say, Darwin, say". I suppose that misheard lyric must have suggested to Zepp that there's a new song in there, somewhere, and he wrote it.

Yesterday was Darwin's birthday, and I saw a posting of Zepp's version of ths song to mark the occasion, and it struck me as a song I'd like to learn.

But as I was working on it, with each new pass through the song, I found small incremental changes creeping into my version. Thus, over the course of time that I worked on it, the song evolved from Zepp's original version into this, my version of Zepp's song.

The banjo tuning, for those interested in such things, and taking into account the capo position, is: eEAC#E. It's played in the key of A, using a D harmonica.

Below are my set of lyrics, which differ in detail here and there from Zepp's lyrics but maintain the original intent and feeling, I believe.

SAY, DARWIN, SAY

By DONALD ZEPP (with small changes by Marc Nerenberg)

Hush now, little baby, and don't you say a word.
Papa's got a tale to tell about a tiny little bird.
Say, Darwin, Say.

A storm once carried finches out to a distant isle.
They multiplied and thrived there a goodly long while.
Say, Darwin, Say.

Their success meant competition for each limited food resource.
To survive, some had to find some different foods to eat, of course.
Say, Darwin, Say.

As they specialized their feeding, the finches subtly changed,
And over time, eating different foods, different species ranged.
Say, Darwin, Say.
_________

Then Mr. Darwin, he sailed out to those isles across the sea,
And he wondered how all those different species came to be.
Say, Darwin, Say.

Darwin thought the many different kinds of finches he found there
All must have come from some common forebear.
Say, Darwin, Say.

He realized the tiny changes that came with each new generation,
Along with survival of the fittest, could lead to speciation.
Say, Darwin, Say.

And after much careful thinking, and many years of reflection,
Darwin posited his theory - of natural selection.
Say, Darwin, Say.
_________

Darwin's ideas have since truly caused a revolution,
By showing how speciation is the result of evolution.
Say, Darwin, Say.

So thank you, Mr. Darwin for all that you have done.
Your finches helped to teach us all where we have all come from.
Say, Darwin, Say.

As it turns out, I am posting this on Zepp's birthday (one day after Darwin's) ... so Happy Birthday, Zepp!