The desert's dry and so am I, I close one eye and try to sleep
With slumber near I close one ear, I don't appear to hear a peep
Suddenly a chivaree awakens me, must be the heat
I know it's rare but as I stare, I swear the prickly pear have feet

The critters get a lick in with a peckin' and a pickin'
And a rattle and a hissin' and a do their thing
Saguaro go to and fro and dosido, that's cactus swing

Then on a stand of painted sand, A varmint band began to play
To the tune "Beneath The Moon", the critters croon and swoon and sway
Foxes yip out something hip, sidewinders slip and flip their tails
On the stones and dried up bones, the combo moans and groans and wails

The critters get a lick in with a peckin' and a pickin'
And a rattle and a hissin' and a do their thing
Saguaro go to and fro and dosido, that's cactus swing

The cacti do the two-step to the groovin' hoodoo symphony
From the hill the whippoorwill, will trill a sylvan rhapsody
My tale is tall and off the wall, don't you call me a ding-a-ling
Ol' Nat and Fats would tip their hats, man those desert cats can swing

The critters get a lick in with a peckin' and a pickin'
And a rattle and a hissin' and a do their thing
Saguaro go to and fro and dosido, that's cactus swing

The critters get a lick in with a peckin' and a pickin'
And a rattle and a hissin' and a do their thing
Saguaro go to and fro and dosido, that's cactus swing