From the musical “Miss Liberty”, 1949.
Words and music by Irving Berlin.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- A little fish in a big pond
Has plenty of room to swim
But swimming around are big fish
All ready to pounce on him
Back to his little pond
He starts to roam
The little fish spreads his fins
And begins to swim back home
That’s me, a little fish
In a big pond all wrong
That’s me, a little fish
Where a little fish don’t belong
A little man in a big town
Gets butterflies in his dome
I’m ready to spread my fin
And begin to swim back home
To the little pond where a little fish
And a little man belong
- A little fish in a big pond
Has gotta have lots of heart
For swimming around are big fish
But if he’s the least bit smart
Back to his little pond he doesn’t go
The little fish spreads his fins
And begins to grow, grow, grow
That’s you, a little fish
In a big pond, all right
Me too, a little fish
But we gotta stand up and fight
A little man in a big town
Don’t have to get out and roam
Stop taking it on the chin
And begin to feel at home
In the bigger pond where the bigger fish
And the bigger men belong
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: