i heard a tremendous version of this song performed by a first grade class at the little red school house in manhattan. because a lot of the kids weren’t completely comfortable reading the lyrics, the teacher brought out a large piece of paper and everybody drew pictures of the characters in the different verses. as they were going along, the teacher would point to the pictures, and the kids, inspired not only by the song but by their own artwork, could sing it out with gusto!!

musicians dan zanes sings and plays guitar...

traditional song

sound sample click here lyrics way up yonder in the sky a blue bird lived in a jaybirds eye buckeye jim you can’t go weave and spin you can’t go buckeye jim way up yonder in the moon a jay bird rests in a silver spoon buckeye... way down yonder in a hollow log a red bird danced with a green bull frog buckeye... way down yonder in a wooden trough an old woman died of a whooping cough buckeye... way up yonder on a shooting star a bullfrog jumped but he jumped too far buckeye...

chords
i play this in the key of e by putting the capo on the 4th fret and starting with a c shape chord.

| E | E | E | C#m |
| E | B7 E | E | C#m | B7E | E |

a couple of these changes are quick the way I play the song, particularly the B7 to the E. this could just be a starting point I would think…