[Verse 1]
On Christmas morning 1961
I remember it so well, my rabbit's hutch was empty
And mother said that I wasn’t to enter the shed
If I went off to play that I would get some sweets
She also did not know where Flappie could've been
She would ask daddy later because he was bussy
In that bike shed I had to, for an hour
Try my best to find Flappie, he was probably in the grass
[Chorus 1]
But had I not closed the hutch this time?
Just like I did every other evening
I had even gone back last night
I, too, don't know why I did
I stood for a long time in front of the hutch, as if I knew
What I know now
[Verse 2]
On Christmas day 1961
We went looking for Flappie, father was looking too
By the trees and in the water, but not in that bike shed
’Cause he couldn't be there, right? And I shaked my head
Together we were looking, together 'til the coffee
The family had coffee but I didn't want any
I thought of Flappie, that at night it could frieze so hard
My head bowed down, big tears of sadness
[Chorus 1]
But had I not closed the hutch this time?
Just like I did every other evening
I had even gone back last night
I, too, don't know why I did that
I stood for a long time in front of the hutch, as if I knew
What I know now
[Verse 3]
On Christmas Eve 1961
There was joyous eating but it didn't do it for me
I thought of Flappie, my own little Flappie
Where would he be walking? I didn't take a bite
When, after the soup, the main course was supposed to come
My father spoke, highly entertained, "Look Youp, there's Flappie!"
I can still see the silver plate, and there he was, in three pieces
For the first time I saw my father as a terrible man
[Chorus 2]
And while screaming I stormed off to bed
I first cried for an hour on the spread
One more time I stood scolding at the top of the stairs
And screamed "Flappie was mine"
I stood, for a long time, at the window
But the hutch was completely abandoned
[Verse 4]
On the day after Christmas 1961
Mother remembers it so well, father’s bed was empty
And I said that she wasn’t to enter the shed
And if she went off to play, that she would get some sweets