"Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo ..." | Eastern North Carolina Now

   "I do believe it. I do believe it's true."

   And so it goes in Paul Simon's "At the Zoo," within the fine collection of tunes in the Simon and Garfunkel classic album, "Bookends," released in 1968, and so it is for me when I am ever close to the Woodley Park neighborhood in northern Washington, DC. When I'm in that area, I always go to the Smithsonian Zoological Park - the "National Zoo," if only for a mere hour, and sometimes less.

   If you do not have to park your car, and I always walk to the Zoo, the price is NO CHARGE, which is always cool. Free is good, free is best.
The entrance to the 163 acre campus of the Smithsonian National Zoo is on Connecticut Avenue just north of the Woodley Park neighborhood: Above. The Woodley Park neighborhood is mostly upscale condominiums: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

And sometimes well appointed, but always interesting, row houses on tree lined streets: Above and below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

If you are driving or walking to the National Zoo, follow Connecticut Ave. to the Zoo in the Woodley Park neighborhood. Click here to expand to a central Washington, DC traffic and terrain map.

This is an interesting video with Paul Simon's "At the Zoo" as the background melody.



   The lyrics to "At the Zoo" were never overwrought with the dept of any real purpose, but, then again, they never were meant to be. When I was at the National Zoo in March of 2010 and 2011, and by myself for few scarce moments, those thrown around, throw-away words actually played a bit in my head as I shuffled about, searching for an animal attraction that was viable in that moment.
   

"At the Zoo," Bookends, 1968


     Paul Simon

    Someone told me
    It's all happening at the zoo.
    I do believe it,
    I do believe it's true.

    Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Whoooa. Mmmmm.

    It's a light and tumble journey
    From the East Side to the park;
    Just a fine and fancy ramble
    To the zoo.

    But you can take the crosstown bus
    If it's raining or it's cold,
    And the animals will love it
    If you do.
    If you do.

    Something tells me
    It's all happening at the zoo.
    I do believe it,
    I do believe it's true.

    Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Whoooa. Mmmmm.

    The monkeys stand for honesty,
    Giraffes are insincere,
    And the elephants are kindly but
    They're dumb.
    Orangutans are skeptical
    Of changes in their cages,
    And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.

    Zebras are reactionaries,
    Antelopes are missionaries,
    Pigeons plot in secrecy,
    And hamsters turn on frequently.
    What a gas! You gotta come and see

    At the zoo.
    At the zoo.
    At the zoo.
    At the zoo.
    At the zoo.
    At the zoo.
    At the zoo.


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