[Verse 1: lute and harp weaving a lively modal melody, wooden percussion and hand drum driving a bright medieval folk groove, plainchant-inspired choral layers floating softly beneath] It began with a fowl most curious, A turkey great, Within it lay a duck fullburdened, And chicken small, With a quail within, A quail within. [Chorus: neo-medieval pop lift, airy stacked harmonies, hurdy-gurdy drone swirling under rhythmic claps, recorder flourishes brightening the cadence] With a quail within, With a quail within. [Verse 2: lively modal accompaniment continues, recorder and viol trade gentle phrases, plainchant-style vocals anchored by soft harp arpeggios and hand drum pulses] Then they spake, "Why end with birds?" So they placed a lamb Within a cow. Then a pig within the lamb, And a duck within the swine, Then a turkey in the duck, Then a hen within the turkey, And a quail within the hen, A quail within. [Chorus: airy neo-medieval pop harmonies, claps and hurdy-gurdy rise, bardic recorder melody dances above the beat] With a quail within, With a quail within. [Verse 3: deeper viol drones, lute and harp steadying the folk cadence, plainchant-inspired phrasing widening into warm choral echoes] Then a mighty cow They sealed in a whale, And the lamb in the cow, And the pig in the lamb, And the duck in the pig, And the turkey in the duck, And the hen within the turkey, And a quail within the hen, A quail within. [Bridge: liturgical grandeur, resonant male polyphony, slow-building harmonies like a cathedral chant before resolving back into folk energy] [Chorus: energetic folk-pop finale, bright recorder and viol, hurdy-gurdy droning strong, rhythmic claps and airy harmonies swelling with each repetition] With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within, With a quail within.
