[Intro]
Yo, this is The Lorax, written by Dr. Seuss, and I’m gonna rap this book

[Interlude]
At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows
And the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows
And no birds ever sing excepting old crows
Is the Street of the Lifted Lorax

[Verse 1]
And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say
If you look deep enough, you can still see today
Where the Lorax once stood just as long as it could
Before somebody lifted the Lorax away
What was the Lorax? And why is it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere
From the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?
The Once-Ler lives there; ask him, he knows
You won’t see the Once-Ler; don’t knock at his door
He stays in his Lerkum on top of the store
He lurks in his Lerkum, cold under the roof
Where he makes his own clothes out of miff-muffered-moof
And on special dank midnights in August, he peeks
Out of the shutters, and sometimes he speaks
And tells how the Lorax was lifted away
He’ll tell you, perhaps, if you’re willing to pay
[Verse 2]
On the end of a rope, he lets down a tin pail
And you have to toss in 15 cents and a nail
And the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail
Then he pulls up the pail and makes a most careful count
To see if you paid him the proper amount
Then he hides what you paid him away in the Snuvv
His secret strange hole in his gruvvalous glove
Then he grunts, “I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone
For the secrets I tell you are for your ears alone”

[Verse 3]
SLUPP!
Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear
And the old Once-Ler’s whispers are not very clear
Since they have to come down through a snergelly hose
And he sounds as if he had smallish bees up his nose
“Now, I’ll tell you,” he says, with his teeth sounding gray
“How the Lorax got lifted and taken away”
It all started way back, such a long time back
Way back in the days where the grass was still green
And the pond was still wet; and the clouds were still clean
And the song of the Swamee-Swams sang out in space
One morning, I came to this glorious place
And I first saw the trees! The Truffula Trees!
The bright-colored tuffs of the Truffula Trees
Mile after mile in the fresh, morning breeze
[Verse 4]
And under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots
Frisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits
As the played in the shade and ate Truffula fruits
From the rippulous pond came the comfortable sound
Of the Humming Fish humming while splashing around
But those trees! Those trees! Those Truffula Trees!
All my life I’ve been searching for trees such as these
The touch of their tuffs was much softer than silk
And they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk
I felt a great leaping of joy in my heart
I knew just what I’d do; I unloaded my cart”

[Verse 5]
In no time at all, I had built a smart shop
Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop
And with great skillful skill and with great speedy speed
I took the soft tuff and I knitted a Thneed
The instant I finished, I heard a ga-Zump!
I looked; I saw something pop out of the stump
Of the tree I chopped down; it was sort of a man
Describe him? That’s hard; I don’t know if I can
He was shortish and oldish and brownish and mossy
And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy
“Mister!” he said with a sawdusty sneeze
“I am the Lorax; I speak for the trees
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues
And I’m asking you sir, from the top of my lungs”
He was very upset as he shouted and puffed
“What’s that thing you made out of my Truffula tuff?”
[Verse 6]
“Look, Lorax,” I said, “there’s no cause for alarm
I chopped just one tree; I am doing no harm
I’m being quite useful; this thing is a Thneed
A Thneed is a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need
It’s a shirt; it’s a sock; it’s a glove; it’s a hat
But it has other uses; yes, far beyond that
You can use it for carpets, for pillows, for sheets
Or curtains, or covers for bicycle seats”
The Lorax said, “Sir, you are crazy with greed
There is no one on earth who would by that fool Thneed”
But the very next minute I proved he was wrong
For, just at that minute, a chap came along
And he thought that the Thneed I knitted was great
He happily bought it for 398
I laughed at the Lorax, “You poor stupid guy
You can never tell what some people would buy”
“I repeat,” cried the Lorax, “I speak for the trees”
“I’m busy,” I told him; “Shut up, if you please”
I rushed ‘cross the room, and in no time at all
Built a radio-phone; I put in a quick call
I called all of my brothers and uncles and aunts
And I said, “Listen here; here’s a wonderful chance
For the whole Once-Ler family to get mighty rich
Get over here fast; take the road to North Nitch
Turn left at Weehawken; sharp right at South Stitch”

[Bridge]
And in no time at all, in the factory I built
The whole Once-Ler family was working full tilt
We were all knitting Thneeds just as busy as bees
To the sound of the chopping of Truffula Trees
Then, oh, baby, oh
How did my business grow?
Now, chopping a tree at a time was too slow
So I quickly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker
Which whacked off 4 Truffula Trees at one smacker
We were making Thneeds 4 times as fast as before
And that Lorax? He didn’t show up any more
But the next week, he knocked at my new office door
He snapped, “I’m the Lorax who speaks for the trees
Which you seem to be chopping down as fast as you please (mm-hm)
But I’m also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
Who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits
And happily lived, eating Truffula fruits
Now, thanks to you hacking my trees to the ground
There’s not enough Truffula fruit to go ‘round
And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies
Because they have gas and no food in their tummies”

[Verse 7]
“They loved living here, but I can’t let them stay
They’ll have to find food, and I hope that they may
Good luck boys,” he said, and he sent them away
I, the Once-Ler, felt sad as I watched them all go
But business is business, and business must grow
Regardless of crummies in tummies, you know
I meant no harm; I must truly did not
But I had to grow bigger; so bigger I got
I biggered my factory; I biggered my roads
I biggered my wagons; I biggered my loads
Of the Thneeds I shipped out, I was shipping them forth
To the South, to the East, to the West, to the North
I went right on biggering, selling more Thneeds
And I biggered my money, which everyone needs
Then again he came back; I was fixing some pipes
When that old-nuisance Lorax came back with more gripes
“I am the Lorax,” he coughed and he whiffed
He sneezed and he snuffled; he gargled, he sniffed
“Once-Ler!” He cried with a cruffulous croak
“Once-Ler! You’re making such smogulous smoke!
My poor Swamee Swams, why, they can’t sing a note
No one can sing who has smog in his throat”

[Verse 8]
“And so,” said the Lorax, “please pardon my cough
They cannot live here, so I’m sending them off
Where will they go? I don’t hopefully know
They may have to fly for a month or a year
To escape from the smog you’ve smogged up around here
“What’s more?” said the Lorax (his dander was up)
“Let me say a few words about the Gluppity-Glupp
Your machinery chugs on, day and night without stop
Making Gluppity-Glupp, also Schloppity-Schlopp
And what do you do with this leftover goo?
I’ll show you; you dirty old Once-Ler man, you”

[Verse 9]
“You’re glumping up the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed
No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed
So I’m sending them off; oh, their future is dreary
They’ll walk on their fins and get woefully weary
In search of some water that isn’t so smeary”
Hm, and then I got mad; I got terribly mad
I yelled at the Lorax, “Now listen here, Dad
All you do is yap-yap, and say, ‘Bad, Bad, Bad’
Well, I have my rights sir, and I’m telling you
I intend to go on doing just what I do
And for your information, you Lorax, I’m figgering
On biggering and biggering and biggering and biggering
Turing more Truffula Trees into Thneeds
Which everyone, everyone, everyone needs
And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!
From outside in the fields came a sickening smack
Of an axe on the tree, then we heard the tree fall
The very last Truffula tree of them all

[Verse 10]
No more trees, no more Thneeds, no more work to be done
So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one
All waved me goodbye; they jumped into my cars
And drove away under the smoke-smuggered stars
Now all that was left ‘neath the bad smelling sky
Was my big empty factory, the Lorax, and I
The Lorax said nothing, just gave me a glance
Just gave me a very sad, sad backwards glance
As he lifted himself by the seat of his pants
I’ll never forget the grim look on his face
When he heisted himself and took leave of this place
Through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace
And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
Was a small pile of rocks with the one word “Unless”
Whatever that meant, well, I couldn’t guess
That was long, long ago
But each day since that day, I’ve sat here and worried and worried away
Through the years while my buildings have fallen apart
I’ve worried about it with all of my heart

[Verse 11]
“But now,” says the Once-Ler, “now that you’re here
The word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear
Unless someone likes you cares a whole awful lot
Nothing is gonna get better; it’s not, so
Catch,” calls the Once-Ler, he lets something fall
“It’s a Truffula seed; it’s the last one of all
You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula seeds
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs
Plant a new Truffula; treat it with care
Give it clean water and feed it fresh air
Grow a forest; protect it from axes that hack
Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back”