[Verse 1]
There once was an ugly duckling
With feathers all stubby and brown
And the other birds, in so many words, said
"Get out of town!"
Get out, get out
Get out of town

And he went with a quack
And a waddle and a quack
In a flurry of eiderdown

[Verse 2]
That poor little ugly duckling
Went wandering far and near
But at every place they said to his face
"Now get out of here!"
Get out, get out
Get out of here

And he went with a quack
And a waddle and a quack
And a very unhappy tear

[Bridge]
All through the wintertime
He hid himself away
Ashamed to show his face
Afraid of what others might say
All through the winter
In his lonely clump of wheat
Till a flock of swans spied him there
And very soon agreed

"You're a very fine swan indeed!"
"A swan? Me, a swan? Ah, go on!"
And they said, "Yes, you're a swan!
Take a look at yourself in the lake and you'll see!"
And he looked, and he saw, and he said
"Why, it's me!
I am a swan!
Whee!"

[Verse 3]
I'm not such an ugly duckling
No feathers all stubby and brown
For, in fact, these birds in so many words said
"The best in town!"
The best, the best
The best in town

Not a quack, not a quack
Not a waddle or a quack
But a glide and a whistle
And a snowy white back
And a head so noble and high
Say, who's an ugly duckling?
Not I!
Not I!