I want a hippopotamus for Christmas,
Only a hippopotamus will do.
Don't want a doll, no @#$%y Tinker Toy,

I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won't have to use our dirty chimney flue,
Just bring him through the front door,

that's the easy thing to do.

I can see me now on Christmas morning,

creeping down the stairs.
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes
And see a hippo hero standing there!


I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.

No crocodiles or rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too.


(Oh, I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
The kind I saw last summer in the zoo)

There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage.
I'd keep him there and feed him there
and give him his massage.


(Oh, I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
I don't think mom and dad will mind, do you?)

Ma says a hippo would eat me up, but then,
Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian.


I can see me now on Christmas morning,
creeping down the stairs.
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes

And see a hippo hero standing there!

Oh, I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Only a hippopotamus will do.
No crocodiles or rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses

And hippopotamuses like me too.