I want a hippopotamus for Christmas   Only a hippopotamus will do   Don't want a doll, no dinky 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   to see a hippo hero standing there      I want a hippopotamus for Christmas   Only a hippopotamus will do   No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses   I only like hippopotamuses   And hippopotamuses like me too      Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then   Teacher says a hippo is a vegeterian      There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage   I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage      I can see me now on Christmas morning,   creeping down the stairs   Oh what joy and what surprise   when I open up my eyes   to see a hippo hero standing there      I want a hippopotamus for Christmas   Only a hippopotamus will do   No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses   I only like hippopotamuseses   And hippopotamuses like me too!