Brief background information: The idea for this song stems from a message I had posted on one of the forums here, which had a topic discussing what songs could be thought of as "theme songs" for the characters of The Penguins of Madagascar. My suggestion of the late Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" for Rico was praised by a fellow poster. I soon decided to write my own parody version of the song starring Rico.
Having to come up with a last name for Rico, I chose Blue because, like Brown in Croce's original, it was a color. I also needed something to rhyme with zoo.
If you are not familiar with the tune or plot of "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," you might want to search for the lyrics or listen to the song before reading, but you don't have to.
Down in the borough of Manhattan
You'll find the Central Park Zoo
And if you ever stroll over
You had better beware
Of a bird called Rico Blue
Well, Rico, he's a penguin
And he stands about two foot two
And while he ain't the tallest one of the bunch, now, baby
He's the one with the attitude
And he's mad, mad Rico Blue
The maddest bird in the Central Park Zoo
Madder than a broke man on Wall Street
Tougher than a crocodile's scales
Now Rico, he is flightless
Yeah, it's true that he can't fly
But you'd best stay on his good side, yes, sir
Lest you earn yourself a black eye
He's got a bunch of explosives
He's got a few grenades too
He's got a flame-throwing gun in his stomach for fun
Hates it when those chimps throw poo
And he's mad, mad Rico Blue
The maddest bird in the Central Park Zoo
Madder than a broke man on Wall Street
Tougher than a crocodile's scales
Well, Thursday, 'bout a week ago
Rico went for a swim
And at the edge of the water
He found a doll named Laura
Seemed like the perfect girl for him
Well, he picked her up in his flipper
Said, "What a fine plastic woman"
But soon ole Rico found himself there fightin'
For the wife of a plastic man
And he's mad, mad Rico Blue
The maddest bird in the Central Park Zoo
Madder than a broke man on Wall Street
Tougher than a crocodile's scales
The doll's husband fought with Rico
And Laura so loved Rico's use of force
That while plastic man was there beggin' for sweet mercy
Laura was beggin' for a divorce
And it's mad, mad Rico Blue
The maddest bird in the Central Park Zoo
Madder than a broke man on Wall Street
Tougher than a crocodile's scales
Yes, he's mad, mad Rico Blue
The maddest bird in that Hoover Dam zoo
Madder than a broke man on Wall Street
Tougher than a crocodile's scales
Yeah, he was madder than a broke man on Wall Street
And tougher than a crocodile's scales
Thank you for reading my first parody song to feature a character from The Penguins of Madagascar.
I tried my best to keep pace with the original song, so in case you were confused, Rico fought and apparently won a fight against the husband of the doll that he found. The doll, Laura, was so impressed with Rico's fighting abilities that she begged her husband to divorce her, thus allowing her to be with Rico.
[Song last edited August 10, 2017.]