Bb clarinet and piano performance track to accompany any version of “A Respectable Bird” by Suzy Johnson. Includes two versions of the performance track — with and without room sound. Score available for 3-part mixed choir, 3-part treble choir, or 2-part treble choir.

I handpicked these historic words, paired them with personal observations, sprinkled in scientific terms and facts, and drizzled it with a dash of humor to create a year round musical main dish for this underappreciated bird. I hope you enjoy it!

Suzy Johnson has been a choral conductor and music educator for more than 25 years. In 1996, she founded a children’s choir program, RAACHE Choirs, and continues to serve as artistic director and ensemble conductor of one of the four ensembles. More recently, her passion to use music to tangibly improve people’s lives led her to join the team that founded Resounding Voices in Rochester, MN, a chorus for individuals with dementia or memory impairment and their support partners. Suzy is artistic director and conductor for this organization as well.

Drawing on her years of choral experience, Suzy recently discovered the delight and challenge of composing and arranging to create music that brings joy to singers of all ages and has had several of her songs performed by the two ensembles she leads. In August of 2021 she received a Minnesota Music Creator Award from the American Composers Forum with funding from the Jerome Foundation and looks forward to future opportunities to create music for choirs and instrumentalists of all ages and backgrounds.

Composer’s Notes

I have been observing wild turkeys for more than 25 years from the windows of my country home. Sometimes we see up to fifty at a time in our yard or field! Many of us only think about turkeys around Thanksgiving Day, but their endearing qualities inspired me to find out more about them. I had heard Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as our national bird, but soon discovered this to be a myth. Although he never actually recommended this noble fowl instead of the eagle, he did respect them.

In 1784 he wrote:
“For my own part I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country….” Later he adds that the eagle is a “bird of bad moral character”
that “does not get his living honestly.” In a subsequent paragraph he extols the turkey with these words– “For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

– Suzy Johnson

Text

The turkey is a respectable bird.
No kidding, Ben Franklin penned this word. They gobble and putt and bobble and strut, A native American bird.

They cannot smell things well but have an awesome sense of taste.
Their hearing and their eyesight are quite keen.
They run away or fly away escaping you in haste.

But watch out! You’ll get spurred if you are mean!

The turkey is a respectable bird.
No really, you must please take my word. She cackles and purrs, he tackles with spurs, Courageous American bird!

Flocks of them are gathered and are scratching in the dirt. So many of them pecking on the ground.
Gobbling up the bugs and seeds, always on alert, Running willy nilly at a sound!

The turkey is a respectable bird.
Believe me, it’s really not absurd!
With wattles and snood, they have attitude, A quirky American bird.

– Suzy Johnson, inspired by Benjamin Franklin

$25.00 per set