James Starkey was nine feet tall
He went and dug a nine foot hole
And buried himself in it
So only his head was sticking out
And all the people would pass and laugh
Very amused by his intentional gaffe
But James Starkey didn't mind at all
He was quite at peace
He ate whatever food passed him by
And drank the rain that fell from the sky
He bobbed his head for exercise
And amused himself by watching people passing by
Hours went by, days, weeks
And soon James became one of the freaks
A traveling ring master found him and decided
To make him a part of his show
So he handed out pamphlets and posters that read:
"Come see the man buried up to his head!"
And the people came from miles around
Just to see old James Starkey
And the people pointed and stared and threw food at his head
Tomatoes, popcorn, a whole loaf of bread
And James Starkey was thankful for this food
And the ringmaster was thankful for the riches he made
James Starkey became a worldwide sensation
People came to see him from all over the nation
Crowds would gather round just to see him
And he would sit buried in the ground
But one day the crowds found James was no longer around
All that was left was a nine foot hole in the ground
James had dug himself up in the middle of the night
And got up and walked away
So the ringmaster hired someone else to play James
And the people didn't know any better, they thought he was the same
And the ringmaster continued to grow rich
And gave the imitation James a fair pay
They say James Starkey is still out there, wandering around
Though no one has an idea where he can be found
But when all has been said the world will never forget
The man who buried himself in the ground