"If I Were King of the Forest" is a song from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg.
The comic number is sung by the Cowardly Lion played by Bert Lahr during the scene at the Emerald City, when the Lion, Dorothy (with Toto), Tin Woodsman and Scarecrow are waiting to learn whether the Wizard will grant them an audience. Lahr employs a spoken interlude during the number, in which the rest of the group ask him how he would deal with other powerful animals if he were king, for example:
Supposin’ you met an elephant?
I'd wrap him up in cellophant!
The song contains the line "What makes the Hottentot so Hot?" a phrase that is now considered an offensive term for the Khoikhoi tribe of Africa. The term is not censored for broadcast or in reproductions, though, as it is accepted as an anachronism.
If I Were The King Of The Forest
If I were King of the Forest, Not queen, not duke, not prince.
My regal robes of the forest, would be satin, not cotton, not chintz.
I'd command each thing, be it fish or fowl.
With a woof and a woof and a royal growl - woof.
As I'd click my heel, all the trees would kneel.
And the mountains bow and the bulls kowtow.
And the sparrow would take wing - If I - If I - were King!
Each rabbit would show respect to me. The chipmunks genuflect to me.
Though my tail would lash, I would show compash
For every underling!
If I - If I - were King!