That tweet prompted a response from Rice himself, who warned he hadn't given permission for any changes.
He described the "totally unauthorised" change of lyrics as "a terribly drippy and meaningless alteration".
Wellington City Council moved quickly to fix the mess, apologising and telling Rice they loved his work.
Rice left it at that, telling the council he appreciated the speedy correction.
Artsplash Coordinator Mary Prichard told Fairfax the change was made to "keep life simple" at a festival for primary school children.
After the complaints about the lyric changes, organisers decided to remove the song from its programme entirely, rather than change them back.
Prichard said it wasn't worth it to go "looking for trouble".
