Turkey in the Straw
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"Turkey in the Straw" is a well known American folk song dating from the early 19th century. The song's tune was first popularized in the late 1820s and early 1830s by blackface performers, notably George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell and George Nichols. Another song, "Zip Coon", was sung to the same tune. This version was first published between 1829 and 1834 in either New York or Baltimore. All three of the above performers claimed to have written the song, and the dispute is not resolved.
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[edit] Lyrics
"Turkey in the Straw" has an eleven-note range (the highest note is a fourth above the first note of the song) and stays in key throughout. It is a catchy tune that has many different lyrical versions. The earliest lyrics under the name "Turkey in the Straw" were written by Dan Bryant (head of Bryant's Minstrels) and published in 1861. The words were set to new music, with the "Zip Coon" tune added at the end. The chorus as first published by Dan Bryant goes:
- Turkey in de straw, turkey in de hay
- Turkey in de straw, turkey in de hay
- Roll 'em up an' twist 'em up a high tuc-ka-haw
- An' twist 'em up a tune called Turkey in the Straw
One traditional version has a chorus with these lyrics:
- Turkey in the hay, in the hay, in the hay.
- Turkey in the straw, in straw, in the straw,
- Pick up your fiddle and rosin your bow,
- And put on a tune called Turkey in the straw.
Another goes:
- Turkey in the straw — Haw haw haw
- Turkey in the hay — Hey hey hey
- The Reubens [farm people] are dancing to Turkey in the Straw
- Hey highdy heydy, and a haw haw haw
There are versions from the American Civil War, versions about fishing and one with nonsense verses. Folklorists have documented folk versions with obscene lyrics from the 19th century.
Another version is called "Natchez Under the Hill". The lyrics are thought to have been added to an earlier tune by Bob Farrell who first performed them in a blackface act on August 11, 1834.
[edit] "Turkey in the Straw" today
"Turkey in the Straw" is still popular today among street fiddlers. It can be heard in many movie sound tracks; the song was already public domain by the start of sound film, so it was extensively used. In animated cartoons it is commonly used for suggesting farms or rural life, or old fashioned country people. Perhaps the first use of the tune in an animated cartoon soundtrack was in Steamboat Willie. A more recent example is the 1990 film Back to the Future Part III, which takes place in 1885.
Many ice cream trucks have a recorded soundtrack of the first section of the song, which plays over and over as the truck cruises for customers.
The tune is also used for campfire songs. One long popular variation is called "Dirty Bill". A slight variation on the phrasing is used in "Do Your Ears Hang Low?", which in 2006 was re-lyricized in the popular Hip Hop song "Chain Hang Low" by Jibbs.
[edit] References
- Fuld, James (1966). The Book of World Famous Music, Classical, Popular and Folk.
- The Simpsons (1997). Episode [3G03] Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala-D'oh-cious.
