"Turkey in the Straw" is a well known American folk song dating from the early 19th century. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous 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. Blackface in the narrow sense is a style of theatrical Makeup that originated in the United George Washington Dixon (1801?–March 2 1861 was an American singer stage actor and Newspaper editor. 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. The City of New York All of the above performers claimed to have written the song, and the dispute is not resolved. Ohio songwriter Daniel Decatur Emmett is sometimes erroneously credited as the song's author. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Daniel Decatur "Dan" Emmett ( October 29, 1815 &ndash June 28, 1904) was an American songwriter and entertainer founder [1][2]
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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. Bryant's Minstrels was a Blackface minstrel troupe that performed in the mid-19th century primarily in New York City. Bryant's Minstrels was a Blackface minstrel troupe that performed in the mid-19th century primarily in New York City. 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. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. Nonsense is a verbal communication or Written text which appears to be a Human language or other Symbolic system, but in fact does not carry any identifiable 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. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 1834 ( MDCCCXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common
"Turkey in the Straw" today
"Turkey in the Straw" is still popular today among street fiddlers and ice cream trucks. Ice cream or ice-cream (originally iced cream) is a frozen dessert made from Dairy products such as Milk and Cream, combined 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. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. In animated cartoons it is commonly used for suggesting farms or rural life, or old fashioned country people. An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Perhaps the first use of the tune in an animated cartoon soundtrack was in Steamboat Willie. Steamboat Willie ( 1928) is an Animated cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse released on November 18, 1928.
George Gobel sang this version on TV:
Oh, I had a little chicken and she wouldn't lay an egg,
So I poured some hot water on her left-hand leg,
Then I poured some hot water on her right-hand leg,
Now my little chicken laid a hard-boiled egg!
Significant Events
- “Old Zip Coon” was first performed in 1829 by a white “Ethiopian delineator” and rival to Thomas “Daddy” Rice named George Washington Dixon. George Leslie Gobel ( May 20, 1919 - February 24, 1991) was an American Comedian, best known as the star of his own weekly NBC The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of many animals consisting of an Ovum surrounded by layers of Membranes and an outer casing which acts to nourish Boil or furuncle is a skin disease caused by the infection of Hair follicles resulting in the localized accumulation of Pus and dead tissue
- The song was first published in 1834 with the sole credit being “a favorite comic song sung by Mr. G. W. Dixon. ”
- The title “Turkey In The Straw” first appeared on sheet music in 1861.
- The song is playing in the background of the opening scene of the 2008 horror/slasher movie, "Carver".
References
- Fuld, James (1966). The Book of World Famous Music, Classical, Popular and Folk.
- The Simpsons (1997). Episode [3G03] Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala-D'oh-cious.
External links
- Turkey in the Straw
- Old Zip Coon
- [http://fortyrounder.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html "Zip Coon" for President: An article on the song's historical basis
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