- Turkey in the Straw
-
Sheet music cover for "Zip Coon", 1830s.
"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.[citation needed] 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 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.[1]
Contents
Lyrics
"Zip Coon" has a vocal range of an octave and a minor sixth. Both the verse and the chorus end on the tonic, and both begin a major third above the tonic. In the verse, the highest note is a fifth above the tonic and the lowest is a minor sixth below. In the chorus, the highest note is an octave above the last note, and the lowest is the last note itself. The song stays in key throughout. It has many different lyrical versions. The earliest lyrics under the name "Zip Coon" were written by Dan Bryant (head of Bryant's Minstrels) and published in 1861. The words were set to new music, with the "Turkey in the Straw" 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 the 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.
Another one goes:
- Turkey in the straw, turkey in the hay,
- Turkey in the straw what do you say.
- Funnest thing I ever saw.
- It's a little tune called Turkey in the Straw.
Modern uses
- Recorded for the 1978 debut album of children's entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram titled One Elephant, Deux Éléphants and featured on their long-running children's television series on Nickelodeon called The Elephant Show.
WWE used turkey in the straw as the theme for The Gobbledy Gooker
References in classical music
- Erno Dohnanyi used the tune (and also two other traditional American folktunes) in his final composition American Rhapsody (1953).
- David Guion wrote a piano transcription.
See also
References
Further reading
- Fuld, James (1966). The Book of World Famous Music, Classical, Popular and Folk.
External links
Categories:- 19th-century songs
- American country music songs
- American folk songs
- Blackface minstrel songs
- Songs of the American Civil War
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