TURKEY IN THE STRAW

(Redirected from Zip Coon)

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. 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][2]

Lyrics

"Turkey in the Straw" today

References

External links

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.