Camptown Races
"Camptown Races", also called "Gwine to Run All Night"[1] is an American popular song by Stephen Foster, written in the 19th century.[2] It is a minstrel song, and many have accused it of being racist and mocking the accent of the Southern black.[3] It is true that in the lyrics, there is spelling mimicking the pronunciation of a southern black, but this was common in songs of the time which were meant to be sung by men in blackface.[3] The song itself is about gambling on a horse race. It became a theme for the Looney Tunes character Foghorn Leghorn, who often hums the song while adding in "Doo-dah! Doo-dah!" while he makes mischief in the farmyard.
Lyrics
The original lyrics are as follows:[1]
De Camptown ladies sing dis songâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
De Camp-town race-track five miles longâOh! doo-dah day!
I come down dah wid my hat caved inâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home wid a pocket full of tinâOh! doo-dah day!
Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
Iâll bet my money on de bob-tail nagâ
Somebody bet on de bay.
De long tail filly and de big black hossâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
Dey fly de track and dey both cut acrossâOh! doo-dah-day!
De blind hoss sticken in a big mud holeâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
Canât touch bottom wid a ten foot poleâOh! doo-dah-day!
Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
Iâll bet my money on de bob-tail nagâ
Somebody bet on de bay.
Old muley cow come on to de trackâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
De bob-tail fling her ober his backâOh! doo-dah-day!
Den fly along like a rail-road carâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
Runninâ a race wid a shootinâ starâOh! doo-dah-day!
Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
Iâll bet my money on de bob-tail nagâ
Somebody bet on de bay.
See dem flyinâ on a ten-mile heatâDoo-dah doo-dah!
Round de race track, den repeatâOh! doo-dah-day!
I win my money on de bob-tail nagâDoo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bagâOh! doo-dah-day!
Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
Iâll bet my money on de bob-tail nagâ
Somebody bet on de bay.
References
- â 1.0 1.1 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44254
- â Blood, Peter, and Annie Patterson. Rise Up Singing.
- â 3.0 3.1 http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=13639
External links
- Song arranged by Peter Adamson, on YouTube