Lyrics
Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man
He washed his face in the frying pan
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died of the toothache in his heel.
Chorus:
Get out the way for old Dan Tucker
He's too late to git his supper
Supper's over and dishes washed
Nothing left but a piece of squash.
Old Dan Tucker went to town
Riding a mule and leading a hound
Hound barked and mule jumped
Threw old Dan right over a stump.
Chorus.
I come to town the other night
I hear the noise and saw the fight
The watchman was arunning around
Crying "Old Dan Tucker's come to Town".
Old Dan he went down to the mill
To get some meal to put in the swill
The miller swore by the point of his knife
He never see'd such a man in his life.
Tucker is a nice old man
He used to ride our darby ram
He sent him whizzin' down the hill
If he hadn't got up, he'd lay there still.
Chorus.
Old Dan begun in early life
To play the bango and the fife
He play the children all to sleep
And then into his bunk he'd creep.
Chorus.
Information About Old Dan Tucker
Old Dan Tucker is a song that is about a black man. It portrays him as an ugly, unintelligent man who is driven by violence and sex. It is a partially racist song. It stimulates the social taboos. They make Tucker the main subject and the narrator of the story.
There are many variations of the Old Dan Tucker song. There are verses that were added and taken away throughout different variations. There are child versions, dance versions, chorus change versions, folk versions, 1850's version, political versions, civil war versions, and many other versions. Even though there are many versions and verse changes, the tune carries throughout the whole song. It is also the same beat throughout.
This song is historical due to the possible connection to a slave farm hand from 1965. Daniel Tucker was a slave in Georgia. They think he wrote the song because of the resemblance it has to African music. Since there is a possible historic mark from this song, the Chamber of Commerce in Elbert County uses his grave site as a tourist attraction.