Song Video
Lyrics
De Camptown ladies sing this song,
Doo-da, Doo-da
De Camptown racetrack's five miles long
Oh, de doo-da day.
I went down South with my hat caved in,
Doo-da, doo-da
I came back North with a pocket full of tin
Oh, de doo-da day.
Chorus:
Gwin to run all night
Gwin to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay.
De long tail filly and de big black hoss,
Doo dah! doo dah!
Dey fly de track and de both cut across
Oh, de doo-da day.
De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole,
Doo dah! doo dah!
Can't touch bottom with a ten foot pole
Oh, de doo-da day.
Chorus.
Old mulley cow come onto de track,
Doo dah! doo dah!
De bobtail fling her ober his back,
Oh, de doo-da day.
Den fly along like a railroad car,
Doo dah! doo dah!
Runnin' a race wid a shootin' star
Oh, de doo-da day.
Chorus.
See dem flyin' on a ten mile heat,
Doo dah! doo dah!
Round de race track den repeat,
Oh, de doo-da day.
I win my money on de bobtail nag,
Doo dah! doo dah!
I keep my money in an old towbag,
Oh, de doo-da day.
This is a different version of the song
The Camptown ladies sing this song;
Doo-dah, doo-dah!
The Camptown race track's five miles long.
Oh a doo dah day!
I come down there with my hat caved in;
Doo-dah, doo-dah!
I go back home with a pocket full of tin.
Oh a doo dah day!
Goin' to run all night!
Goin' to run all day!
I'll bet my money on the bob-tail nag;
Somebody bet on the bay!
Information About Camptown Ladies
The song is also known as "Camptown Races" and was composed by Steven Foster in 1850.
Click here to see the "Man in Black" Johnny Cash himself sing Camptown Races.
There is a distinctive dance for the song was popularized by the film "Blazing Saddles" is exaggerated gallop and a slapping of the knee. The dancers can also travel in circles as if they are horses going around a track.
"Camptown Ladies" is sometimes a controversial song because of is origin as a song in American Minstrel Shows in the Antebellum South, comprised of white actors playing black people by applying black makeup.
Other songs of the same period include "Dixie" which is still popular in the south and "Old Kentucky Home" which is actually the state song of Kentucky.
The song is to all appearances about a horse race, but it is also an tale of a very long shot coming out on top: a broke down horse that wasn't supposed to win coming in first place and a very poor man walking away rich.
Most modern versions of the song sanitize the lyrics by making them proper English instead of the exaggerated dialect that they were originally written in, but these versions usually suffer from he lyrical pacing not harmonizing with the melody.