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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Camptown ladies sing this song,
Doo-da, doo-da
The Camptown racetrack's five miles long,
Oh, de doo-da day
Goin' to run all night,
Goin' to run all day,
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag,
Somebody bet on the grey.
The long-tailed filly and the big black horse,
Doo-da, doo-da
Come to a mud hole and they all cut across,
Oh, de doo-da day
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Camptown Races" was written in 1850 by Stephen Collins Foster (1826–1864), the American songwriter widely regarded as the "father of American music." Foster wrote it under the title "Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races," publishing it as a minstrel song in the parlour song tradition that dominated American popular music in the mid-nineteenth century.
Foster was a prolific and gifted composer who worked at extraordinary speed — he produced over two hundred songs in a career that was tragically cut short by his death at thirty-seven. His output includes some of the most enduring songs in American history: "Oh! Susanna," "Beautiful Dreamer," "Old Folks at Home," and "My Old Kentucky Home." "Camptown Races" is among the most famous, its "doo-da" refrain immediately recognisable two centuries after its composition.
The "Camptown" of the title is thought to refer to a real racing venue — possibly Camptown, Pennsylvania, where horse racing was a popular entertainment. The "bob-tailed nag" is a horse with a docked tail, considered by some to be an underdog entry in a race, which gives the narrator's bet an endearingly reckless quality.
The song's vigorous rhythm, infectious refrain, and simple story of a horse race made it immediately popular. It crossed easily from minstrel shows to parlour entertainment to children's music, where its cheerful energy has kept it in circulation ever since.
Our recording captures the breathless excitement of race day with a spirited arrangement that invites everyone to join in.
