Do Your Ears Hang Low

History & Origin

"Do Your Ears Hang Low?" is one of the most cheerfully absurd children's songs in the English-language repertoire — a rapid-fire sequence of increasingly improbable questions about the length and flexibility of someone's ears, set to a memorable tune that children find irresistible.

The tune has an interesting and somewhat unexpected origin. It is widely believed to be derived from the nineteenth-century American song "Turkey in the Straw," which was itself derived from earlier minstrel melodies. More directly, the children's version appears to be related to a bawdy military song called "Do Your Balls Hang Low?" that was sung by soldiers in various English-speaking armies during the First and Second World Wars. The children's version substituted "ears" for the original anatomical term, and the song migrated from the barracks room to the nursery — a surprisingly common path for folk songs.

The transformation from adult to children's song illustrates a broader pattern in the nursery rhyme tradition. Many rhymes that are now considered exclusively for children began their lives as adult songs, political satire, or military ditties, and gradually became "safe" for children as their original context was forgotten or sanitised.

The song's action-song potential — children can waggle their ears, tie imaginary knots, or simply flap their hands dramatically on "wobble to and fro" — has kept it a staple of early years settings for decades. Its rapid delivery also makes it a useful exercise in diction and breath control for young children.

Our recording leans into the comedy with sound effects and a performance that invites maximum ear-waggling participation.