Turkey in the Straw lyrics

Song lyrics to Turkey in the Straw

Turkey in the Straw is a well-known American folk song dating from the early 19th century. The first part of the song’s tune may be derived from the ballad My Grandmother Lived on Yonder Little Green which was a derivative of the Irish ballad The Old Rose Tree. Originally a tune for fiddle players, it was first popularized in minstrel shows during the late 1820s and early 1830s. There are dozens, possibly more, variations of the song.

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Well, I had an old hen and she had a wooden leg,
Just the best old hen that ever laid and egg,
She laid more eggs than any hen on the farm,
But another little drink wouldn’t do her any harm.

Turkey in the hay, in the hay, hay, hay!
Turkey in the straw, in the straw, straw, straw!
Pick ’em up, shake ’em up, any way at all,
And hit up a tune called ‘Turkey in the Straw’.

Well, I hitched up the wagon and I drove down the road,
With a two horse wagon and a four horse load,
Well I cracked my whip and the lead horse sprung,
And I said “Goodbye” to the wagon tongue.

Turkey in the hay, in the hay, hay, hay!
Turkey in the straw, in the straw, straw, straw!
Pick ’em up, shake ’em up, any way at all,
And hit up a tune called ‘Turkey in the Straw’.

Well, if frogs had wings and snakes had hair,
And automobiles went flyin’ thro’ the air,
Well, if watermelons grew on a huckleberry vine,
We’d still have winter in the summer time.

Turkey in the hay, in the hay, hay, hay!
Turkey in the straw, in the straw, straw, straw!
Pick ’em up, shake ’em up, any way at all,
And hit up a tune called ‘Turkey in the Straw’.

Oh, I went out to milk and I didn’t know how,
I milked an old goat instead of a cow,
A monkey sittin’ there on a pile of straw,
A-winkin’ his eyes at his mother-in-law.

Turkey in the hay, in the hay, hay, hay!
Turkey in the straw, in the straw, straw, straw!
Pick ’em up, shake ’em up, any way at all,
And hit up a tune called ‘Turkey in the Straw’.

Well, I come to the river and I couldn’t get across,
So I paid five dollars for an old blind horse,
Well, he wouldn’t go ahead and he wouldn’t stand still,
So he went up and down like an old saw mill.

Turkey in the hay, in the hay, hay, hay!
Turkey in the straw, in the straw, straw, straw!
Pick ’em up, shake ’em up, any way at all,
And hit up a tune called ‘Turkey in the Straw’.

Trivia about Turkey in the Straw

• Turkey in the Straw was Billy the Kid’s favorite song.
• According to survivors, Turkey in the Straw was among songs played by the band of the RMS Titanic at one point during the sinking on April 14 and April 15, 1912.
• In 1928, this was used as the base melody in the famous early Mickey Mouse cartoon Steamboat Willie. The rendering of the tune in the cartoon is noted for being one of the first instances of successful synchronization in animated films. The tune became prominent in Mickey’s animated series and was used in many subsequent cartoons in the 1920s and ’30s.
• Why Don’t You Love Me by Hank Williams is based around this melody.