# "Camptown Races" Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904 "2006-05-08T16:22:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/1 "2006-05-08T16:22:40Z")
Please help settle a drunken bet. In the Stephen Foster song, **“Camptown Races”** do the Camptown ladies sing the entire song, or just the “do-dah” part? Also (but not part of the bet), what’s the deal with the blind horse and the muley-cow? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/2 "2006-05-08T16:36:50Z")
Seems like “doo-dah” is repeated after every line, so not related to the ladies singing. The blind horse steps in a mud puddle and is lost. The muley cow wanders onto the track and gets flipped on her back by one of the racers. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/3 "2006-05-08T17:03:15Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Seems like “doo-dah” is repeated after every line, so not related to the ladies singing. The blind horse steps in a mud puddle and is lost. The muley cow wanders onto the track and gets flipped on her back by one of the racers. But how could the Camptown ladies sing a song that is self-referential? The arguement then becomes chicken/egg. Which came first? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/4 "2006-05-08T17:19:09Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > But how could the Camptown ladies sing a song that is self-referential? The arguement then becomes chicken/egg. Which came first? This is the song that never ends… when I walk down the street I say, My name is Yon Yonson… I’m singing this note 'cause it fits in well with the chords I’m playing… It’s been done a few times since then. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/5 "2006-05-08T17:36:52Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Seems like “doo-dah” is repeated after every line, so not related to the ladies singing. I don’t get your logic here. Since “Camptown ladies sing this song,” is the first line, it sounds to me like an explanation of what all the “doo-dah” stuff to follow is about. (And the colored girls go “doo do doo, doo, doo do doo doo…”) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/6 "2006-05-08T17:37:24Z")
But… Please note that the “doo-dah” part is supposed to be sung by a chorus, which would seem to indicate to me a plural (the ladies) singing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/7 "2006-05-08T18:37:50Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > I don’t get your logic here. Since “Camptown ladies sing this song,” is the first line, it sounds to me like an explanation of what all the “doo-dah” stuff to follow is about. I thought the OP was asking “Is the song that the Camptown Ladies sing ‘doo-dah, doo-dah’?” In that case, the first line would describe how they sing “doo-dah” and then the rest of the lines wouldn’t mention doo-dah anymore. Since they do, I felt it was a nonsense thing unrelated to the actual line “Camptown ladies sing this song”. I can’t believe I just wrote doo-dah that many times. Now\* I\* feel drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/8 "2006-05-09T04:44:14Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I thought the OP was asking “Is the song that the Camptown Ladies sing ‘doo-dah, doo-dah’?” In that case, the first line would describe how they sing “doo-dah” and then the rest of the lines wouldn’t mention doo-dah anymore. Since they do, I felt it was a nonsense thing unrelated to the actual line “Camptown ladies sing this song”. > > I can’t believe I just wrote doo-dah that many times. Now\* I\* feel drunk. The first line, on the other hand, could explain the existence of “doo-dah” throughout the rest of the song. The singer tells about a particular race, won by the bob tail. This horse triumphs despite colliding with a muley-cow and avoiding the mud-hole that ended the victory hopes of a less fortunate blind horse. At each critical point in the tale, our Camptown ladies add a “doo-dah” or two. But in case the listener is wondering what the “doo-dah” is all about, the songwriter explains it in the first line. To me it doesn’t make any sense that the Camptown ladies would sing the entire song. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camptown-races-question/355904/9 "2006-05-09T11:37:30Z")
[Here’s](http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:QdYUCZtyDRoJ:rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/833.html+foster+%22gwine+to+run%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) a shot of the entire song from the 1850 version, complete with [solo] and [chorus] marks. Makes it a bit more plain.