# Help me identify an old-timey tune, please? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 22, 2025, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649 "2025-05-22T07:15:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/1 "2025-05-22T07:15:44Z")
I don’t think it’s from a movie or TV show, but I’m sure everyone has heard it at some time in their life. It’s a kind of slow, rambling, banjo or rinkey-tink piano “wagon-train/way out West” piece that might have once been played in a saloon or out on the prairie. It’s similar to (but definitely NOT) “Farewell to Cheyenne” in _ **Once Upon a Time in the West** _. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/2 "2025-05-22T07:36:52Z")
Maybe “[Oh My Darling, Clementine](https://youtu.be/hyccdO_vSF4)” Or maybe: [Red River Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCK_EVjcZ0) or [Home on the Range](https://youtu.be/0KlZuk5N2co) I’m kinda reaching here though ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/3 "2025-05-22T07:47:06Z")
Thanks, but none of those. I don’t think it’s a traditional folk tune. I think it was written as a popular tune around the middle of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/4 "2025-05-22T07:51:20Z")
I have little idea. Maybe: - [The Entertainer](https://youtu.be/Fxk9qwCFf8s) by Scott Joplin (very recognizable so doubt it is this). - [Maple Leaf Rag](https://youtu.be/s_nBSSXiG9w) (also Joplin, also recognizable…this is the limit of what I can guess) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/5 "2025-05-22T08:02:56Z")
Nope, not those either. The melody goes “Do-do, do-doo / do-do, do-doo. / Do do-do, doodley-DOO! / Do-do, do-doo / do-do do-doo. Do do-do, doodley-DOO!” Very slow and plodding, kind of like the rhythm of a horse walking. Definitely in a minor key. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/6 "2025-05-22T08:08:51Z")
Ok…one more guess since I love this song (and the documentary I first heard it in), Seems to fit your do…do…do thing. - [Ashokan Farewell](https://youtu.be/r9TcXmBNbtM) by Jay Ungar? Civil War era though so way before your timeline. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/7 "2025-05-22T08:12:04Z")
Nope. I know all of those you mentioned, so i wouldn’t have trouble identifying them. The one I’m thinking of should go on the list “Tunes You’ve Heard a Million Times but Can’t Name.” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/8 "2025-05-22T08:36:57Z")
Are you sure it’s not “Powerhouse”? It seems like forever since we’ve had that meme so I thought I’d shoehorn it in here. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/9 "2025-05-22T08:38:51Z")
Nope. So far as I know, it was never featured in a Looney Tune or a Merrie Melody. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/10 "2025-05-22T08:41:35Z")
For purposes of comparison, this is “Farewell to Cheyenne”: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u5IpN3grKDI/hqdefault.jpg "Once Upon a Time in the West Soundtrack (Farewell To Cheyenne)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5IpN3grKDI) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/11 "2025-05-22T08:44:36Z")
This won’t be it, but here’s the **Steptoe and Son** theme tune. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KRaiiT3ZnJw/hqdefault.jpg "STEPTOE AND SON THEME TUNE") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRaiiT3ZnJw) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/12 "2025-05-22T08:55:34Z")
That’s actually pretty close, but mine isn’t as “upbeat.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/13 "2025-05-22T09:15:14Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oAuoZtvSsqE/maxresdefault.jpg "Three Amigos (1986) - Blue Shadows (High Quality, no lies.)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAuoZtvSsqE) ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/14 "2025-05-22T10:55:06Z")
Oh! Susannah? On The Trail, from The Grand Canyon Suite? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/15 "2025-05-22T11:27:40Z")
“Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling?” > **[Do not forsake me, oh, my darling - Tex Ritter original soundtrack High Noon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsDyrZVqipA%24)** > > The Ballad of High Noon - Do not forsake me, oh, my darling Tex Ritter (original soundtrack High Noon; Dimitri Tiomkin, composer)It was introduced in the mo... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/16 "2025-05-22T11:53:55Z")
No, no, no, and no. Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/17 "2025-05-22T11:56:57Z")
Was it more Tiomkin, more Morricone or more Roy Rogers? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/18 "2025-05-22T12:02:31Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > On The Trail, from The Grand Canyon Suite? That was my thought, as well. ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/19 "2025-05-22T12:03:20Z")
Yes! this is what I was thinking …“On the Trail” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649/20 "2025-05-22T12:41:49Z")
I assume it’s an instrumental, with no words? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-old-timey-tune-please/1018649.md?page=2)