# Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-time-in-the-old-town-tonight/106199>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 29, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-time-in-the-old-town-tonight/106199 "2002-04-29T01:58:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-time-in-the-old-town-tonight/106199/1 "2002-04-29T01:58:29Z")

</div>

What are words to this song? Supposedly, it is about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow causing the Chicago fire?

Thanks,

- Jinx

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-time-in-the-old-town-tonight/106199/2 "2002-04-29T13:39:51Z")

</div>

There seem to be several versions (as well as the one played by the Hooterville Volunteer Fire Department).

The one you’re thinking of goes,

Late one night  
When we were all in bed  
Old Mother Leary  
Left a lantern in the shed

And when the cow kicked it over,  
She winked her eye and said,  
“There’ll be a hot time  
In the old town, tonight.”

An older version, by “Hayden and Metz,” seems to be a “coon song” (sorry, but that’s what they were called!) and runs—

Come along, get you ready Wear your bran’, bran’ new gown  
For there’s gwine to be a meeting In that good, good old town  
Where you knowded everybody And they all know-ded you  
And you’ve got a rabbit’s foot To keep a-way de hoo-doo.

When you hear that the preaching does begin  
Bend down low for to drive away your sin  
And when you gets religion, you want to shout and sing  
There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight!

CHORUS:  
When you hear dem a bells go ding ling ling  
All join 'round and sweetly you must sing  
And when the verse am through in the chorus all join in  
There’ll be a hot time in the old town to-night.

. . . and it goes on from there. I’m pretty sure a number of other versions will turn up, too.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-time-in-the-old-town-tonight/106199/3 "2002-04-29T18:22:30Z")

</div>

I found [a site](http://user.icx.net/~bcassady/satch_oliver.html) that has the history of this song and others, scroll down to Selection Six for the one being discussed here. Looks like Thomas Metz wrote the tune in 1886 and Joe Hayden wrote the lyrics some time later.