Back Turkey in the straw Spanish Turkey in the Straw Finnish Turkey in the Straw French Turkey in the Straw Italian オクラホマミキサー Japanese Turkey in the straw Portuguese Turkey in the Straw Swedish 稻草裡的火雞 Chinese
| "Turkey in the Straw" | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Sheet music | |
| Song | |
| Written | 1800s–1830s |
| Genre | American folk music, minstrel |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional |
"Turkey in the Straw" is an American folk song that first gained popularity in the 19th century. Early versions of the song were titled "Zip Coon", which were first published around 1834 and performed in minstrel shows, with different people claiming authorship of the song. The melody of "Zip Coon" later became known as "Turkey in the Straw"; a song titled "Turkey in de Straw" with different music and lyrics was published in 1861 together with the wordless music of "Zip Coon" added at the end, and the title "Turkey in the Straw" then became linked to the tune of "Zip Coon".[1][2]
The song is related to a number of tunes of the 19th century and the origin of these songs has been widely debated.[3][4] Links to older Irish/Scottish/English ballads have been proposed, such as "The Old Rose Tree". The song became highly popular and many variations of the song exist. It was also frequently adapted and used in popular media.
- ^ Studwell, William E. (1997). The Americana Song Reader. Haworth Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-7890-0150-0.
- ^ Fuld, James J. (2000). The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Dover Publications. pp. 591–592. ISBN 978-0-486-41475-1.
- ^ Jabbour, Alan. "American Fiddle Tunes: From the Archive of Folk Song" (PDF). Library of Congress. p. 32.
- ^ Folk Songs of the Catskills. State University of New York Press. 1982. pp. 613–614. ISBN 978-0-87395-580-5.