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CAMPTOWN RACES

(by Stephen Foster; learned in the 1940s at camps)

(music to go here)

De Camptown ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo-dah!
De Camptown racetrack five miles long, oh, doo-dah-day!
I come down there with my hat caved in, doo-dah, doo-dah!
I go back home with a pocket full of tin, oh, doo-dah-day!
    Goin' to run all night, goin' to run all day!
    I'll bet my money on the bobtail nag, somebody bet on the bay.

De long tail filly and de big black hoss,...
Dey fly de track and dey both cut across,...
De blind hoss stickin' in a big mud hole,...
Can't touch de bottom with a ten foot pole,...
    Goin' to run all night...

Ol' muley cow come onto de track,...
De bobtail leap right ober her back,...
Dey fly along like a railroad car,...
Runnin' a race with a shootin' star,...
    Goin' to run all night...

See dem flyin' on a ten-mile heat,...
Round de race-track, den repeat,...
I win my money on de bobtail nag,...
I keep my money in an old towbag,...
    Goin' to run all night...

(from miriam berg's folksong collection)