Writer(s) Unknown | Language English | |
"Do Your Ears Hang Low?" is a children's song that is often sung in schools, at camps and at birthday parties. The melody of this song is usually a shorter version of "Turkey in the Straw", but it can also be sung to the "Sailor's Hornpipe". Various theories exist concerning the origin of the lyrics, but no conclusive evidence seems to exist. A common belief is that the lyrics refer to the ears of a hound dog. It is most likely that this was a crude wartime soldiers' song that, in sanitized form, has made its way into other circles.
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History
The origins of the song are obscure. Variant versions with obscene lyrics exist, notably "Do Your Balls Hang Low?" and "Do Your Boobs Hang Low?". These have sometimes been regarded as parody versions of the campfire song, but it is more likely that the obscene versions came first, and that "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" is a sanitized version.
Certainly "Do Your Balls Hang Low?" is known to have been sung by British soldiers on the Western Front during the First World War. Lyn MacDonald reports that, on one occasion in 1916, General Douglas Haig heard the song being sung by a column of soldiers as they marched past on their way to the Somme. He immediately called for his horse and rode to the head of the column to remonstrate with the battalion commander, only to find the Colonel singing as heartily as his men. Haig congratulated him on his fine voice, but added: "I like the tune, but you must know that in any circumstances those words are inexcusable!"
The tune (Turkey in the Straw) is frequently heard being played on ice cream truck P.A. speakers in America.
Lyrics
The following lyrics are from one particular variant of the song:
In the United Kingdom, a shorter version with differences in the lyrics is heard, commonly sung in Cubs and Brownies events:
(With a humorous glissando at a perfect fourth down, and back up again on the final "low".)
Soldiers' version
The lyrics of the World War I version of "Do Your Balls Hang Low?" are recorded as: