[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsnZxfkkoKQ]
WRITER: Unknown
YEAR WRITTEN: c. 1825
HOW YOU PROBABLY KNOW THIS TUNE: Used in movies and (especially) cartoons to suggest the happy delights of rural living. And ice-cream trucks.
FIDDLIN’ AROUND: The author of this nearly 200-year-old folk song is unknown, but it first gained popularity as a staple of minstrel performers. The catchy, fiddle-friendly melody was irresistible, and soon there were countless variations of the song, with lyrics that ran from the bawdy to the nonsensical (and most retaining a basic version of the original chorus: “Turkey in the straw, turkey in the hay…”). Even today, only the most flint-hearted city slicker can resist its foot-stomping down-home charms.
MEMORABLY USED IN … From Animaniacs, when Wakko uses the tune to help remember all 50 state capitals.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNUDDaEOvuY]
LIST: The All-TIME 100 Songs