Camptown Races

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Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races (popularly known simply as "Camptown Races") is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864).[1] It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, and Benteen published a different version with guitar accompaniment in 1852 under the title "The Celebrated Ethiopian Song/Camptown Races". The song quickly entered the realm of popular Americana. Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869) quotes the melody in his virtuoso piano work Grotesque Fantasie, the Banjo, op. 15 published in 1855.[2] In 1909, composer Charles Ives incorporated the tune and other vernacular American melodies into his orchestral Symphony No. 2.[2]


First Stanza

Camptown ladies sing dis song, Doo-dah! doo-dah!

Camptown race-track five miles long, Oh, doo-dah day!

I come down dah wid my hat caved in, Doo-dah! doo-dah!

I go back home wid a pocketful of tin, Oh, doo-dah day!


Gwine to run all night!

Gwine to run all day!

I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag,

Somebody bet on de bay.

Controversy

The song reflects an important transition time in American history, as the tune was popular in the decade leading up to the Civil War. Migrant workers were common in this time period, as were their camp towns. Establishment of these camps made it easier for the workers to hop trains as they went from job to job and town to town, and they were often populated by African-Americans.[3]

One cannot overlook the comical song's relevance to the minstrel shows that often parodied the African-American population. The original title of the song, "Gwine to Run All Night," referenced the African-American stereotype dialect in which the song was written. The lyrics talk about a group of transients in a camp town who bet on horses to try to make some money. Being that betting on horses was considered immoral, the "Camptown ladies" may also have been shady.

The vocabulary used by lyricist Stephen Foster in this song was meant to mimic black speech. There's a deliberate choice here to make the singer sound unsophisticated.[4]

References