Do Your Ears Hang Low?

“Do Your Ears Hang Low?” is a children’s song often sung in schools and at camps. The melody of this song is usually a shorter version of “Turkey in the Straw”, but it can also be sung to the tune of the “Sailor’s Hornpipe”. The origin of the song is most likely George Washington Dixon’s “Zip Coon”, penned in 1838. Variant versions with vulgar lyrics include “Do Your Balls Hang Low?” and “Do Your Boobs Hang Low?”. Some authors regard these as parody versions of the campfire song, but, according to folklorists such as Ed Cray, the evidence strongly suggests that “Do Your Balls Hang Low?” came first, and that “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” is a sanitized version. The earliest apparent report of “Do Your Balls Hang Low?” is said to date from about 1900. The song 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 it 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!”