Do Your Ears Hang Low?

"Do Your Ears Hang Low?" is a children's novelty song often sung 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". It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 15472.

History

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!"

Lyrics

The following lyrics are from one particular variant of the song:

In the United Kingdom and Australia, a shorter version with differences in the lyrics is heard, commonly sung in Cubs and Brownies events:

Another verse of this variant, though not usually sung in Cubs and Brownies events, is as follows:

Soldiers' version

The lyrics of the World War I version of "Do Your Balls Hang Low?" are recorded as:

Recorded versions

Sharon, Lois & Bram on Stay Tuned 1987
Kinky Friedman on Live From Uranus 2003
Øystein Sunde in a Norwegian variant called Hvis dine ører henger ned ("If your ears hang down") on Det året det var så bratt 1971
The title, chorus, and melody of the chorus of the Jibbs song "Chain Hang Low" are based on this song.
The vocal melody of this song is used in verses of "Minna ga Minna Eiyū" (みんながみんな英雄) by Japanese-American singer Ai.
British comedy musician Koit has recorded more than one version:- Do Your Balls Hang Low and Do Your Balls Hang Low (English Country Garden Mix) on his third album Songs To Take A Dump To; and Do Your Boobs Hang Low on his sixth album Bog Roll Needed.