The melody for both Emmett's and Hays tune is nearly identical. The words to Hays version seem be more authentic, as if they were based on a local minstrel source or perhaps the same source as Emmett's.

The lyrics are also very similar:

Hays-
Away, away,
We'll all be off for Dixie,
Away away,
We'll soon be off for Dixie.

Emmett-
Away, away,
Away down south in Dixie,
Away, away,
Away down south in Dixie.

Since they were both "composed" in 1960 by different men in different locations (Ohio and Kentucky) and asuming that e-mail and horses were a slow form of communication, it seems they would have been based on a common minstrel source or one copied from the other.

Has anyone heard of any comparisions of the two works? And if not, why haven't there been any?

-Richie