Lyr ADD: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up

Subject: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: harpgirl
Date: 12 Jul 98 - 10:35 AM

...dreaming of my Indiana grandmother last night I remembered the song we sang on the poney carts at Belle Isle:

Horsey keep your tail up, keep your tail up, keep your tail up, oh horsey keep your tail up keep the sun outa my eyes.It took me a few years to see the irony of the horse with his tail up! anyone know any more lyrics? harpgirl

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Barbara
Date: 12 Jul 98 - 09:35 PM

Well, uhm, isn't one verse enough?
Would that be the Belle Isle you get to on the Boblo boat?
And, the daughter's horsey raises her tail when (1) she's eliminating, (2)she's in heat and (3)when she's in a fine old mood and running around the meadow or dancing while she waits. She's an Arabian, and I gather that this is a characteristic of the breed, to hold their tails high. (As in the movie, the Black Stallion).
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: harpgirl
Date: 12 Jul 98 - 10:31 PM

Barbara, I know nothing about horses and frankly, they scare me but Belle Isle is in the Detroit River. The Bob Lo boat went down stream to Bob Lo Island, as I recall. I guess I'll have to make up some more lyrics. I always thought thatit was a precious song handed down from ancestors past, like the Growler Song..but maybe my grandmother made it up to keep me from crying about riding those dang horses...harpalong

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Bert
Date: 13 Jul 98 - 11:06 AM

I seem to remember my Dad singing a line.
....Keep it up or off it goes, horses tails make fiddle bows....

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Ferrara
Date: 13 Jul 98 - 10:25 PM

Harpgirl, no, your grandma didn't make the song up! -- My mother grew up in the country in Georgia, and she sang it.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Ferrara
Date: 13 Jul 98 - 10:32 PM

By the way -- Mom only sang the one verse of "Horsey keep your Tail Up" that you typed in above. But she also sang a weird fragment to the tune of My Dear Old Buffalo Boy: "I walked home from the buggy ride, the buggy ride, the buggy ride; I walked home from the buggy ride, 'cause horses carry tails. " It had to do with a young man making "improper advances", I think.

As far as the horse keeping his tail up, I always thought it was just supposed to be silly. No implications at all about horse behavior or misbehavior. Just a silly wish that probably lots of people thought of when they were driving along and the sun was in their eyes.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: lingolucky
Date: 14 Jul 98 - 10:10 PM

i have a recording, can't lay my hands on it right now, very short nonsense verse.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: harpgirl
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 03:51 PM

refried

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 05:23 PM

"Horsie Keep Your Tail Up," sung by Lew Childre, can be heard on YAZOO 2051 - The Story the Crow Told Me, Early American Rural Children's Songs, Vol. 1 (classic recordings from the 1920s and 30s. Dick Greenhaus has the CD at Camsco and you can get it through the Mudcat shop. There are two volumes, this being the first. The second is 2052, I think. Both are highly recommended! Caroline and I love 'em!

Sandy

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,harpgirl
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 05:32 PM

...will do Sandy, thanks.

Ferrarra I want to hear you sing it. Go to hearme sometime and let's play.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 05:37 PM

Hmmmm. I see it is also on a couple of Spike Jones CD's - Click here and here (wow!). Not a song I've heard myself. Sandy, are the lyrics posted above correct?
This site has the tune playing as background music (Click to play).
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,harpgirl
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 05:42 PM

...thanks Joe...By the way, my beloved Florida is wet and sultry again,,,going to Jonathon Dickinson SP tomorrow...hg

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,Bridget
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 05:48 PM

Horsey keep your tale up and let your feet go flippity flop My Mom sang it to me in Ireland. Thats all I know.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,harpgirl
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 05:51 PM

or maybe clippity clop (unless your horse wore flip/flops!!!)

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 06:05 PM

Well, this page (click) indicates there was sheet msuic published in 1923, which I think means that the song is now out of copyright. Haven't found the full lyrics online yet, so maybe I'll have to break down and pay Indiana State University for a photocopy.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Noreen
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 06:19 PM

Joe, the tune playing on that site is not the same as the one my mum and grandmother sang the song to (same words as above). I wonder which tune is Harpgirl's version?

Noreen

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: gatyamgal
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 09:01 PM

You folks are wonderful. I have missed coming here. my computer has crashed several times and I lost the bookmark. But now I am back to stay. Waiting to hear any stories people have about this song. It sure brought a smile to my mother and my aunt when they were trying to remember it. They will be beaming when I show them all the effort you folks have put in to helping me. Thanks again and keep the comments coming.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Ferrara
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 10:34 PM

Haven't been around much on the 'Cat for some time. But my S.O. Bill Day is usually around for the radio program and Hear Me Now. (I listen in....) So, if anyone wants to hear the tune I learned, ask Bill if I'm home and can sing it.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,TI
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 11:11 PM

I grew up listening to that song on one of my Dad's old 78rpm juke box records. Haven't heard it in years but, to the best of my recollection it was sung by The Milo Twins on the flip side of "I'll Change Your Name From Miss Johnson to Mrs. Jones"

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 11:30 PM

Childre uses two rounds of the "horsie" bit in the middle of a song based on "The Old Gray Mare." I've grabbed these words in a hurry, as I'm trying to get some real work done tonight, but here's (sort of) how it goes:

The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be,
She ain't what she used to be,
She ain't what she used to be,
Thirty-nine years ago.
Thirty-nine years ago,
Thirty-nine years ago,
The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be,
Thirty-nine years ago.

Now horses come and I say horses go,
Some are fast and some are slow.
The old gray mare she ain't much for show,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.

Refrain:
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.
Her hair is long and her teeth are gone,
But she still eats hay and corn.
Well, her back caves in and her head hangs low,
Her knees are knocked together, but she's rarin' to go.
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.

Well she had a little colt just last May,
He's a cute little devil and he likes to play;
Keeps that old mare ... (couldn't make out this phrase! maybe "oh, so thin")
She's a darn nice mare for the shape she's in.

(Refrain)
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep it up till I get my breath,
That tail tickles me to death!
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.

Well, we took a little ride in the old shay,
The old gray mare she was full of hay,
She coughed and coughed and she said "nay-nay"
But we got there just the same.

(refrain - followed by a honk/whistle, honk/whistle bit)

The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she gets there just the same.
Her hair is long and her teeth are gone,
And there's cockle-burrs in her mane.
Well, the whiffle-tree broke and she kicked straight back,
I thought, dadburn it, she would wreck the hack.
Well, the old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.

Out with several "honk/whistles."

Mr. Paton, experiencing a brief but potent Senior Moment, takes a break, wipes his brow and sighs deeply, hoping he can remember the rest of the song....
[grin]
So, Sandy, this is what I gleaned from all your subsequent posts. Is it right now?
-Joe Offer, impishly-

---

Sandy gave up on trying to explain how it is supposed to be organized, and e-mailed me the definitive transcription, which you'll find below. I'll leave this message in so you can see how hard he had to work (or, how hard he made ME work)...
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 01 Jul 00 - 11:50 PM

The first "horsie" bit should read like this, Joe:

Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep it up till I get my breath,
That tail tickles me to death!
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.

Enough of this nonsense! G'night, folks.

Art Thieme - ;^)

That last horsie bit is followed by a long yodel, then he sings:

Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep her up or off she goes,
Horses' tails make fiddle bows,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.

Well, we took a little ride in the old shay,
The old gray mare she was full of hay,
She coughed and coughed and she said "nay-nay"
But we got there just the same.

(refrain - followed by a honk/whistle, honk/whistle bit)

Jeez! I'm sorry about all that.

Rick Fielding - %^) (Joe, can you tell me what I'm hitting to make the thing "submit" and in triplicate?)

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 12:22 AM

I'm going to delete five of SXnady's last six posts, but I thought I'd leave them for a while so you could see how hard he worked for us on this. Sandy, is the tune for the "tail up" part the same as what I posted above (click)?

Here's the entry from the Indiana State University Library:

Title: Horsey keep your tail up keep the sun out of my eyes.
First Line: Reuben is so silly, he will never wear a hat
Chorus: Oh horsey, keep your tail up
Music by: Hirsch, Walter, Kaplan.
Words by:
P/P/D: S.I. : M. Witmark, & Sons, c1923.
Location: SPC, KIRK PS 1923-1929

So you can see that the published version is different, and who knows what the Spike Jones version sounds like. The quest continues.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Dale Rose
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 12:26 AM

I also found a reference to it as being on Forest Tracks FTC6026 Where Does Father Christmas Go To...? Echoes of Hampshire 2 Sam Bond (1993) Perhaps this would be a good lead for someone in the UK. Another reference makes it clear that it is known in New Zealand, and probably in the Shetland Islands. Seems it has gone round and round the world a few times somehow without my ever having heard of it.

I did find this quote, figure it out for yourself:

I think it was probably Bill who told me of a girl who came into a music shop looking for a particular record. She wanted the one with 'Horsey Keep Your Tail Up' on the front side and 'Why Did I Kiss That Girl' on the back side.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 12:34 AM

Not exactly the same tune, Joe, but similar. You could say they're related. Now you can go ahead and fix all those errors made by the three great cyberklutzes: Art, Kendall, and Rick.

Sandy

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,gatyam gal
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 01:57 PM

I am enjoying everyone's help. Please keep the ideas coming.

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 06:06 PM

Sandy says I didn't paste the verses together in the right order. I'll fix them later, but now I'm off to a gospel spectacular. Still looking for the 1923 and Spike Jones versions of this song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Ferrara
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 08:31 PM

Well, that's a much more uptown tune than the one my mother taught me.

Subject: ADD: Horsie keep your tail up
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 00 - 06:03 PM

Here is the definitive Sandy Paton transcription.
-Joe Offer-

---

HORSIE, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP
as sung by Lew Childre


The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be,
She ain't what she used to be,
She ain't what she used to be,
Thirty-nine years ago.
Thirty-nine years ago,
Thirty-nine years ago,
The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be,
Thirty-nine years ago.
(several "honk/whistles")

Now horses come and I say horses go,
Some are fast and some are slow.
The old gray mare she ain't much for show,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.

Refrain:
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.
Her hair is long and her teeth are gone,
But she still eats hay and corn.
Well, her back caves in and her head hangs low,
Her knees are knocked together, but she's rarin' to go.
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.

Well she had a little colt just last May,
He's a cute little devil and he likes to play;
Keeps that old mare ... ( "oh, so thin" - I think)
She's a darn nice mare for the shape she's in.

(Refrain: The old gray mare she's old and bent, etc. - as above)

Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep it up till I get my breath,
That tail tickles me to death!
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.

(long yodel)

Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep her up or off she goes,
Horses' tails make fiddle bows,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.

Well, we took a little ride in the old shay,
The old gray mare she was full of hay,
She coughed and coughed and she said "nay-nay"
But we got there just the same.

The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she gets there just the same.
Her hair is long and her teeth are gone,
And there's cockle-burrs in her mane.
Well, the whiffle-tree broke and she kicked straight back,
I thought, dadburn it, she would wreck the hack.
Well, the old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.

(Out with several "honk/whistles.")

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 03 Jul 00 - 08:53 PM

All that effort, and it ain't even a Child ballad, just a Childre children's song. That's a joke, son!

Cyberklutz

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: gatyamgal
Date: 04 Jul 00 - 06:07 AM

I am still confused. Joe had found that the University of Indiana library said there was a verse in there about Reuben is so silly, he will never wears a hat. Rueben is the name of my grandfather and I am sure my aunt and mother liked that verse. Also. If you try to sing these lyrics to the midi, the words don't fit. I hate to beat a dead horse (pun intended) but where does Rueben fit in on all this?

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: harpgirl
Date: 04 Jul 00 - 01:35 PM

...this thread has brung me joy!!!! thanks everyone so much!!!

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: GUEST,Joe Larson
Date: 04 Jul 00 - 01:58 PM

Wow, this one goes back further that I thought. Our polka band (Norm Dombrowski and the Happy Notes) got it from a Don Pechie (sp?) recording. This song is played frequently on the local radio station's Sunday morning polka show. (Local = Stevens Point, Wisconsin, radio = WIZD 99.9fm). The lyrics we use go like this:

Horsey keep your tail up, horsey keep your tail up,
keep the sun out of my eyes.
Horsey keep your tail up, horsey keep your tail up,
never mind about the flies.
Now if you want to look real smart,
lift up your tail before you start,
Horsey keep your tail up, horsey keep your tail up,
keep the sun out of my eyes.

Horsey keep your tail up, horsey keep your tail up,
keep the sun out of my eyes.
Horsey keep your tail up, horsey keep your tail up,
never mind about the flies.
The birdies in the tree tops high,
begin to sing when we pass by.
Horsey keep your tail up, horsey keep your tail up,
keep the sun out of my eyes.

-----

I wrote a MIDI version of this that Joe Offer mentioned earlier. I should let you know that our web site is moving to:

http://www.geocities.com/happynotespolka/

Regards,
Joe Larson
[e-mail]

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: lyr.req:Horsey keep your tail up
From: gaelicconquest
Date: 28 Jun 01 - 07:13 PM

Here is aversion that I heard-It goes Horsey keep your tail up.Keep your tail up--All the horsies in the zoo keep their tails up why don't you? Any more lines??

Subject: RE: lyr.req: Horsey keep your tail up
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 10 May 04 - 01:17 AM

Heard this when I was a kid - it was popular on Aussie Radio.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:37 AM

Subject: Lyr Add: HORSEY, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP (Hirsch/Kaplan)
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:43 AM

{For reasons I don't understand, my previous message didn't take. It may have collided with another. So here goes again}:

Joe: This is the Spike Jones lyric you asked for. Bob

HORSEY, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP
(Walter Hirsch / Bert Kaplan)

Spike Jones & his City Slickers (Vocal: The Quartet) - 1942


Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Never mind about the flies
His mane is long and his hair is thick
He's really got an awful kick
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes

(Musical Interlude)

Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Never mind about the flies
Now if you want to look real smart
Just raise your tail before you start
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:54 AM

I know of no reason to believe that this had any folk existence before Hirsch and Kaplan wrote it. But it seems to have had variations after.

A few heterodoxical verses cited by DT contributors and elsewhere on the web seem to show the song has taken on a life of its own. For example:

Horsey keep your tail up,
Let your feet go clippety clop

All the horsies in the zoo
Keep their tails up, why don't you

If you want to be real smart
Raise your tail before you [fart]

Does anyone know of any other "Horsey Keep Your Tail Up" lyrics (apart from Childre's, of course) that parody or otherwise differ from the Hirsch/Kaplan song?   Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: ClaireBear
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 11:03 AM

There's another thread somewhere...

...and in it I posted that my husband remembers hearing a version in his childhood (west Texas, ca. 1940) that had verses about a man getting on a horse for the first time and mounting backwards, so he ends up facing the tail. Then the chorus is "Horsey, keep your tail up/Keep the sun out of my eyes/Horsey, keep your tail up/Never mind about the flies" as above, all of which makes a certain amount of sense when you think about riding backwards.

Unfortunately he can't sing well enough to give me any idea what the tune might have been, and doesn't remember the lyrics. Anyone else recall such a song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 11:38 AM

I never thought I would see this one crop up on a thread. My wife, who now sings it to our grandson, heard this from her mother, who heard it from her mother, who heard it sung by someone in Pensacola, Florida before the turn of the last century. At least, that's their story, and they're stickin' to it. I still cringe when I hear the piece, perhaps due to the grating voice of the singer, my mother-in-law, who sounds not unlike a baritone sax with a goiter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 07:39 PM

The Catalog of Copyright Renewal Records (1963) has the following listing on page 938:

 DALY, ARTHUR J.
    Horsie, keep your tail up, keep the
      sun out of my eyes, by Clarke Van
      Ness, pseud. of C. V. Clark, and
      Arthur J. Daly.  (In Clarke's
      comedy song folio)  © 25Sep35;
      AA191563.  C. V. Clark (Clarke Van
      Ness) (A); 14Mar63; R312349.

The Online 78 rpm Discographical Project lists the following records:

Okeh 40107; Chubb Steinberg Orch; HORSIE KEEP YOUR TAIL UP; recorded 4/10/24; composers: Walt Hirsch, B Kaplan.

Champion 16093; Lew Childre, HORSIE KEEP YOUR TAIL UP; recorded 9/11/30.

Conqueror 8656; Lew Childress, HORSIE KEEP YOUR TAIL UP; recorded 03/24/36.

Decca 2511A; Freddie Fisher & His Orch; HORSIE, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP; recorded 4/11/39.

Columbia 20452; Light Crust Doughboys; HORSIE KEEP YOUR TAIL UP; recorded 11/6/39; composers: Daly & van Ness

Vocalion 5227; (same as Columbia 20452).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Bob belchambers
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 05:05 AM

My old Gran's version of the song was
Horsey hold your tail up knock a nail up knock a nail up horsey hold your tail up keep the sun of my eyes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Ned at work
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 11:00 AM

My Grans version was donkey kick your tail up, and I remember a lot of bouncing upon knees was also involved!(I'd be about 2 years old)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: Mr Happy
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 11:07 AM

On a 78 here:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7qWyZ-B0voE

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Feb 09 - 03:13 PM

If my early childhood memory (1930's and '40') serves me correctly, Horsey Keep Your Tail Up was also recorded by the Hoosier Hotshots.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 10 - 04:43 PM

My Nanna in Australia used to sing her own version. It went:
Horsey keep your tail up, keep your tail up, keep your tail up,
Horsey keep your tail up, to keep the sun from your eyes
All the monkeys in the zoo, got their backsides painted blue so
Horsey keep your tail up, to keep the sun from your eyes

I was never a fan of this version, because I thought, "if his tail is in the air, wont they paint his bum too?"

Subject: Lyr Add: HORSEY! KEEP YOUR TAIL UP!
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Jan 10 - 07:00 PM

You can hear this recording at The Red Hot Jazz Archive. The same recording is also on YouTube:


HORSEY! KEEP YOUR TAIL UP!
(Walter Hirsch / Bert Kaplan)
As sung by the Chubb-Steinberg Orchestra of Cincinnati
On Okeh 40107-B, recorded Oct 10, 1924.

Now Reuben's wife she was so silly, she never wore her hat.
Why, though the sun was shining, she didn't give a darn about that,
But you could see them driving in their buggy ev'ry day,
And Reuben, he would lean way back and you'd hear his wifey say:

"Oh horsey, keep your tail up. Keep your tail up. Keep your tail up.
Oh horsey, keep your tail up. Why don't you make it right?
Tell me how you get that way. You mean yes and say 'Nay, nay.' [or "Neigh, neigh"]
Oh horsey, keep your tail up. Keep the sun out of my eyes."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 11:02 AM

Horsey put you tail up horsey put your tail up, keep the sun out of my eyes, now if you want to look real smart, raise your tail before you fart. My grandpas version

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Robert Rose
Date: 02 Sep 10 - 05:11 PM

Fascinating. My mother also sang this to me regularly in the '50s in Charlotte, North Carolina. She also only sang the "Horsey, keep your tail up, keep your tail up, keep your tail up; horsey, keep your tail up, keep the sun out of my eyes" line. She sang it to the tune of "Did You Ever See a Lassie."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 12:36 AM

I look after a Lady who is 101 .5 years old she told me her uncle use to sing this when she was a little girl. I'll ask her if she remembers any more of the verses

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,dougie spence
Date: 04 Oct 11 - 12:01 PM

my gran sings this to me she's nearly 104 and was brought up in ayrshire.All the monkeys in the zoo have a tail as well as you so horsey keep your tail up and keep the sunshine from your eyes

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,jackdad
Date: 04 Oct 11 - 04:58 PM

As a city youngster staying on a farm during a summer vacation, I remember singing while on a hay ride, "Horsey keep your tail up, keep your tail up - it is about to rain". I never made much sense of the verse - but as I wrote, I was from the city.





a

Subject: Tune Add: HORSEY, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP
From: GUEST,Cookieless Chris P.
Date: 04 Oct 11 - 05:22 PM

Here's Scan Tester's concertina version, transcribed from his 1964 recording.
X:1
T:Horsey, keep your tail up
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/2=100
K:C
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Sisroberts, guest
Date: 23 Jan 14 - 12:53 PM

14, Jan 23 I recall Horsey Keep Your Tail Up being played over the loud speaker at a July 4th celebration at Cisco, Tx. swimming pool in 1940, just across the dam from Lake Cisco. The swimming pool no longer exists and I don't know about the dam.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Robert L Bailey
Date: 22 Jul 17 - 01:07 PM

I remember my cousin in Parkersburg, WV had a 78 rpm record in about 1950 called Horsey Keep Your Tail Up. It was her favorite and unfortunately I sat on it and it broke. I have been looking for a copy of it ever since.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 17 Sep 18 - 12:33 PM

My Scottish-English mom from Oklahoma sang the “horsey” version of this to me between 1947-1955. She sang it to the tune of, “Did you ever see a Lassie?” At school, kids would stand in a circle, holding hands. We would swing our hands backs and forth, keeping in time with the music. On,”...this way and what-away,” we would turn to the kid on our right, then on our left. Boys would bow and girls would curtesy. This is a charming version https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn4JL7UE42A. The Horsey lyrics fit perfectly.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,J Quilter
Date: 29 Sep 21 - 09:50 PM

Horsey keep your tail up,
Horsey keep your tail up,
Keep the sun out of my eyes.

And if you want to look real smart,
Put up that tail before you start.

Horsey keep your tail up,
Horsey keep your tail up,
Keep the sun out of my eyes.


(I can sing it, too)

JQuilter at [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GUEST,harpgirl
Date: 02 Oct 21 - 12:06 AM

This old chestnut is full of memories. Love, harpgirl

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 02 Oct 21 - 08:59 AM

HORSEY, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP
(Walter Hirsch / Bert Kaplan)

Many recordings on YouTube    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=HORSEY%2C+KEEP+YOUR+TAIL+UP

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Horsie / Horsey Keep Your Tail Up
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 02 Oct 21 - 09:02 AM

HORSEY, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP

Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Never mind about the flies
His mane is long and his hair is thick
He's really got an awful kick
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes

Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Never mind about the flies
Now if you want to look real smart
Just raise your tail before you start
Horsey, keep your tail up
Horsey, keep your tail up
Keep the sun out of my eyes