Lyr Add: Tip and Ty

Subject: Lyr Add: Tip and Ty
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 04:32 AM

Tip and Ty
Words: Alexander Coffman Ross
Tune: "Little Pigs"

What's the cause of this commotion, motion, motion,
Our country through?
It is the ball a-rolling along,
For Tippicanoe and Tyler too
For Tippicanoe and Tyler too,
And with them we'll beat little Van, Van, Van,
Van is a used up man;
And with them we'll beat little Van.

Like the rushing of mighty waters, waters, waters,
On it will go!
And in its course will clear the way
For Tippicanoe and Tyler too. (Cho.)

See the Loco standard tottering, tottering, tottering,
Down it must go!
And in its place we'll rear the flag
Of Tippicanoee and Tyler too. (Cho.)

"But of all the Whig songs which set the nation to tapping its feet on the way to the polls, none was more popular than "Tip and Ty," the comic glee which gave us the phrase "Tippicanoe and Tyler Too" and firmly established the power of singing as a campaign device. With rare exceptions, the authors of campaign ballads are best left in an obscurity from which one rescues them only with a resolute lack of charity. Still history has no right to exempt the first practitioner of the art form from a well-earned notoriety. Alexander Coffman Ross, who wrote the lyrics for "Tip and Ty" (to the tune of a minstrel number, "Little Pigs), was a jeweler in Zanesville, Ohio in 1840 when the political muse overcame him. A member of his local Tippicanoe Club as well as his church choir, and apparently an amateur clarenetist and singer of modest accomplishment, Ross introduced the song at a Whig meeting in Zanesville, where it was greeted, according to an observer, with "cheers, yells and encores." Later, Ross went on a business trip to New York, where he managed to introduce the song to a Whig rally. The ensuing pandemonium apparently launched the song on the road to nationwide popularity. The North American Review called it "in the political canvas of 1840 what the 'Marseillaise' was to the French Revolution. It sang Harrison into the presidency."

Ross' song, oddly enough, does not seem to have been copyrighted (an oversight future songwriters did not make); and a number of different versions of sheet music appeared, many with a great variety of verses. The version here seems to be Ross's original.

[Silber, Irwin, Songs American Voted By, (Harrisburg: Stackpole, 1971)]

Note: Better known as Tippicanoe and Tyler Too which became the signature phrase of the entire 1940 Whig campaign (and beyond.) Other sources attribute the words to Ohio politician John Greiner.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tip and Ty
From: cnd
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 09:13 AM

"...the entire 1940 Whig campaign..."

I'm assuming this is supposed to be 1840?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tip and Ty
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 09:47 AM

Of course this total gibberish to any none Americans.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tip and Ty
From: GUEST,Phil D'Conch
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 03:25 PM

Me: "...the entire 1940 Whig campaign..."

CnD: I'm assuming this is supposed to be 1840?

Me quoting Silber: Ohio in 1840 when the political muse overcame him....in the political canvas of 1840...


Best 2:3 then? But nice catch I guess, the "assumption(?)" of typographical error is correct.


Dave H: ...total gibberish to any none Americans.

I am the antithesis of your comment. Fair warning, my posts on O Ken Karanga and Choucoune will probably leave you in the same place. Can't be helped as far as I can see but I'm open to suggestions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tip and Ty
From: cnd
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 03:47 PM

Dave, now you know how the Americans feel when we go down to the BS section and see all the UK election stuff

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tip and Ty
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 06 Jul 16 - 07:01 PM

Dave: Can you say Beluthahatchee three times real fast?

BS: Brexit (et al)… if we could just bolt a flywheel and belt on 'em. FossilFools.org, Brown is the new green®


On topic, I was more than a little surprised I couldn't find this one on Mudcat. Apologies if it already is somewhere.

The 1836-44 American federal elections (3) were the start of their history of popular campaign song. As noted above, Tippicanoe was the song of the era.

Concurrent with this is the birth of the American circus minstrel troupe and the genre that would shape American pop entertainment for most of the remainder of the 19th century.

So if non-Americans want to keep their chanty bulgines sorted fire from locomotive and know when to "run with" and when to "get out de way" it's fitting and proper to learn a little American circus-speak.

I've been concentrating on stuff that's missing altogether while the site/server has been struggling lately. Hopefully I can get back around and fill in the links and notes. Kudos to Joe and CnD for stepping into the breach here and there in the meanwhiles.

See also:

Lyr Add: Clay and Frelinghuysen

Lyr Add: Get Out of the Way!

Help: What is a bulgine?

More to follow...