Question: At the beginning, Lyle refers to the song Camptown races as "The Camptown lady"? Is this simply cause he's stupid, or is there any other reason?
Gavin Jackson
6th Jul 2014
Blazing Saddles (1974)
15th Jul 2004
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Audio problem: When Taggart kicks over the fake building, he turns around and says "it's a fake, we've been suckered in." But his mouth is wide open and doesn't appear to be saying anything at all. (01:21:25)
Chosen answer: The opening line of the song refers to the Camptown Ladies and the phrase "Camptown Races" never appears anywhere in the lyrics. If nobody told him otherwise, Lyle may simply have assumed that some variation on "Camptown Ladies" was the actual title.
Tailkinker ★
The actual title of the song was "Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races," written by American lyricist Stephen Foster and first published in 1850. Over many years on the minstrel show circuit, the title was shortened to "Camptown Races" and was sometimes erroneously called "Camptown Ladies." While the phrase "Camptown Races" doesn't appear in the lyrics, the phrase "Camptown Racetrack" does appear in the second line: "Camptown ladies sing dis song, doo-dah, doo-dah, Camptown Racetrack five miles long, oh-de-doo-dah-day." The song refers to Camptown, Pennsylvania, a real town with a popular horserace in the mid-1800s.
Charles Austin Miller