"Sweet Betsy from Pike" is an American ballad about the trials of a pioneer named Betsy and her lover Ike who migrate from Pike County (theorized to be Pike County, Missouri) to California. This Gold Rush-era song, with lyrics published by John A. Stone in 1858, was collected and published in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag. It was recorded by Burl Ives on February 11, 1941, for his debut album Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger.
The melody derives from a popular English comic song "Villikins and his Dinah", first published in London in 1853 and which had become a hit in America by 1855. Villikins and his Dinah closely parodies the lyrics of an old street ballad extant in England from the early 19th century, William and Diana; but it is unclear whether it simply borrowed the same melody as the existing ballad it parodies, or used a different tune written especially for theatrical performance.
Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
The final line of the verse about Betsy's drunkenness is often "censored" from "showed her bare arse to the whole wagon train" to "showed her pantaloons to the whole wagon train" or "made a great show for the whole wagon train". The latter line was used by Burl Ives and Connie Dover, among other artists.
Parts of the song are sung by characters in motion pictures such as The Absent-Minded Professor, A Fistful of Dollars, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Wild Women.
Sam Sackett wrote his book Sweet Betsy from Pike, a novelization of the song, after hearing the song performed at an American Folklore Society meeting.
The tune was used for a song sung by the Muppet Folk Trio for a public tv PSA: "Let's keep our kids learnin' on public TV/To do it we need help from you and from me."
On October 7, 1971, on the show Alias Smith and Jones, the song was sung by Jones, Smith and two other miners in a cave after earning $20,000 in gold on the episode "Smiler With A Gun."
To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here.
Enjoy!
Lyrics:
Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike,
With two yoke of oxen, a big yellow dog,
A tall Shangai rooster, and one spotted hog?
CHORUS:
Singing dang fol dee dido,
Singing dang fol dee day.
One evening quite early they camped on the Platte.
'Twas near by the road on a green shady flat.
Where Betsy, sore-footed, lay down to repose --
With wonder Ike gazed on that Pike County rose.
The Shanghai ran off, and their cattle all died;
That morning the last piece of bacon was fried;
Poor Ike was discouraged and Betsy got mad,
The dog drooped his tail and looked wondrously sad.
They stopped at Salt Lake to inquire of the way,
Where Brigham declared that sweet Betsy should stay;
But Betsy got frightened and ran like a deer
While Brigham stood pawing the ground like a steer.
They soon reached the desert where Betsy gave out,
And down in the sand she lay rolling about;
While Ike, half distracted, looked on with surprise,
Saying, "Betsy, get up, you'll get sand in your eyes."
Sweet Betsy got up in a great deal of pain,
Declared she'd go back to Pike County again;
But Ike gave a sigh and they fondly embraced,
And they traveled along with his arm round her waist.
The Injuns came down in a wild yelling horde,
And Betsy was scared they would scalp her adored;
Behind the front wagon wheel Betsy did crawl,
And there fought the Injuns with musket and ball.
They suddenly stopped on a very high hill,
With wonder looked down upon old Placerville;
Ike sighed when he said, and he cast his eyes down,
"Sweet Betsy, my darling, we've got to Hangtown."
Long Ike and Sweet Betsy attended a dance;
Ike wore a pair of his Pike County pants;
Sweet Betsy was dressed up in ribbons and rings;
Says Ike, "You're an angel, but where are your wings?"
'Twas out on the prairie one bright starry night,
They broke out the whiskey and Betsy got tight,
She sang and she howled and she danced o'er the plain,
And showed her bare legs to the whole wagon train.
The terrible desert was burning and bare,
And Isaac he shrank from the death lurkin' there,
"Dear old Pike County, I'll come back to you."
Says Betsy, "You'll go by yourself if you do."
They swam wild rivers and climbed the tall peaks,
And camped on the prairies for weeks upon weeks,
Starvation and cholera, hard work and slaughter,
They reached Californy, spite of hell and high water.
A miner said, "Betsy, will you dance with me?"
"I will, you old hoss, if you don't make too free.
But don't dance me hard, do you want to know why?
Doggone ye, I'm chock full of strong alkali."
Long Ike and Sweet Betsy got married, of course,
But Ike, getting jealous, obtained a divorce,
While Betsy, well satisfied, said with a shout,
"Goodbye, you big lummox, I'm glad you backed out!"
