A popular song from 1915.
Words by Jeff. Davis.
Music by William H. Farrell.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
The news has gone around
Since the hoboes came to town
As guest of the Hotel De-Gink
You can hear the home guards shout
Whenever the boes turn out
“Get next to the prancing Gink”
See how he one-steps down the stairs
Walks like a butcher at the country fairs
Ducks and runs from the bulls and shack
Looks around once, never comes back, for
CHORUS
It’s the Hobo Dance
It’s got them all a guessing
It’s the Hobo tango strangle hold
And not a dancing lesson
You learn it on the country roads
And in the Booby hatches
You dance awhile, then stop and smile
And enjoy a few good scratches
2. Turks have a hoochy dance
And the French a funny twirl
And others imitate their ways
And the rich jump on the tables
With chickens from the cradles
And hit high spots every way
But Hoboes back in Jungle-land
They have a dance
That beats those mongles grand
A boxcar smash-up from the rear
When the one-step music hits their ear