A Hot Time in the Old Town

[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial language. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]

A 1896 song about a minstrel show revival meeting
words by Joe Hayden
music by Theodore A. Metz

Theo Metz was born in Germany but by 1886 he was traveling in Louisiana as band leader with McIntyre and Heath Minstrels. Their train pulled in to Hot Town (Marion, LA) and through the windows they saw a group of children starting a fire by the train tracks. Metz overheard a buddy say, “They’re certainly having a hot time in the Old Town tonight.” He used that for the title of a march tune he wrote for the minstrels the next day. They played it as an instrumental for ten years. Metz got one of the minstrels, Joe Hayden, to add lyrics in 1896. The intro and first part are schottische. There is no tempo change into the march. We have a YouTube video of Metz playing this song on violin. His tempo is 96 bpm.

The sheet music:

Hot Time in the Old Town – Sheet MusicDownload

Accompaniment:

Hot Time in the Old Town – MIDIDownload

Lyrics

  1. Come along get you ready wear your bran, bran new gown
    For dere’s gwine to be a meeting in that good, good old town
    Where you know-ded ev’ry body, and dey all know’ded you
    And you’ve got a rabbits foot to keep away de hoodo
    When you hear that the preaching does begin
    Bend down low for to drive away your sin
    And when you gets religion, You want to shout and sing
    “There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight, my baby.”

Chorus
When you hear dem a bells go ding, ling ling
All join ’round and sweetly you must sing
And when the verse am through in the chorus all join in
“There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight.”

  1. There’ll be girls for ev’ry body in that good, good old town
    For dere’s Miss Consola Davis and dere’s Miss Gondolia Brown
    And dere’s Miss Johanna Beasely she am dressed all in red
    I just hugged her and I kissed her and to me than she said
    “Please oh please, oh, do not let me fall
    You’re all mine and I love you best of all
    And you must be my man or I’ll have no man at all
    There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight, my baby.”

Sung here by Fred Feild: