All-Go-Hungry Hash House

The All-Go-Hungry Hash House

Traditional, originated 1890s or earlier.


‘Allo folks, I’m in New York and from the country,
But you can’t tell me roasting ears ain’t corn.

There’s a hotel in city
As we climb the golden stairs,
And they serve that hash upon the second floor.

There’s a graveyard in the cellar,
Doctor’s office in the parlor,
And the undertaker keeps his shop next door.

“Touch-me-not” was on the teacups,
Skeleton-crossbones on the plate.
“Copyrighted” on the turkey you could spell.

Oh, the biscuits, they are named,
And I’m going to have them framed
At that all-go-hungry hash house where I dwell.

Oh the doughnuts, they are wooden,
And we have Limburger puddin’.
We meet in prayer before we go to grub.

If you chance to get a breeze
Of that “ambelonious”¹ cheese
You’d have swore somebody’d hit you with a club.

That hotel where I stay,
It is turning my hair gray,
For the landlord is always full of beer.

Oh, the beds, the bugs have rented
And the air was sweetly scented
By an old-fashioned tan-yard in the rear.

Oh, the sausage, they are marked,
If you touch them, they will bark.
It’s a relic sent from Bingen-on-the-Rhine.

All the boarders have their croup
Caused from drinking frozen soup,
At that all-go-hungry hash house where I dine.

They have India rubber pickles,
Exercises on bicycles,
And her dinner bell [bill?] and gong they can’t afford.

When they open up the gate,
We’ll come skippin’ on roller skates,
At that all-go-hungry hash house where I board.

There’s a woman called the Duchess
Brings the coffee in on crutches.
And the cake looks like a sponge that petrified.

Oh, the pies are old and gray,
They were tackled by a jay
Who went right out and committed suicide.

Oh, the molasses made of paint,
If you smell them you will faint,
They are yeller and dished up in a gourd.

Oh, the eggs are made to match,
If you touch them they will hatch
At that all-go-hungry hash house where I board.


Collected from Vocalion 15076, as sung by Uncle Dave Macon, recorded April 14, 1925.


¹ While Uncle Dave and others sing the nonsensical “ambelonious”, the original lyric is “ham, bologna, and cheese.”