"The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!)" is a song in the 1953 film ''

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Canary (May 1, 1856 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American American frontier, frontierswoman, Exhibition shooting, sharpshooter, sex worker, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits, she was known f ...

'', written by

Sammy Fain Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatr ...

and

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United S ...

, and performed by

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

. It was also used in the London stage show ''Calamity Jane'' in 2003 and the musical based on Doris Day's greatest hits, ''A Sentimental Journey''. The song's opening lines are: :''Oh! The Deadwood Stage is a-rollin' on over the plains,'' :''with the curtains flappin' and the driver slappin' the reins.'' :''Beautiful sky! A wonderful day!'' :''Whip crack-away!, Whip crack-away!, Whip crack-away!'' It goes on to contain a macabre line about

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, reconnaissance, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, s ...

, "on his gun there's more than twenty-seven notches". In 1957,

Clint Walker Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne (TV series), Cheyenne Bodie in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC/Warner Bros. Western (genre)#Film, western series ''Cheyenn ...

sings the song in the ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'' episode "The Conspirators"''.'' In 2010, Australian singer

Melinda Schneider Melinda Schneider (born Melinda-Jane Bean; 7 October 1971) is an Australian country music singer. She has been performing since she was three and sang with her mother, yodelling country artist Mary Schneider, on the album ''The Magic of Yodell ...

recorded the song for her Doris Day tribute album ''Melinda Does Doris''.

References

1953 songs Doris Day songs Songs with music by Sammy Fain Songs with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster Songs written for films {{1950s-song-stub