Coma ti yi youpy, youpy ya youpy ya/Coma ti yi youpy ya
-Refrain verse in The Old Chisholm Trail, cowboy ballad collected by John Lomax
Unh unh unhh, Unh unh unhh, Unhh unh unh, Unhh unh unh, Unh unhh unh, Unh unhh unh
-Hamid’s ditty sung while rounding up camels, Voice of the Whip
The refrain verses in cowboy songs sound like something a drover might sing pushing cattle up the trail. No words needed. The same goes for camelman songs. The ones with lyrics of the kind Idris sang about a camel “sleek and tasty with an eye like a Seiko watch” are fine when you’re going straight and easy, but when you’re picking up strays or pushing them hard it makes sense to drop words and go with nonsense, punctuated with the voice of the whip.