In the DT.....

PICK A BALE OF COTTON

Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotton
Jump down, turn around to pick a bale a day.*

cho: Oh Lordy, pick a bale of cotton,
Oh Lordy, pick a bale a day.

That nigger from Shiloh can pick a bale of cotton
That nigger from Shiloh can pick a day.

Me and my gal can pick etc.

Me and my wife etc.

Me and my buddy etc.

Me and my poppa etc.

Takes a might big man to etc.

NOTE: A bale of cotton weighs about a quarter of a ton. Nobody ever picked
a bale in a day. An astounding number of folkies sing "pick a bale of
hay". That's not bragging; it's just silly. You don't pick hay. RG
@work @farm
filename[ PICKBALE
TUNE FILE: PICKBALE
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

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From Joe Offer - Traditional Ballad Index Entry:

Pick a Bale of Cotton

DESCRIPTION: "You got to jump down, turn around, Pick a bale of cotton...." A list of various people who can, alone or in combination, pick a bale of cotton a day. (In the more serious versions, the singer disclaims any ability to do such a thing.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (recording, James "Iron Head" Baker & group)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad farming bragging
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 393-304, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 68, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 231-233, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 99-101, "Pick a Bale a Cotton" (2 texts, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 54, "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 123, "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (1 text)
DT, PICKBALE*
ADDITIONAL: Moses Asch and Alan Lomax, Editors, _The Leadbelly Songbook_, Oak, 1962, p. 56, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10061
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker & group, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (AFS 195 A1, 1933; on LC53)
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Pick a Bale o' Coton" (AFS 721 B3, 1936) (AFS 3523 A3, 3523 B3, c. 1940)
Folkmasters, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (on Fmst01)
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (AFS 2643 A2, 1939)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (on SeegerTerry)
Pete Seeger, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (on PeteSeeger43)
NOTES: Picking a bale of cotton in a single day is, for one picker, an almost superhuman task. - PJS
Last updated in version 3.1
File: LxU068

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