I discovered this extraordinary song while searching for something else. It's a bluesy song accompanied by a jazz band.


SONG FROM A COTTON FIELD
Written by Porter Grainger
As recorded by Bessie Brown on Brunswick 4409, 1929.*

[A] Hey, hee, hi, ho, pickin' cotton all day.
Hey, hee, hi, ho, just a-pickin' away.
White folks knows I'm workin'.
They knows gon' be no shirkin'.
Hee, hi, ho, I knows I'll get my pay.

[B] Ain't no use kickin' 'cause I'll be pickin'
Till all my children is grown,
Then I'll shuffle and skip and scuffle
To have a field of my own.
All my life, I've been makin' it.
All my life, white folks takin' it.
This old heart, they's just breakin' it.
Ain't got a thing to show for what I done done.
But things get brighter; loads get lighter.
I'll keep a-pluggin' [or "pluckin'"?] away.
Sing my song like I'm happy and gay,
All day.
Just tell the world for me: My soul's done set me free.
That's the song I'll sing till they put me under the clay.

[C] Oh, chil'en, stop your grumblin'.
Oh, that's a block for stumblin'.
Just keep on workin' and praisin'.
You'll see that you'll conquer someday.

[Instrumental break]

[Repeat part B.]

- - -
* This recording appears on 3 albums:
"Music of the Lost Generation 1910's – 1930's"
"(Original) Bessie Brown (1925-1929) & Liza Brown (1929)" Document Records DOCD-5456.
"Old Country Songs from Down on the Farm, Vol. 1"

You can also hear it on YouTube (but I believe there are some mistakes in the on-screen lyrics).