Lyrics for picking tunes

Subject: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: The Og
Date: 30 Mar 26 - 12:29 PM

A number of "picking tunes" have lyrics, others do not. I wrote these for Blackberry Blossom a few years ago and thought I'd share...

Blackberry Blossom (G)                
…lyrics by Bill Ogden © 2023

G                  D               C                   G
Midsummer memories, hot without a hint of breeze,
C                G                      A                      D
Blackberry pickers gather underneath the trees.
G                            D                   C                      G
Baskets, buckets, gunny sacks, sweat pouring down our backs,
C                        G                      D                               G
Looking for the berries, we can take back home and eat.

Blackberry blossom time, over hills and vales we climb,
Looking for the places where the berries will appear,
In the shade or in the sun, picking can be lots of fun,
Blossoms lead to berries, later in the year.

    Em
    Blackberries blossom, in May and June,
                                                                B
    White or pink flowers, and a catchy tune.
    Em
    Later in the summer when, the days are long,
    G               C                         D          G
    Ripe blackberries, well you can’t go wrong.

Blackberries are a type, only pick ‘em when they’re ripe,
Fat, black, and full of sugar, talk about a treat,
You can pick them by the tons, only take the ripest ones,
Let the others linger in the sultry summer heat
    _ _ _

In a cake or in a pie, get yourself a new supply,
Blossoms, lead to berries, is a link you cannot miss.
Take along a girl or two, hiking can be good for you,
Pick ’em as you see ‘em, you might even get a kiss.
    _ _ _

Subject: RE: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 30 Mar 26 - 02:34 PM

Nicely put together, reminds me of my berry-picking youth. It can't be an easy one to sing, given the tune.
Michelle Shocked, who seems to have fallen off the planet, put words to it as well on her Arkansas Traveler album.

Subject: RE: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: The Og
Date: 30 Mar 26 - 08:57 PM

Sing a more generic tune ...more like a bass would do.

Subject: RE: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: Cool Beans
Date: 31 Mar 26 - 11:57 AM

I made up this for Leather Britches:

I've got leather britches,
Lots of little stitches,
Lordy how it itches.
Gotta get some underwear.

Subject: RE: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 01 Apr 26 - 08:12 AM

I'd been playing a couple of old fiddle tunes, Midnight on the Water and Whiskey 'fore Breakfast, quite awhile before I discovered that someone had put lyrics to them, good ones at that.

Subject: RE: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Apr 26 - 04:35 AM

The “Midnight on the Water” song that I know has a different tune, but uses the original MotW tune as an instrumental break between verses. Lyrics by Ron Kavana, but great version by Norma Waterson.
But a quick Google search tells me there are other sets of lyrics to it too: can’t keep a good tune down!

Subject: RE: Lyrics for picking tunes
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 03 Apr 26 - 07:39 AM

That is true. Here is Kate Wolf singing it with words by John Victor Croziat, who also plays fiddle on it, if I remember correctly-Midnight on the Water