Pick a Bale of Cotton/Bowl of Cherries

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Pick a bale of cotton

Pick a Bale of Cotton, a song which was first recorded by Texas inmates James Iron Head" Baker (1933) and Mose "Clear Rock" Platt (1939). The traditional American folk song, which later popularized by Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter). [1]

Lyrics

“O massa told de [N-word]

Pick a bale of cotton

O massa told de [N-word]

Pick a bale a day”

I had a little wife could

Pick a bale of cotton

I had a little wife could

Pick a bale a day”

Gonna jump down, spin around,

Pick a bale of cotton

Gonna jump down, spin around,

Pick a bale a day

Oh lordy, pick a bale of cotton

Pick a bale a day [2]

Controversy

The song was about a slave who worked in a plantation field and is seen as making fun of the conditions. [3]

Pick a Bale of Cotton has been criticized as racist, reminiscent, and glorifying slavery in American history. The lyrics contain racial slur “nigger’ multiple times. According to John Lomax’s American Ballads and Folk Songs, the verses goes like: "Dat nigger from Shiloh / Kin pick a bale o' cotton / Dat nigger from Shiloh / Kin pick a bale a day." [4]

References

  1. Pick a Bale of Cotton. wikipedia.org. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  2. Did Not Know that the Following Nursery Rhymes had a Racial History. May 8, 2014. aspoonfulofsuga.wordpress.com. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  3. Taylor, Mildred Europa. Nine nursery rhymes you probably didn’t realize were racist. January 8, 2020. face2faceafrica.com. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  4. Pick a Bale of Cotton. wikipedia.org. Retrieved January 22, 2021