"Pick a Bale of Cotton" ( Roud 10061, sometimes "Pick a Bale o' Cotton") is a traditional American

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and work song recorded by Texas inmates James "Iron Head" Baker (1933) and Mose "Clear Rock" Platt (1939) and later popularized by

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter ( ; January 1888 or 1889 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the ...

(Huddie William Ledbetter).

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

, as well as others, have released adaptations of the song.

Covers

The song has been covered by many artists including

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

(under the name "Jump Down, Spin Around" on '' Belafonte'', 1955),

The Vipers Skiffle Group The Vipers Skiffle Group – later known simply as The Vipers – were one of the leading British groups during the skiffle period of the mid to late 1950s, and were important in the careers of radio and television presenter Wally Whyton, coffe ...

The Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the ...

and

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

Johnny Cash

released an adaptation on a single for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

(Columbia 4-42512, with " Bonanza!" on the flip side. That version of the song appears in the Cash compilation album ''The Legend''. It was released in July or August 1962.

Personnel

Other adaptations

Allan Sherman performed a parody in the early 1960s which included the lyric, "Jump down, spin around, pick a dress of cotton / Jump down, spin around, pick a dress o' wool." Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee recorded it as a duo. Sonny Terry also recorded it with

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

recorded it as a medley, the other tunes in the medley being " On Top of Old Smoky" and " Midnight Special". The track just titled "Medley" was recorded in 1975 and was the B-side to the 1978 vinyl single "

Summer Night City "Summer Night City" is a song recorded by the Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as a tribute to their hometown of Stockholm. It is the group's second non-album single, released on 6 September 1978. It was reco ...

". The medley also appeared as a track on the German charity album ''Im Zeichen eines guten Sterns'' on Polydor. The medley reappeared in the 1994 4-CD boxed set compilation ''

Thank You for the Music "Thank You for the Music" is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally featured on the group's fifth studio album, '' The Album'' (1977), and was released as a double-A sided single with "Eagle" in May 1978 in limited territories ...

'' and on the 2012 remastered ''

'' as a bonus track. Children's music artist

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

recorded the song on his 1979 album, ''The Corner Grocery Store''. The song is sung by members of Navin Johnson (

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

's) family under the opening and end credits of Martin's 1979 comedy ''

The Jerk ''The Jerk'' is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias (from a story by Martin and Gottlieb). This was Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also f ...

''.

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

drummer D.H. Peligro recorded a version of this song under the name "Black Bean Chili Thing" on the 1995 self-titled album of his band Peligro.

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

implemented the verse in his 2005 single " The Potion" as a breakdown before the third verse. He also references the verse in his feature on

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

's 2002 song " Gossip Folks" on the last line of his verse. In 2014,

Country and Irish A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or ...

singer Derek Ryan covered it in his 2014 album ''The Simple Things'' also releasing a music video. At some point the tune was adapted to the Hebrew words of “Mishenichnas Adar” — “When Adar arrives” — which is based on a line from the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

( Ta’anit Portfolio 29a) that means “When Adar arrives, we increase our joy.”

Adar Adar (Hebrew: , ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 days. ...

is a Hebrew month — and home to the happy holiday of

Purim Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (u ...

Changed perspective

The song, particularly its original lyrics, has been criticized as racism, racist and reminiscent of—and glorifying—the slavery period in American history. The original lyrics contained the offensive, generally censored racial slur ''

nigger In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

'' multiple times. Covers of the song changed the offensive lyric.

Original lyrics

One of the verses, according to John Lomax's ''American Ballads and Folk Songs'', includes:

Dat nigger from Shiloh Kin pick a bale o' cotton Dat nigger from Shiloh Kin pick a bale a day

Later versions of the folk song had amended the lyrics to:

Gonna jump down, turn around Pick a bale of cotton Gonna jump down, turn around Pick a bale a day Oh lordy, pick a bale of cotton Oh lordy, pick a bale a day

The song is sung with increasing speed as it progresses, with ensuing verses having references to "me and my wife" replaced with the likes of "me and my gal", "me and my papa", "me and my friend".

References

{{Authority control American folk songs