Recorded by Lead Belly in 1940, "Cotton Fields" was introduced into the canon of folk music via its inclusion on the 1954 album release Odetta & Larry which comprised performances by Odetta at the Tin Angel nightclub in San Francisco with instrumental and vocal accompaniment by Lawrence Mohr: this version was entitled "Old Cotton Fields at Home".
Intro: F C7 Bb F
F
When I was a little bitty baby
Bb F
My mama would rock me in the cradle
C7
In them old cotton fields back home
F
It was down in Louisiana
Bb F
Just about a mile from Texarkana
C7 F
In them old cotton fields back home
Bb
Now, when them cotton bolls get rotten
F
You can't pick very much cotton
C7
In them old cotton fields back home
F
It was down in Louisiana
Bb F
Just about a mile from Texarkana
C7 F
In them old cotton fields back home
F
When I was a little bitty baby
Bb F
My mama would rock me in the cradle
C7
In them old cotton fields back home
F
It was down in Louisiana
Bb F
Just about a mile from Texarkana
C7 F
In them old cotton fields back home
Bb
Now, when them cotton bolls get rotten
F
You can't pick very much cotton
C7
In them old cotton fields back home
F
It was down in Louisiana
Bb F
Just about a mile from Texarkana
C7 F
In them old cotton fields back home
F
When I was a little bitty baby
Bb F
My mama would rock me in the cradle
C7
In them old cotton fields back home
F
It was down in Louisiana
Bb F
Just about a mile from Texarkana
C7 F
In them old cotton fields back home
C7 F
In them old cotton fields back home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make very much money
In them old cotton fields back home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make very much money
In them old cotton fields back home
I was home in Arkansas
People ask me what you come here for
In the old cotton fields back home
I was home in Arkansas
People ask me what you come here for
In the old cotton fields back home
