Pick a Bale o' Cotton

By Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Farm and Prairie, p.56
G - - D / G - D G :// 4x

Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day
Oh Lordy, pick a bale o' cotton
Oh Lordy, pick a bale a day
Oh Lordy, pick a bale o' cotton
Oh Lordy, pick a bale a day

Also possible: Oh Julie, pick a bale o' cotton, etc.

Gonna get on my knees and...
*Gonna jump, jump, jump down...
Me and my gal gonna...
Me and my buddy gonna...
I believe to my soul I can...
Went to Corsicana to...
*Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a...

*: These are irregular verses, in which the first line doesn't repeat exactly all the way through. Both of them can be sung as regular repetitive verses, though, with little to no damage to the song.
The irregular verses (according to R.U.S.):

Gonna jump, jump, jump down, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day
Gonna jump, jump, jump down, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day

Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a, pick a bale a day
Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a, pick a bale o' cotton
We're gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day