recorded by Johnny Cash on UNCHAINED
(chorus:)
E
I Never Picked Cotton
Like my [A]mother [E]did and my [A]brother [E]did and my [A]sister [E]did
A E B7 E
and my daddy died young workinF in a coal mine
A-0-1-2--
(up to F and play that chord until...)
When I was just a baby, too little for the cotton sack
I played in the dirt while the others worked till they couldnFt
straighten up their backs
(up to F#...)
and I made myself a promise when I was old enought to run
that IFd never stay a single day in that Oklahoma sun, but
(...back down to E)
(chorus:)
Folks said that I grew up early and the farm couldnFt hold me then
so I stole ten bucks and a pickup truck and I never went back again
and it was fast cars and whiskey, long legged girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring and I took it all with a gun
but
(chorus:)
It was Saturday night in Memphis when a redneck grabbed my shirt
He said go back to your cotton sack, I left him lyinF in the dirt
and theyFll take me in the morning to the gallows just outside
and in the time I got there ainFt a heck of a lot
I can look back on with pride
but
(chorus:)
(also, on the chorus, it sounds good if you strum an Em
and hammer on the G string to make an E on the part before
you go into the verse)
intro: D------------0---------
A--0-(1)-(2)---0-------
E----------------3(b)-0
(chorus:)
E
I Never Picked Cotton
Like my [A]mother [E]did and my [A]brother [E]did and my [A]sister [E]did
A E B7 E
and my daddy died young workinF in a coal mine
E---3-3-0---
A-0-1-2--
E--------
(up to F and play that chord until...)
When I was just a baby, too little for the cotton sack
I played in the dirt while the others worked till they couldnFt
straighten up their backs
(up to F#...)
and I made myself a promise when I was old enought to run
that IFd never stay a single day in that Oklahoma sun, but
(...back down to E)
(chorus:)
Folks said that I grew up early and the farm couldnFt hold me then
so I stole ten bucks and a pickup truck and I never went back again
and it was fast cars and whiskey, long legged girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring and I took it all with a gun
but
(chorus:)
It was Saturday night in Memphis when a redneck grabbed my shirt
He said go back to your cotton sack, I left him lyinF in the dirt
and theyFll take me in the morning to the gallows just outside
and in the time I got there ainFt a heck of a lot
I can look back on with pride
but
(chorus:)
(also, on the chorus, it sounds good if you strum an Em
and hammer on the G string to make an E on the part before
you go into the verse)
