From the recording When Cotton Was King

Lyrics

When Cotton Was King
By Louise Mosrie


Capo 4

B (with open B string…so Badd9) G
Sold down the river
A
Hear the church choir sing
Badd9 G
But where was Jesus
A
When cotton was king?

Damn you Eli Whitney
And that ginning machine
Cause the wicked never rested
When cotton was king.

D A Em
Oh walls of Jericho
G
Let your people go
D A Em
Oh sweet, sweet chariot
Badd9
Won’t you swing low

The chains dig in deeper
When the register rings with
Stacks of blood stained greenbacks
When cotton was king.

And what about Lincoln
And the war he means to bring?
And let the dead tell the sad story of
When cotton was king….and I say…