Frederic Rzewski (1938*)
from „Four North American Ballads“ for solo piano
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
When I die don’t bury me at all
Just hang me up on the spoolroom wall.
Place a knotter in my hand
So I can keep on spoolin’ in the Promised Land.
I got the Blues, I got the Blues,
I got the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues.
Lordy, Lordy, spoolin’s hard.
You know and I know, I don’t have to tell,
Work for Tom Watson, got to work like hell.
I got the Blues, I got the Blues,
I got the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues.
I got the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues.
—“Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues”
„Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,“ an industrial folk song of the 1930s with lyrics typical of the Blues, refers to working in a cotton mill in this city. Textile mills were constructed in the area beginning in the late 19th century and originally workers were restricted to whites. The song developed after the textile mill had been converted to a tire manufacturing plant, reflecting the widespread expansion of the auto industry.