“I'm Goin' to Pick my Banjo (Old Woman in the Garden)”
Description
The singer watches his wife hoe the garden and cook while the lazy hound sits. He picks the banjo. The preacher tells him he'll never get to heaven; he repeats his refrain: "I'm goin' to pick my banjo... pick it while I can... right to the Promised Land."
Supplemental text
I'm Goin' to Pick my Banjo (Old Woman in the Garden)
Partial text(s)
*** A ***
From Anne Warner, Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne &
Frank Warner Collection, #125, pp. 299-300. From the singing of
Frank Proffitt, Watauga County, North Carolina, 1959.
Old woman in the garden,
Scratchin' away with the hoe,
I'm settin' on the doorstep,
Making my fingers go.
Chorus
I'm goin' to pick my banjo,
I'm goin' to pick my banjo,
I'm goin' to pick my banjo,
I'll pick it while I can.
Pick it in the mornin',
Pick it in the evenin',
I'm goin' to pick my banjo,
Right to the promised land.
(3 additional stanzas)
Recordings
- Frank Profffitt, "Old Woman in the Garden" (on USWarnerColl01)
References
- Warner 125, "I'm Goin' to Pick my Banjo (or, Old Woman in the Garden)" (1 text, 1 tune)
- ST Wa125 (Partial)
- Roud #7478
- BI, Wa125