Pick A Bale Of Cotton by Leadbelly Notes: This song starts out at a decent tempo and then increases. I would recommend finger picking, but it doesn't sound too shabby with a little strumming. I would also recommend listening to the track to get the picking right because the chord work isn't much. It's only 3 chords (A E D). Hope you enjoy this classic song in the rendition of Leadbelly. This is from a 9.5mm 1945 recording of Leadbelly, so I added what he says at the beginning. "Now this is another work song. When we pick cotton, you gotta jump down to pick a bale of cotton a day. You can't fool around. And we sang:" A Great God Almighty I can pick a bale of cotton E A Great God Almighty I can pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A Me and my wife can pick a bale of cotton, E A Me and my wife can pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotton. E A Jump down, turn around to pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A Me and my buddy can pick a bale of cotton, E A Me and my buddy can pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A Me and my papa can pick a bale of cotton, E A Me and my papa can pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A Me and my sissy can pick a bale of cotton, E A Me and my sissy can pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, F A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A I can pick a pick a pick … a pick a bale of cotton A E A I can pick a pick a pick … a pick a bale a day (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2) A Jump down, turn around to pick a bale of cotton. E A Jump down, turn around to pick a bale a day. (x2) D A D Oh Lord, I can pick a bale of cotton, oh Lord, E A I can pick a bale a day. (x2)