Roy Clark – I Never Picked Cotton

“I Never Picked Cotton” is a song made famous by country music singer Roy Clark. Written by Bobby George and Charles Williams, the song was released in 1970 as the title track to the album released that same year. The song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart that summer.

A cover version of “I Never Picked Cotton” was recorded by Johnny Cash for his 1996 album Unchained.

From the album I Never Picked Cotton
B-side “Lonesome Too Long”
Released May 1970
Recorded 1969
Genre Country
Length 2:22
Label Dot
Songwriter(s) Bobby George, Charles Williams

Roy Clark – I Never Picked Cotton Lyrics
I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Workin’ in the coal mine

When I was just a baby too little for a cotton sack
I played in the dirt while the others worked till they couldn’t straighten their backs
And I made myself a promise when I was big enough to run
That I’d never stay a single day in that Oklahoma sun

And I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Workin’ in the coal mine

Folks said I grew up early and in the farm that couldn’t 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 haired girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring and I took it all with a gun

But I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Workin’ in the coal mine

It was Saturday night in Memphis when a redneck grabbed my shirt
And when he said go back in your cotton sack I let ‘im dyin’ in the dirt
They’d take me in the mornin’ to the gallows just outside
And in the time I’ve got there ain’t a hullava lot that I can look back on with pride
But I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Workin’ in the coal mine

But I never picked cotton
But my mother did and my brother did
And my sister did and my daddy died young
Workin’ in the coal mine…