Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues

By Frederic Anthony Rzewski
In this piece, Rzewski depicts a scene of the 1930s when workers at the textile mill plant in Winnsboro, South Carolina began singing lyrics to reflect the hardship of factory labor and to promote camaraderie among the workers. Prominent Blues artists such as Lead Belly and Pete Seeger have sung this catchy folk song. In Rzewski’s version, he utilizes this tune while employing unconventional piano techniques to imitate the sounds of the mill-this includes having the pianist using his palms and arms to achieve this!---by Frank Huang
Lyrics:
Down in Winsboro, South Carolina
There's... some person put some new verses
Uh, to the old "Alcoholic Blues"
Old man seargent sittin' at the desk
The damn old fool won't give us no rest
He'd take the nickels off a dead man's eyes
To buy a Coca-Cola and a Eskimo pie
I got the blues, I got the blues
I got the Winsboro cotton mill blues
Oh Lordy, Lordy spoolin's hard
You know and I know, we don't have to tell
You work for Tom Watson got to work like hell
I got the blues, I got the blues
I got the Winnsboro cotton mill blues
Now, when I die don't you bury me at all
Hang me up on the factory wall
Place a bobbin in my hand
So I can keep on workin' in the Promised Land
I got the blues, I got the blues
I got the Winsboro cotton mill blues
Oh Lordy, Lordy spoolin's hard
You know and I know, we don't have to tell
You work for Tom Watson, gotta work like hell