The Boll Weevil Song
In the late 1800s, boll weevils entered the United States from Mexico. These little bugs caused enormous damage to America’s cotton crop. Even though the boll weevils were terrible pests, an unknown author decided to have a little fun with the problem and write this song.
Listen
Banjo, Vocal – Benjamin Brown
Guitar, Vocal – Lucas Brown
U.S. Food Administration Poster (c. 1918)
Lyrics
Now the boll weevil am a little black bug
Come from Mexico, they say.
Come all the way to Texas,
Just a-looking for a place to stay,
Looking for a home,
Just a-looking for a home.
Now the first time I seed the boll weevil,
He was sitting on the square.
The next time I seed the boll weevil,
He had all his family there,
Just a-looking for a home,
Just a-looking for a home.
Now the farmer took the boll weevil
And he throwed him on the ice.
The weevil said to the farmer,
“This sho’ makes me feel nice!
Gonna be my home,
Gonna be my home."
So the farmer took the boll weevil
And he put him on the red hot sand
And the weevil said to the farmer,
“I’m gonna take this like a man,
Gonna be my home,
Gonna be my home."
Now the merchant got half the cotton
And the weevils got the rest.
It didn’t leave the farmer’s wife
But one old cotton dress,
Plumb full of holes,
Plumb full of holes.
Well if anybody should ask you
Who it was who sang this song,
Say a guitar picker from a-Oklahoma city
With a pair of blue jeans on,
Just a-lookin’ for a home,
Just a-lookin’ for a home.
This song is featured in the Our 50 States curriculum.