American Songs

Jimmy Crack Corn (Blue Tail Fly) - Chords, Lyrics and Origins

Origins

Recorded by Burl Ives, Pete Seeger and others, Jimmy Crack Corn was certainly a blackface minstrel song, and dates from at least as far back as the 1840s. Unlike many songs performed by blackface minstrels, however, Jimmy Crack Corn - or, 'The Blue Tail Fly' as it is sometimes known - was also popular among African Americans. Big Bill Broonzy recorded it for example. And this might point to a genuine African-American lineage. The lyrics tell the semi-humorous story of a slave-master's demise, told from the point of view of his slave. There is quite a lot of debate about the meaning of the line, 'Jimmy crack corn'. It could, for example, refer to the master cracking his head open, or to the slave being fed on a reduced diet of corn as punishment for his master's death. See this Wikipedia article for a fuller discussion. Jimmy Crack Corn remains a popular children's song.

acousticmusicarchive · Jimmy Crack Corn

Chords

Capo at 4th Fret

Verse

G                                  D
When I was young I used to wait

                                 G
On the master and hand him his plate,

G7                                         C
And Pass the bottle when he got dry,

        D                        G
And brush away the blue tail fly.

Chorus

G                                   D
Jimmy crack corn and I don't care,

                                      G
Jimmy crack corn and I don't care,

G7                                 C
Jimmy crack corn and I don't care,

       D                       G
My master's gone away.

Lyrics

When I was young I used to wait
On the master and hand him his plate,
And Pass the bottle when he got dry,
And brush away the blue tail fly.