Talk:Cotton Fields

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Original Year?

The article mostly addresses the various cover versions. While understandable, is there any more information about the original song? In particular, when did Lead Belly originally record his version? MCSmarties (talk) 02:01, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

"Cover versions" ?

AFAIK, a cover version is a REDO of an original. So with all respect to the Beach Boys' version - and I do love it! - , but how can versions that came out AFORE it be cover versions of it? Shouldn't the correct description be Huddie Ledbetter's song the original and all the others, including the Beach Boys' version, be called cover versions? - Yog-S, 149.225.72.87 (talk) 05:24, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Lyrics/ Musical Construction

RE: Section in Article - Lyrics

There are two lines in the song:

"....It was down in Louisiana,

Just about a mile from Texarkana,...."

There are only two Texarkana's (municipalities)(??)- both on the Texas/Arkansas border. Both are at least 20 miles from the Louisana border. If Texarkana is derived from TEX(as)-ARK(ansas)-(Louisi)ANA, then this portmanteau belongs on the tri-state border vertice. (A Monument is located next to a tree at 33-01'-09"N 94-02'-35"W near where TX highway 77 changes to LA highway 1 ). So maybe Texarkana in the lyrics could refer to this point - but not likely.

Assuming Louisiana has five syllables and Texarkana has four, then the first line has 9 syllables (seven whole and two half notes) and the second has ten (six whole notes and four half notes). However giving a more exact distance would probably complicate the lyric structure (even more).

Pity.

Tourists familiar with the song might like to visit such a field but would arrive at Texarkana and find any field close by (for pics) and not bother to see Northern La.. Or they might visit Northern La. searching for a site only to spend overnight in Texarkana Tx. or Ark.?

Other than a geography lesson it makes no difference at all, of course. Just in case, though, maybe a Parish in La. might like to change the name of one of their small municpalities nearby to increase tourism.... and/or sing the second line "...at least a mile from Texarkana..." - with the more proper nine syllables.

"Cotton Fields" by CCR is still popular in Classic county and pop music genres.

Pete318 (talk) 17:50, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

There's also speculation that Texarkana was originally planned to be at the aforementioned junction of the states, but interstate routes made the location less viable for a crossroads. However, it's interesting to note the towns that encircle the potential location, leaving a spot on the map approximately the size of Shreveport--If only 49 had ran a little further west.... 2602:306:34AB:CF60:B9D1:70FE:2B6A:E448 (talk) 07:09, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

CCR Expansion

The article focuses most on the Beach Boys version, while most people recognize the version by Creedence Clearwater Revival (on the album Willy and the Poorboys). It would be nice if someone could add that section. 150.176.193.145 (talk) 00:49, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Ditto. They always play the CCR version on the Country Classic Shows I listen to. How would one find such current stats to establish this? Where does one find a database of copyright royalty payments for example?

Wiki editors please bear with me for a moment, I realize that this entry is not strictly wiki-esque, but I think that I make a valid point...

On such music pages in general: Many current re-releases may be digital or remix. To a new listener/purchaser it may not make any difference. However part of classic(pop) music popularity is (I suspect) based on the reclollection and reflection of the listener enjoying the original version the most. "....Conventional wisdom in the radio industry states that stations will not get good ratings or revenue if they frequently play songs unfamiliar to their audience...." [1] . But where or how would such stats be collected if the original vinyl version is unavailable? Would such a database distiguish between original vinyl and digital remix?

For example (with Classical Music) I have a copy (from a used record store) of Antal Doráti's 1954 Mercury Records recording with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra [2]. In spite of the condition I enjoy it more than any other recording, thus far. If I could vote for this version as the best I would. However historical or current sales of new recordings are probably(?) used to establish popularity. Is there a public database of AM/FM air time for different versions?

Maybe I will start looking when I get time.

Pete318 (talk) 20:50, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Racist?

Does this song reference slavery? Who exactly is pickin' all that cotton in the lyrics? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.41.128.119 (talk • contribs)

• As far as I can tell the song has nothing to do with slavery; but the Czech band 'cs:Greenhorns' has performed a version with slavery-related lyrics (about the suffering of slaves working the cotton fields), perhaps inspired by English "cotton" sounding similar to Czech "katům" (meaning "to executioners" / "to torturers"). - Mike Rosoft (talk) 14:13, 28 January 2023 (UTC)