Lyrics
(American folk song)
1. Roll that brown jug down to town,
Roll that brown jug down to town,
Roll that brown jug down to town,
So early in the morning.
2. Big ‘tatoes grow in sandy land,
Big ‘tatoes grow in sandy land,
Big ‘tatoes grow in sandy land,
Way down in Alabam’.
3. Sift that meal and save the bran,
Sift that meal and save the bran,
Sift that meal and save the bran,
Way down in Alabam’.
Recorder notes: D, F#, G, A, B, C’, D’
See also
- Subject: colors
- Activities: dances
- Harmony: partner songs / chords I V
- Melody: tonic triad / D,F#,G,A,B,C,D’ songs / dominant triad / solo singing
- Meter: 2
- Rhythm:Â
 / steady beat - Scale: hexatonic
- Tones: drmfst
- Source: Handy Play Party Book, Lynn Rohrbough, Co-operative Recreational Service, 1940
YouTube
- Printable & Digital Visuals
- Song with chords, Dance steps for Different Version, Lesson ideas for Rhythm (Steady Beat, Dotted Eighth / Sixteenth Note Patterns), Harmony (Partner Song with We’re Going Round the Mountain), Solo singing game (PDF)
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
2 thoughts on “Roll That Brown Jug Down to Town”
I do not understand verse 2. Why use a lyric which begins with an anacrusis or are you splitting the 2nd quaver into 2 semi’s so the verse can start on beat one? Also, there are enough notes to fit the whole of Alabama in at the end, are there not? Anyway, a good tune with a clear chordal structure for older pupils.
Colin, the joy of folk songs is you can sing it however you want! This is the way it was recorded by Ruth Crawford Seeger in *American Folk Songs for Children* – but you are welcome to change it to suit you!