He's A Rag Picker/ words by Irving Berlin

Lyrics:First verseDown in Alabama where the cotton grows, Lives a funny fellow by the name of Mose, He hasn't anybody he can pick upon, So he picks on a grand piano; Morning, noon and night you'll find him picking rags, I don't mean the kind of rags they put in bags, He doesn't own a junk shop, Just the same.ChorusHe's a Rag picker, a rag picker, All the live long day, He bangs upon the piano keys, In search of raggy melodies, All day he's at the ivories; And while he dozes he composes, Mister Moses makes an ordinary ditty, sound so pretty, Like nobody can. Most any time of the day, You'll find him picking away, He's a rag picker, a rag picker, A Ragtime picking man. He's a Rag picker, a rag picker, All the live long day, He bangs upon the piano keys, In search of raggy melodies, All day he's at the ivories; And while he dozes he composes, Mister Moses makes an ordinary ditty, sound so pretty, Like nobody can. Most any time of the day, You'll find him picking away, He's a rag picker, a rag picker, A Ragtime picking man.
Second verseMoses’ father told me that upon the morn, When his little piano playing boy was born, They didn’t have a cradle they could put him in, So he slept on the grand piano; In a week they found him there upon his knees, Chewing on the highly polished piano keys, That very day his father Loudly cried.
(Chorus)

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The derogatory terms, images, and ideas that appear in some of this sheet music are not condoned by the University of Mississippi. They do represent the attitudes of a number of Americans at the times the songs were published. As such, it is hoped that the sheet music in this collection can aid students of music, history, and other disciplines to better understand popular American music and racial stereotypes from the 19th- and early 20th-centuries. Read the introduction for further information to use when contextualizing this item: http://130.74.92.141/cdm4/intro_harris.php