You See My Rooster
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
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Please run him on back home
If you see my rooster
Please run him on back home
I haven't found no eggs in my basket
Since my rooster been gone
I heard my rooster crowing
This morning just about the break of day
I heard my rooster crowing
This morning just about the break of day
I guess that was the time he was making his getaway
I just found out how come my hens won't lay
I just found out how come my hens won't lay
Every time I look around my rooster have done gone away
Now play it, Bob
Tell me 'bout my rooster
I've got too many hens
For not to have no roosters on my yard
I've got too many hens
For not to have no roosters on my yard
And I don't know what's the matter
Something have done got 'em barred
Now, Bob, if you see my rooster
Please run him on back home
Now, Bob, if you see my rooster
Please run him on back home
I haven't found no eggs in my basket
Since my rooster been gone
The lyrics to Memphis Minnie's song "If You See My Rooster" center around the singer's search for her missing rooster. She urges anyone who sees him to bring him back home, explaining that since he's been gone, her basket of eggs has remained empty. She suspects that he has deserted her hens, which is why they aren't laying eggs. She refers to her rooster crowing at daybreak, possibly as a clue to his whereabouts, and acknowledges having too many hens without a rooster.
At its core, the song is a humorous, lighthearted tale of a missing rooster with catchy musical accompaniment. However, the lyrics also provide insight into the importance of a rooster to a henhouse and the agricultural economy. Roosters are critical for fertilizing eggs and encouraging egg production in hens. Without them, there is a significant decline in egg productivity - hence the singer's plea for the return of her rooster.
Furthermore, the lyrics suggest a sense of community and cooperation, as the singer asks for the help of those around her in locating her rooster. This sense of community support was essential in rural areas where agriculture was key to survival, and everyone was familiar with the importance of a rooster on a farm.
Line by Line Meaning
If you see my rooster
Asking someone to catch my rooster.
Please run him on back home
Bring him back to me as soon as possible.
I haven't found no eggs in my basket
Since my rooster been gone
My hens are not laying eggs because there is no male rooster, and I need him back.
I heard my rooster crowing
This morning just about the break of day
I heard him crowing in the morning when he left.
I guess that was the time he was making his getaway
That was the time the rooster left my yard.
I just found out how come my hens won't lay
Every time I look around my rooster have done gone away
I realized the reason for my hens not laying eggs is because my rooster keeps leaving.
Now play it, Bob
Tell me 'bout my rooster
Addressing someone named Bob who may have information about the missing rooster.
I've got too many hens
For not to have no roosters on my yard
There are too many hens in my yard to not have a rooster around.
And I don't know what's the matter
Something have done got 'em barred
I do not know what happened, but something is keeping the rooster from returning to my yard.
Now, Bob, if you see my rooster
Please run him on back home
Asking Bob again to bring the rooster back.
I haven't found no eggs in my basket
Since my rooster been gone
Reiterating the need for the rooster to be present to lay eggs.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Minnie Mccoy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. Read Full BioMemphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the late 1920s to the 1950s, one of the most influential country blues musicians to have ever recorded.
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. At the age of 7 she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, which was just south of Memphis. The following year after she moved, she received her first guitar for Christmas. She began to practice and learn how to play both the banjo and the guitar and it was seen that she had a great talent as a musician. When she first began performing she did not use her first name Lizzie, but played under the name Kid Douglas. When she was 13 years old she ran away from her home to live on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She would play on street corners for most of her teenage years and would eventually go home when she ran out of money. She began to get noticed singing and playing guitar on the street corners. This brought an opportunity for her to tour, travel, and play with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Eventually she came back to Beale Street and got consumed in the blues scene. At the time, women, whiskey, and cocaine were high in demand with the people and places she would be around. She made her money by playing guitar, singing, and prostitution, which was not uncommon at the time. Most of the female performers were prostitutes because of financial desperation. It was said “She received $12 for her services-an outrageous fee for the time.” (Memphis Minnie Biography,1). She was known as a woman that was very strong and that could take care of herself.
She had been married three times in her life; first with Will Weldon sometime in the 1920s, then Joe McCoy (1929–1934), and finally to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe), in 1939. She and McCoy would perform together during their marriage. During this time, a talent scout from Columbia Records discovered her. When she and McCoy went to record in New York, she decided to change her name to Memphis Minnie. During the next few years she and McCoy released many singles and duets. She released the song “Bumble Bee” in 1930, which ended up being one of her favorite songs, and led her to a recording contract with the label Vocalion. Under this label, they continued to produce recording for two years, one of them being “I’m Talking About You”, which was one of her more popular songs. They soon decided to leave Vocalion and move to Chicago. She and McCoy introduced country blues to the urban environment and became very well known.
Memphis Minnie continued to have success throughout the years recording under many different labels like Decca Records and Chess Records. Some believe her fame was the reason for her divorce with McCoy due to jealousy and resentment towards her. She remarried after to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe) and began recording material with him. She became very well known in the blues industry and ended up being one of the most famous blues performers of all time, competing with both men and women.
She continued to record throughout the 50’s, but her health began to become a problem for her. She retired from her musical career and ended up going back to Memphis. “Periodically, she would appear on Memphis radio stations to encourage young blues musicians. As the Garons wrote in Women With Guitar, 'She never laid her guitar down, until she could literally no longer pick it up.'” She suffered a stroke in 1960, which caused her to be bound by wheelchair. The following year her husband, Earnest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars died. She had another stroke a short while after and eventually ended up in the Jell Nursing Home. She could no longer survive on her social security income so magazines wrote about her and readers sent her money for assistance. On August 6, 1973 she died of a stroke. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the New Hope Cemetery in Memphis. A headstone paid for by Bonnie Raitt was erected by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 13, 1996 with 35 family members in attendance including her sister, numerous nieces (including Laverne Baker) and nephews. Her headstone is marked:
Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
aka Memphis Minnie
The inscription on the back of her gravestone reads:
"The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once general, and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie's songs we hear her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as if they were our own."
After her death some of her old work began to surface and some of her songs were featured on blues compilations. She was one of the first 20 blues artists that were inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Jim Dixon
IF YOU SEE MY ROOSTER
As recorded by Memphis Minnie, 1936.
If you see my rooster, please run him on back home. (2x)
I have found no eggs in my basket since my rooster been gone.
I heard my rooster crowin' this mornin' just about the break o' day. (2x)
I guess that was the time he was makin' his getaway.
I just found out how come my hens won't lay. (2x)
Ev'ry time I look around, my rooster have done gone away.
I've got too many hens for not to have no roosters on my yard. (2x)
And I don't know what's the matter; something have done got him barred(?).
Now, Bob, if you see my rooster, please run him on back home. (2x)
I have found no eggs in my basket since my rooster been gone.
[This seems to be a source for Willie Dixon's LITTLE RED ROOSTER, recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961.]
Mike C
It's very amusing when so many young people say they never heard of Memphis Minnie. Anyone who's into the blues has no excuse as her recordings are widely accessible.
pigofapilot1
Blues guitar +blues piano and a voice like that can't be beaten. Pure music.
Ellie Wong
I just knew about Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday...Minnie had a 40 year career...what a grasp on life...an inspiration to women...Yes...thanks to our internet I want to read all about her...
codjogan Gavi
really true that she is a backbone of blues.... Amazing
MrGOATZOMBIE1
Why is this singer Memphis Minnie never been acknowledged for her multiple musical talent. For Christ sake see inspired Led Zeppelin ! Yet if you would never have the luxury to listen to her other beautiful song collections if it were not not for the internet! What a serious injustice to all the unsung women in the women entertainment industry. I wish iI could meet her in person to tell her she was a woman before her time who made a quite ......yet significant imprint in the music industry. Thank you Memhis Minner you are forever woman hear you ROAR!!!!!!!
Mika Hattunen
@Jeff Williams Must admit I would not recognize those two songs got anything to to do with each other if the words were not partially borrowed.
Jeff Williams
Her husband inspired Led Zeppelin. They ripped off Joe although they thought they were ripping off Minnie. The writers credit on "levee" was Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham and Memphis Minnie. Minnie died in 1973 so she was still alive when they stole her husbands song. Yeah their rock arrangement was fantastic but that doesn't alter the fact that they ripped off the song. They arranged it. A great arrangement but they had NOTHING to do with writing the song.
alltaken678
"Never been acknowledged?" She had a 30-year career of touring and hit records on labels from Columbia to Decca. She was praised by her contemporaries and known as "The Queen of the Country Blues." She's in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame museums. She has a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail on the Beale Street Walk of Fame. Bonnie Raitt paid for her headstone and the BBC filmed the dedication ceremony. Multiple CDs of her music are available on Amazon and elsewhere. Many blues and rock musicians have cited her influence, and music historians have long discussed her influence on others. Just because you don't anything about her doesn't mean she's "never been acknowledged."
Thiéry Pastré
hypnotic voice, guitar, pulse groove you got everything
juliejulie888
One of my favorites for years now. Bob...Tell me about my Rooster.