Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts
Chicken Strumstick Reel
(words and music by Norman G. Walker - 2009 © SOCAN)
I went to the chicken yard early in the day
To collect the eggs from the hens that lay
With my wondering eyes what I see by chance
Those chickens could clog, really knew how to dance.
Formed in a line and waited for the beat
Then started off double step clickin’ of their feet
They danced up a storm and they did it up right
Oh Poultry Gals won’t you come out tonight.
Chorus:
Double step rock step, double step rock step*
Chickens in the farmyard, scratchin’ at the ground
Rooster on the fiddle and hens in the middle
Step it up ladies, and dance it on down.
I got a rooster in love with a cow
Ain’t no sense in reasoning how
But until that time when the romance fails
This eggnog sells in gallons and pails.
I had another rooster in love with a pig
Courted that sow with a steppin’ out jig
Now the litter has grown and to market was taken
Tastes like chicken but looks like bacon
Chorus:
Double step double step, double step rock step**
Chickens in the farmyard, scratchin’ at the ground
Rooster on the fiddle and hens in the middle
Step it up ladies, and dance it on down.
Them Poultry Gals don’t wear no shoes
Ain’t got time for the worrying blues
But the syncopated sound of the moving of their feet
Is their toenails clickin’ to the rhythm of the beat.
There once was a fox who came one night
For a moonlit meal and a chicken coop fight
With a drag and a shuffle and a stomp and a slur
Those chickens left nothing but whiskers and fur.
Chorus:
Double step slur step, double step brush up ***
Chickens in the farmyard, scratchin’ at the ground
Rooster on the fiddle and hens in the middle
Step it up ladies, and dance it on down.
Bruck bruck bruck bruck bruck
Bruck bruck bruck bruck bruck bruck bruck
(repeat 3x more)
Chorus:
Double step brush up, double step rock step ****
Chickens in the farmyard, scratchin’ at the ground
Rooster on the fiddle and hens in the middle
Step it up ladies, and dance it on down.
(* Basic step / ** Triple step/ *** Slur step/**** Rocking chair step)
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