COTTON MILL COLIC

(written & recorded by David McCarn)

 

 

Written by North Carolina textile mill hand David McCarn in 1926, "Cotton Mill Colic" offers an authentic, raw glimpse into the lives of early Southern factory workers. The song tells the story of a worker trapped by the modern economy. The lyrics do not just complain about hard work; they break down the math of poverty—showing how low pay, expensive groceries, and rent left mill hands constantly broke and deeply in debt.

 

McCarn’s family had lived in Rowan County at least since 1794. Having mill-working parents, he was a product of the North Carolina textile manufacturing industry, entering the workforce as a mill doffer at just 12 years of age. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, McCarn was employed at a series of Gastonia and Gaston County textile-manufacturing firms.

 

Accompanying himself on guitar, McCarn recorded "Cotton Mill Colic" in Memphis, Tennessee on May 19, 1930 at a temporary field-recording session for the Victor Talking Machine Company under the direction of legendary talent scout Ralph Peer (see Figure 1). The record reportedly sold well. But even more importantly, the song transformed into an important protest anthem, helping to shape the future of American political folk music.  

 

The title of the song plays on "colic" as a metaphor for chronic worker discontent—a bitter acknowledgment that complaining was a natural but ultimately ineffective response to corporate exploitation.

 

Economically, the song documents the disillusionment of Southern agrarian families who abandoned failing farms for textile mills, only to find themselves ensnared in industrial poverty. It became a rallying cry adopted during the pivotal Southern textile strikes of the late 1920s and 1930s, leaving a lasting imprint on subsequent generations of folk protest singers.

It perfectly captured the broken promise of the industrial South, where families left rural farms only to get stuck in factory towns. McCarn’s honest portrayal of everyday hardship resonated deeply across the region.

 

 

Figure 1. “Cotton Mill Colic” by Dave McCarn, recorded May 19, 1930 (photo courtesy of Malcolm Vidrine of Venerable Music).

                                   

Recommended Listening:

 

Search for “David McCarn-Cotton Mill Colic” on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CuXKbsqmVM&list=RD4CuXKbsqmVM&start_radio=1