Fishin' for Chicken

Words and Music: Hobo Jim Varsos/Jeff Crossan
Ole Willdawn Music, Ole Pugwash Music
Licensed through Harry Fox Agency, New York

Singer, raconteur, and comedian, Seamus Kennedy first introduced me to this catchy ditty. Seems it was written for a friend of Hobo Jim's who lived in one of the Southwestern states where sometimes there just isn't a lot of water around. He felt bad for him cause he'd never had the experience of going fishing with his grandfather.

Well, my grandpa gave me his old fishin' pole
But we didn't have a fishin' hole
But that didn't matter, it didn't bother either of us
We'd sit out on the old front porch
With a rusty can full of kernel corns
We'd bait our hooks and cast out in the dust

Chorus:
Fishin' for chicken, tryin' to catch a big 'un
White ones, black ones, yellow ones, red ones
It don't matter just as long as I get one
If Mama finds out, I'm gonna catch another lickin'
Cause Mama don't like nobody fishin' for chickens

Now I remember one day when
I got in on a feedin' frenzy in a school of hens
And I was reelin' one in just as Mama came flyin' through the door
She said, "cut that loose boy before you kill it"
I said, "It swallowed the hook ma, grease up the skillet
It was about that time I knew she'd wring my neck for sure

Bridge:
Even though it wasn't right, me and Grandpa side by side
Out in the early morning light, tryin' to get a rooster to bite

I was sitting on the top step dreaming a bit
When outta nowhere that big leghorn hit
And grandpa said, "hey boy, that's the biggest one of em' all
And if you land him kid then sure enough
We'll take him to town and get him stuffed
Put it on a plaque and mount that sucker on the wall