Introduction
“Polk Salad Annie” is a song from 1968 composed and performed by Tony Joe White.[1] The lyrics vividly portray the life of a impoverished rural Southern girl and her family. Traditionally, the dish highlighted in the song is known as polk or poke salad, a cooked greens dish made from pokeweed.[2] The single release in 1969 reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 on the RPM Magazine Hot Singles chart in Canada. Elvis Presley’s rendition also contributed to the song’s popularity.
The song encapsulates the Southern roots of White’s childhood, reflecting his rural upbringing. Growing up in Oak Grove, Louisiana, near the Mississippi River, White was immersed in the cultural tapestry of blues, country, and Cajun music. His upbringing in a land of cottonfields, pokeweed, and moss-covered swamps shaped the narrative of “Polk Salad Annie.” White, born in 1943, spent his early years in this environment, acknowledging, “I spent the first 18 years of my life down there.” He shared insights into his family’s struggles and the culinary aspects of his upbringing, including the consumption of poke sallet, akin to spinach.
The song’s lyrics depict Annie’s routine of gathering pokeweed leaves in a tote sack, unfazed by the alligators in the swamp. Annie’s family faces challenges, with her mother working in a chain gang, a lazy and no-count father with a bad back, and mischievous brothers stealing watermelons. The spoken intro and intermittent lines between the chorus, verses, and outro contribute to the unique character of the song. White incorporates grunts and nonsensical noises, particularly towards the instrumental’s conclusion and the outro.
In a 2014 interview, White explained the inspiration behind “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia.” Influenced by “Ode to Billie Joe,” he aimed to write about his own experiences, drawing from his life in the cotton fields and rainy nights in Marietta, Georgia. Reflecting on the song’s longevity and authenticity, he expressed gratitude for being able to write about what he knew, setting a guiding principle for his future songwriting endeavors.
Video
Lyrics
Some of you all never been down South too much…
I’ gonna tell you a little story, so you’ll understand where I’m talking about
Down there we have a plant that grows out in the woods and the fields,
and it looks something like a turnip green.
Everybody calls it Polk salad. Now that’s Polk salad.
Used to know a girl that lived down there and
she’d go out in the evenings to pick a mess of it…
Carry it home and cook it for supper, ’cause that’s about all they had to eat,
But they did all right.Down in Louisiana
Where the alligators grow so mean
Lived a girl that I swear to the world
Made the alligators look tamePolk salad Annie
‘Gators got your granny
Everybody said it was a shame
For the mama was working on the chain-gang
What a mean, vicious womanEveryday before suppertime
She’d go down by the truck patch
And pick her a mess of Polk salad
And carry it home in a tote sackPolk salad Annie
‘Gators got you granny
Everybody said it was a shame
‘Cause the mama was working on the chain-gang
Whoo, how wretched, dispiteful, straight-razor totin’ woman,
Lord have mercy.Sock a little Polk salad to him
Yeah, you know what, yeah, yeahBut daddy was a lazy and a no-count
Claimed he had a bad back
All her brothers were fit for
Was stealing watermelons out of my truckFor once Polk salad Annie
‘Gators got your granny
Everybody said it was a shame
For the mama was working on the chain-gangSock a little Polk salad to him
You know what meets a meal mention
You sock a little
Hey, hey, hey, yeah, yeah
Chic a bon, chic a bon, chic a bon bon bon bon
Chic a bon, chic a bon, chic a bon bon bon bon
Sock a little Polk salad to him
You know what meets a meal mention
Sock a little Polk salad to him
You know what meets a meal mention
Chinc, chinc, chinc, chin, ling, ling ling