This song, like many other American folk tunes, came about as accompaniment to a special kind of dance – in this case, a “play party.” These gatherings, boisterous affairs usually conducted without any instruments, brought together couple after couple, stomping and promenading in jumbled, rhythmic steps with off-the-cuff rhymes about everyday life.

“Crawdad” is based on a somewhat earlier tune from the late 19th century called “Sweet Thing.” Workers building levees along the Mississippi to prevent it from flooding are thought to be the first to have sung it. Crawdad fishing is still a significant activity in the South and harvests of crawdads are used for bait and dinner. In Louisiana, you can taste these freshwater “lobsters” in everything from pie to cornbread. And if you want to know more, you can study to become a Hydrogeologist .

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