Traditional song recorded in 1929 by Clarence Ashley and many others since, more notes on the music, arrangement and other versions below.
Chorus:
Fm
Oh the Cuckoo is a pretty bird
Eb Fm
And she warbles as she flies
But she never hollers cuckoo
Eb Fm
Til the 4th day of July
Jack of diamonds, jack of diamonds
I know you of old
You have robbed my poor pockets
Of my silver and my gold
I have gambled in England
And I gambled in Spain
I’ll bet you ten dollars
I’ll beat you next game
(Chorus)
(solos)
Gonna get me a shotgun
Just as long as I’m tall
Gonna fill that big shotgun
with a ten inch iron ball
Gonna build me a cabin
On a mountain far away
Gonna live there with my true love
Til we both do pass away
(Chorus)
We will be doing the song in Fm. 2 chords Fm and Eb
Typical 4 bars:
Fm EbFm
1xxx2xxx3xxx4xxx
Sometimes hangs on the Fm between verses a little longer. Typically there are 4 bars of instrumental (with the same chord progression) between the verses and choruses.
Same 4 bar chord progression for solos, figure 16 bar solos for as many people who want one.
Links to other versions: Clarence Ashley version you can find at about 3 ½ minutes into this video. Some history of his 1929 recording in the interview that opens the video. A rendition based on the Doc Watson version by Billy Strings (with some more history) here. Another version where I got most of the verses here by the Holy Modal Rounders. For the accordion part here is pretty much the way I will be playing it on the 21st.