The Big Bamboo

	This is not commonly found, and the placement of the song among the collegiate may be in error.  However, the two texts recovered, one from Illinois and this, from Stanford, hint at a college currency.

I asked my woman, what should I do
To make her happy and keep her true?
She said, "There's only one thing that I want from you:
A little piece of the big bamboo."

Chorus:
For the big bamboo, it grows good and long.
The big bamboo grows always strong.
The big bamboo grows straight and tall.
The big bamboo please one and all.

I gave my woman a banana plant.
She said, "This sure looks elegant.
It's much too nice to go to waste,
But it's much too soft to suit my taste."

I gave my woman a coconut.
She said, "My friend, this is okay, but 
Though I know you want to be good to me,
What good is the nut without the tree?

I gave my woman a sugar cane.
"Sweets to the sweet," I did explain.
She handed it back to my surprise.
She liked the flavor but not the size.

Ever since God created man,
He has pleased his woman as best he canm
But I find women are always true
To the man who gives them the big bamboo.

	This is from the Harry A. Taussig Collection, gathered at Berkeley, 1958-1963.  Taussig did not indicate a tune.
	An identical text is in Walsh-Babab, Songs of Roving and Raking (1962), p. 65.