Lyrics
(American folk song)
1. When the farmer comes to town
With his wagon broken down,
Oh the farmer is the man who feeds them all.
If you’ll only look and see,
I think you will agree
That the farmer is the man who feeds them all.
Refrain
The farmer is the man,
The farmer is the man,
Lives on credit till the fall;
Then they take him by the hand
And they lead him from the land,
And the middleman’s the man who gets it all.
2. Oh the lawyer hangs around
While the butcher cuts a pound,
But the farmer is the man who feeds them all;
And the preacher and the cook
Go a-strolling by the brook,
But the farmer is the man who feeds them all.
Refrain 2
The farmer is the man,
The farmer is the man,
Lives on credit till the fall;
With the interest rate so high,
It’s a wonder he don’t die,
For the mortgage man’s the man who gets it all.
3. When the banker says he broke
And the merchant’s up in smoke,
They forget that it’s the farmer feeds them all.
It would put them to the test
If the farmer took a rest,
Then they’d know that it’s the farmer feeds them all.
Refrain 3
The farmer is the man,
The farmer is the man,
Lives on credit till the fall.
His pants are -Wearing thin,
His condition, it’s a sin,
He’s forgot that he’s the man who feeds them all.
See also
- Subject: farming
- Form: AB
- Harmony: chords I, IV, V
- Meter: 4
- Rhythm:
- Scale: major
- Sources: The International Book of Folk Songs, Norman Luboff, Win Stracke, Walton Music Corp, 1965 / The American Songbag, Carl Sandburg, Harcourt Brace and Company, 1927
YouTube
- PDF of song with chords
- MIDI file
- Listen to the melody