Thanks, Stewie. I was hoping somebody would check those discographies.

Here's the Pete Seeger version, which is quite a bit different;

Conversation With a Mule
(Bob Miller, 1935)

I saw a farmer and his mule a-plowin'
Over on the mountain side
The farmer was a-mumblin' and a-grumblin'
As he plowed those furrows deep and wide
Well, as he went along a-plowin'
He was swearin' and a-snortin' all the way.
I overheard his conversation with his mule
This is what I heard him say:

Old mule, you're the son of a jackass
And I'm the image of God
Yet here we work hitched together
A-toilin' and a-tillin' the sod.
I wonder if you work for me
Or I work for you, old mule.
At times I think it's a partnership
Between a mule and a doggone fool.

When plowing we go the same distance
But I work harder than you.
You skim the ground on four good legs
And I hobble along on two.
So, mule, mathematically speaking
Your four legs against my two.
I do just twice the work, the work per leg
And twice as much as you.

Well, soon we'll be making the corn crop
That crop'll be split three ways.
A third for you, and a third for me
And a third for the landlord's pay.
You take your third and you eat it all
You're getting the best, and how.
I split my third amongst eight kids
A banker, six hens, and a cow.

So, Mule, confidentially speaking
Would you change places with me?
Would you take up all of my worries
And still contented be?
Would you swap places, I'm asking?
Of course you know we couldn't.
Would you if you could? Now tell the truth
You know right well you wouldn't!

This ends the story 'bout the mule and the farmer
Who were plowing the mountain side.
You can form your own conclusion for a moral
Of the farmer's conversation with his mule.


from the CD book for the Bear Family collection, Songs for Political Action


...doesn't really seem like a political action song, but that's OK with me. It's a pretty good coup, to be able to put out a previously-unreleased Pete Seeger recording.

-Joe-