There are three entries in the Traditional Ballad Index:
Down on the Farm (I)
DESCRIPTION: Susie Slick and Tommy lay on the grass, where she wiggles her ---, as in all such teasing songs.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 216-221, "Down on the Farm" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Teasing Songs" (specifically "Suzanne Was a Lady," "The Ship's in the Harbor," "There Once Was a Farmer," "Two Irishmen, Two Irishmen")
cf. "Butcher Town"
File: RL216
Down on the Farm (II)
DESCRIPTION: "When a boy I used to dwell in a home I loved so well, Far away among the clover and the bees." The singer describes the happy life on the farm, the family among whom he worked -- and the changes since his "boyhood's happy days down on the farm."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: farming family father mother home death separation return
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 210, "Down on the Farm" (1 text plus mention of 3 more; also a text of "Down on the Farm (III)")
Roud #4375
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee" (theme)
File: Br3210
Down on the Farm (III)
DESCRIPTION: "Down on the farm 'bout half past four, I slip on my pants and sneak out the door" to start the long, hard rounds of farm life. He notes that, despite great labors, he has "less cash now than I had last spring." Farm life proves the existence of hell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: farming work hardtimes poverty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 210, "Down on the Farm" (The "E" text is this, appended to "Down on the Farm (II)")
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer Is the Man" (theme)
cf. "The Humble Farmer" (theme)
Notes: The notes in Brown imply that this is a parody of "Down on the Farm (II)." It may perhaps be an answer to that song, but it does not appear to be direct parody; the lyrics are not related and the stanza form different. - RBW
File: Br3210AGo to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Bibiography
Go to the DiscographyThe Ballad Index Copyright 2007 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
If we're lucky, this link (click) will lead you to the texts for Version 1 in Randolph-Legman. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the other two versions.