Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards

Subject: Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards
From: open mike
Date: 19 Aug 19 - 01:01 AM

A song from the point of view of the cowboy. Independent thinking,
hard working American.

HARD TIMES IN THE COUNTRY

Come all you good people wherever you be
I'll sing you a song it's a sad tragedy
Everybody's grabbing for that pie in the sky
And they're cheating each other and I'll tell you why

Chorus
      It's hard times in the country, It's hard times I cry
      If these times don’t kill me, I’ll live til I die

Since cheating has grown to be such a fashion
I believe in my soul it'll ruin the whole nation
We fought and we died for the 'Land of the Free'
Now the 'Home of the Brave' is all ate up with greed
Chorus

Now there's the politicians in Washington D.C.
They've civilized freedom till there ain't nothing free
There’s too many rules, and too many laws
Bad men in high places, Good men on the dodge.
Chorus

Big government they’re preachin’ their protection creed
They pander big business and all of their greed
Globalization , their free trade plan
To put the whole world in a few strong hands
Chorus

Republicrats and Democans it ain't no surprise
They got their hands full of gimme, and their mouths full of lies
Left wing or right wing I've got this to say
They're just two wings of the same bird of prey
Chorus

Now our backs are against the wall
We must take a stand we have no choice at all
There's nowhere to run and there's nowhere to hide
We must take back our country before America dies

Chorus

Now this is a warning and I hope you take heed
Don’t give up your freedom for security
Security’s a myth there ain’t no such thing
Tell 'em all to go to hell and let Freedom Ring!
Chorus

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77i2bApGwnM

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards
From: GUEST,Jerome Clark
Date: 19 Aug 19 - 08:36 PM

I like Don Edwards -- in fact, I own a number of his recordings -- and I agree that things are terrible on many levels. But this song is politically incoherent, pretty much at the barstool-ranter level of discourse.

Any good protest song is going to offend someone. This one seems written to offend nobody except generic "politicians," every bonehead's favorite whipping persons. In complicated reality, all elected officials are not the same, nor are all political approaches and ideologies equally bankrupt.

Reading these words, one gets the impression that there are no solutions except in the loud recitation of cliches -- "take back our country!" "let Freedom Ring!" and comparably yawn-inducing slogans -- before ordering another round, most likely the eighth one. At least.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Aug 19 - 10:00 PM

"Hard Times in the Country/County" is a theme that has been repeated often in American song. Here's a 1977 version by the Floyd County Boys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_oxXlWkO3s

I drove across Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa last month. Everywhere I went, I saw signs of prosperity from the production of fossil fuels. I also saw signs of unrepairable ecological damage of areas of awesome beauty. There are serious questions to be answered here. The worst I saw was Worland, Wyoming, a town surrounded by land that is geologically fascinating and full of fossils. Those fossils apparently produce petroleum, so the town has become a poison cesspool with air that is painful to breathe.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards
From: David C. Carter
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 05:21 AM

Joe,didn't a gentleman by the name of Gid Tanner, play a song called: Down on Tanner's Farm?. Seem to remember the tune.

Dylan used it for"Hard Times in New York Town".

Could be wrong though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards
From: GUEST,Jerome Clark
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 09:46 AM

The Bentley Boys, about whom nothing else is known, recorded "Down on Penny's Farm" in Johnson City, Tennessee, on October 23, 1929. It prominently features the line "hard times in the country." It's included on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, which is where Dylan may have first heard it. I am sure "Maggie's Farm" takes its inspiration from the song, variations of which (including Gid Tanner's) have been recorded ever since.

Its most recent album appearance, to my knowledge anyway, is on Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur's Penny's Farm (Kingswood, 2016).

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Hard Times in the Country by Don Edwards
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 11:49 PM

I started work on this, and then got distracted and forgot it. Thanks to David and Jerome for filling in the blanks.
-Joe-