Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn

Subject: Lyr Add: YOUNG MAN WHO WOULDN'T RAISE CORN
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Feb 06 - 08:08 PM

Hi, I'm not a professional musician--I just like to sing around the house. I know this one song that's driving me crazy because I can't find the lyrics ANYWHERE. I learned it off Atwater-Donnelly's "And Then I'm Going Home" CD, but a few of the words are garbled. I also know that it's learned from Jean Ritchie.

It goes like this:

Come all young people, and listen to my song.
I'll tell you 'bout a young man who wouldn't raise corn.
The reason why, I cannot tell,
But this young man was always well.

In the month of June, he planted his corn.
In July, he laid it by
In October there came a frost,
And the seed of his corn this young man lost.

He goeth down and he peepeth in,
The weeds and the grass grew up to his chin!
The weeds and the grass they grew so high,
Caused this young man for to cry.

He goeth down to his near neighbor's land,
Going a-courting, as I understand!
Going a-courting, and, sure as you're born--
"Kind sir, have you [garbled] your corn?"

"Well, yes, my dear!" he did reply,
"Yes, my dear, I've laid it by,
But it ain't worthwile (I've been trying in vain)
I don't believe in my soul it's gonna raise one grain."

"Well, a [garbled] young man, who won't raise corn
Is the laziest man that ever was born!
Single I am, single I'll remain,
But a lazy man I won't maintain!"

If you could give me any help, I'd be very thankful.

Subject: Lyr Add: BOY WHO WOULDN'T HOE CORN (from A Krauss)
From: Peace
Date: 04 Feb 06 - 08:12 PM

Artist/Band: Krauss Alison
Lyrics for Song: THE BOY WHO WOULDN'T HOE CORN

Lyrics for Album: Alison Krauss & Union Station

Tell You a little story and it won't take long,
'Bout a lazy farmer who wouldn't hoe his corn.
The reason why I never could tell,
That young man was always well.

He planted his corn in the month of June.
By July it was up to his eyes.
Come September, came a big frost.
And all the young man's corn was lost.

His story, kith, had just begun.
Said: "Young man, have you hoed some corn?"
"Well I tried and I tried, and I tried in vain.
"But I don't believe I raised no grain."

He went down town to his neighbour's door.
Where he had often been before.
Sayin': "Pretty little miss, will you marry me?"
"Little miss what do you say?"

"Why do you come for me to wed?
"You, can't even make your own corn grain.
"Single I am, and will remain.
"A lazy man, I won't maintain."

He turned his back and walked away.
Sayin: "Little miss, you'll rue the day.
"You'll rue the day that you were born.
"For givin' me the devil 'cos I wouldn't hoe corn."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: Peace
Date: 04 Feb 06 - 08:14 PM

Anthology of American Folk Music
Volume 1: Ballads, Track 11

A LAZY FARMER BOY
Buster Carter and Preston Young

Recorded New York: June 26, 1931
Preston Young, vocal and guitar; Posey Rorer, fiddle
Originally released on Columbia 15702D

(alternate title: The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn)


Buster Carter and Preston Young (1907-?) were from the piedmont area of North Carolina and Virginia, a region known for its string bands. One of their neighbors was renowned musician and band leader Charlie Poole (track 20) and both groups included fiddler Posey Rorer, who joined Carter and Young after Poole's death. Carter and Rorer were also members of the group the Carolina Buddies. Carter lived in Mayodan, North Carolina, and Young in Martinsvile, Virginia. They recorded one of the earliest versions of what is now a bluegrass standard "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms." Preston Young spent his later years working in the sheet metal business. Although this recording is listed under Carter and Young's names, Carter did not play on "A Lazy Farmer Boy" -- the recording features just Young and Rorer.


FOR ADDITIONAL RECORDINGS BY CARTER AND YOUNG:
See the collections The Southern String Bands (AH 220d); Roots 'n Blues (COL 47911c, Cotton Mills and Fiddles (Flying Cloud 014a); Going Up Town (MMC 9111d); Old Time Southern Dance Music: The String Bands (OT 101a); and Before the Blues, Vol. 3 (YZ 2017c).

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CARTER AND YOUNG:
See Tony Russell, "Good Times Makin' Music: The Preston Young Story," Old Time Music 7 (1972).

OTHER RECORDED VERSIONS INCLUDE:
Traditional American Folk: as The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn: Margaret MacArthur (GL 1039a); Vern Smelser (SFW CD 3809c); The Williams Family (Arkansas Traditions 004a).

Folksong revival: as A Lazy Farmer Boy: Canebreak Rattlers (Flying Crow 104a); The Possum Hunters (TAK a); as The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn: Spider John Koerner (RDH 44c); Clark Jones (SFW CD 31091c); Tom Paxton (Pax 002a); Burt Porter (FR 126a); Jean Ritchie (ELK 22a, SIR 97014a); Peggy Seeger (SFW CD 2049c); Pete Seeger (SFW CD 7027c, SFW CD 5003c); as The Old Man: Dave Van Ronk (Alcazar 120c); and a World War II adaptation, The Strange Death of John Doe: Almanac Singers with Pete Seeger (Almanac 1101b, BF 15720c).

Post revival: as The Lazy Farmer Boy (Bob Bovee and Gail Heil (MMC 9045d)). Bluegrass: as The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn: Richard Greene (RND 0075a).


from

www.folkways.si.edu/learn_discover/ anthology/liner_notes/track_11.html

Subject: TITLE CHANGE?
From: Peace
Date: 04 Feb 06 - 08:16 PM

????

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: GUEST,Michael Morris
Date: 04 Feb 06 - 08:21 PM

Lazy Young Man

from the Wolf Folklore Collection: Lyon College

And there's also Lazy Boy

From Voices From the Dust Bowl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: Goose Gander
Date: 04 Feb 06 - 08:33 PM

From George Malcolm Laws . . . .

"The young man allows the weeds to choke his corn and then loses his entire crop in a September frost. When he goes courting, the girl learns that ge has not hoed his corn and refuses to marry him.

'Now I am going to sing you a song,
Concerning a young man who wouldn't hoe corn.
The reason why I cannot tell,
For the young man was always well.

'Then why do you ask of me for to wed,
As long as you cannot raise your bread?
Single am I and single I'll remain;
For a lazy man I won't maintain.'

"The history of this song has not been traced, but Lomax (Folk Song USA, 223) suggests that 'frontier American . . . carried it westward with them from New England and the Southeastern states into the cron belt of the Middle West.'"

G. Malcolm Laws, Native American Balladry (Philadelphia: The American Folklore Society, 1964), p.236-237.


From the Ballad Index . . . .

Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn, The [Laws H13]

DESCRIPTION: A lazy young farmer will not hoe his corn, with the result that the corn is choked by weeds and destroyed by frost. When he goes courting, his suit is rejected because he wouldn't hoe his corn
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: farming courting rejection work
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES (20 citations):
Laws H13, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn"
Belden, p. 440, "The Young Man who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Randolph 441, "The Lazy Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 106, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
BrownIII 216, "The Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 74, "The Young Man Who Couldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Hudson 73, pp. 200-201, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Brewster 68, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 164-165, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 46-47, "The Young Man Who Couldn't Hoe Corn (The Lazy Man)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 66, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 38 "A Lazy Farmer Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 874, "Young Man Who Wouldn't How Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 46, pp. 110-111, "The Man That Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
JHCox 173, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 229-230, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 10, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 42, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 120, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
DT 636, HOECORN
Roud #438
RECORDINGS:
Buster Carter & Preston Young, "A Lazy Farmer Boy" (Columbia 15702-D, 1931; on AAFM1, BefBlues3)
Edna & Jean Ritchie, "The Young Man That Wouldn't Raise Corn" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (on GrowOn3) (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Vern Smelser, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (on FineTimes)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lazy Man
Harm Link
File: LH13

---

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2005 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise/Hoe Corn
From: WooBerry
Date: 05 Feb 06 - 10:16 AM

I also have a version of this that was recorded by Tom Paxton, at a Folk Song Festival in New York. I am making this cassette tape into MP3s so I can play it (it was never reissued) and when I do I will check out his lyrics.

Diana

Subject: Lyr Add: YOUNG MAN WHO WOULDN'T HOE CORN
From: Goose Gander
Date: 05 Feb 06 - 04:14 PM

THE YOUNG MAN WHO WOULDN'T HOE CORN

Come, girls, and I'll sing you a song,
Concerning a young man who would not hoe his corn
The reason for this I never could tell,
For this young man always was well.

He planted his corn in the month of June.
In July it was knee-high.
In September there came a big frost;
And this young man's corn was lost.

He went to the fence and he peeped in .
The grass and the weeds were up to his chin.
The careless weeds they had grown so high
Caused this young man to for to sigh.

He went to his neighbor's door,
Where he had often been before;
And when the courtship began,
Says, 'Young man, have you hoed your corn?'

He hung his head and began to sigh,
Saying, 'Madam, I'll tell you why.
I tried and tried and tried in vain;
Don't believe I'll raise a single grain.'

'Then what makes you ask me to wed
When you can't raise your own corn bread?
Single I am, single I'll remain.
A lazy man I won't maintain.'

He picked up his hat and he went away,
Saying, 'Madam, you'll rue the day,
Rue the day as sure as you're born,
Giving me the mitten 'cause I didn't hoe my corn.'

"Communicated by Mrs. Carrie Phelps of West Plains, Howell County, in 1905."

Source:
H. M. Belden, Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society (Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Studies, 1955), p.440.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise/Hoe Corn
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 05 Feb 06 - 04:45 PM

I recorded it in 1970 on an lp, "Clear Waters Remembered," for Sire Records. Now issued as a CD on Greenhays Recordings and available on my web site, www.jeanritchie.com   Shopping cart not working- buyer may copy info and charges and mail with check to address given. Can also use Paypal.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise/Hoe Corn
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 05 Feb 06 - 04:56 PM

Sorry, Guest- just re-read your letter and realize you only want Aubrey's diction cleared up! Here are the words/phrases you didn't understand:
   Verse 4- Young man have you (wed) your corn ('wed' used as past tense of 'weeded.'
   Verse 5- But it ain't worthwhile (to strive) in vain
   Verse 6- Well (a healthy young man) that won't raise corn

Keep singing and get that housework done!    Jean

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise/Hoe Corn
From: GUEST,Guest in PRC
Date: 07 Feb 06 - 06:57 AM

Thank you so much!!! I THOUGHT it was "wed" corn but I was thinking about weddings and it made no sense. If only my CD wasn't in storage, I could've looked at the liner notes...
Guest

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: GUEST,72-yr old from Arkansas
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 09:58 AM

I'll sing a little song and it won't take long
Bout a young man who wouldn't hoe corn
The reason why, no one could tell
Cause this young man was always well

In the month of June he planted his corn
In July he laid it by
In October there came a big frost
What a lot of corn that lazy boy lost!

He goes down and he peepeth in
Weeds and grass were up to his chin
Weeds and the grass they grew so high
Caused this young man for to cry

He goes down to his next neighb or's house
Courting, courting, I suppose
Courtship, courtship, ring a round
"Say, young man, have you hoed out your corn?"

"Yes, my dear" was his reply
"Hoed it out and laid it by
But there ain't no use
I strive in vain
For I know it won't make one grain"

"Well, a healthy young man who won't raise corn
Is the laziest man that ever was born
Single I am, single I remain,
A lazy man I won't maintain"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: cobra
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 10:13 AM

What a fabulous tune this is. I particularly like the following version originally aired on the BBC Transatlantic Sessions programme.

Transatlantic Sessions

Dan Tyminsi singing, Aly Bain on fiddle and Michael McGoldrick on whistle along with Jerry The Man on dobro.

One of the commenters calls it "exquisite". Cannot disagree with that...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't HOE Corn
From: open mike
Date: 28 Sep 10 - 10:49 AM

what does "laid it by" mean?

if the title said "HOE" more people might find it when they search.

he DID raise the corn, he just didn't hoe it....

nice to have Jean Ritchie chime in with the definition of "wed"
as past tense of "weed"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Aug 11 - 09:01 AM

In the mountains of Kentucky, when we want to preserve food we've raised or foraged, we say we're going to "lay it by" "put it up" or "put it by".
For example, "I've got two bushels of apples to put up this week."
Or "I have three acres in corn. I'm going to sell one and lay the other two by for winter."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Young Man Who Wouldn't Raise Corn
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 09:18 PM

This is the way we sang it in elementary school:

I'll sing you a song and it's not very long

It's about a young man who couldn't grow corn.

The reason why, I can't tell

This young man was always well.

He planted his corn in the month of June and in July it was knee-high.

September first, came the frost and all this young man's corn was lost.